The process industry in Western Europe is characterised by high product quality. At the same time, the financial crisis, the current recession, high personnel and raw material costs as well as other factors have not been without consequences for the industrial locations.

The production in Western Europe - compared with many other regions, in particular the Eastern European emerging markets - is considerably more cost intensive. Combined with the current economic situation, the pressure to operate even more effectively and efficiently has increased. Significant potential for increasing effi ciency and effectiveness can be discovered within business and IT processes.

The secret of success for medium sized companies are fl exible business processes adapted to the individual requirements. It is however, no secret that these processes are often supported by sub-optimal IT systems and the supposedly important flexibility often leads to inefficient and cost-intensive processes. Intransparence and multiple fragmentation in the information flow contribute the rest to the entire situation, which can disadvantage a company relative to the competition.

The following are reasons for a company to tackle these processes now:
• Establishing competitive advantage (for example by quicker reactions to the changing market situation, better customer care etc.)
• Increasing effectiveness (for example by shorter throughput times, reduction of error ratio, better communication etc.)
• Increasing quality (both of processes and products)
• Reducing costs (for example by consolidation of IT systems)
• Continuous improvement and transparence due to the measurability of processes