New York Telephone (Nynex) re-engineered the process of ordering, designing, and installing T1 lines, because of slipping business. It was an informal modeling process done by having all of the participants sit down at a table. Nynex process modeling researchers were used as facilitators.
It was a lengthy process. One small change was modification of the order form used by sales reps. It took a year to elicit and coordinate the necessary information. It took six months for the team to recommend to management a new design process. It is taking management somewhat longer to accept and implement the ideas, which involve radical organizational changes. *Simulations* are encouraging, reducing service time from one week to two or three days, using a dozen people rather than 40.
There were two major items of interest for enterprise engineers. One is that computer scheduling was eliminated. The process was made more efficient when people coordinated with each other directly. The new emphasis is on finding ways for the computer to facilitate that coordination. (And finding ways to help people learn their jobs.) *But top-down scheduling is out.*
The other is the modeling technique. No formal modeling was reported. But there was an interesting approach. The team created a perfect employee -"Melvin" - who could do everything his/her/self. Then they *gradually added assistants.* In this way they derived a rational model of enterprise agents and the information conections between them. This led to the organizational changes and and understanding of communications that would facilitate cooperation.
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