Forrest Shoppers Co., Ltd. is an online shop that sells apparel and miscellaneous goods and has a store in an online shopping mall. From purchasing products to creating sales pages, the company does everything in-house.
This company has multiple departments, including the product department, public relations department, and production department, and the production department is in charge of creating product pages. After the page is published, the production manager reviews the differences between the design proposal and the published content, buyers check the product content, and the public relations department checks whether it matches the email newsletter and press release.
※This process improvement story is fictional and has no relation to any real people or organizations.
*This process improvement story is fictional. It has no connection to any real people or organizations.
1. Issue: Stagnation in the review process
When creating a product page, the designer submits a design proposal, which is then published after being reviewed by the production manager. After publication, the relevant departments are notified and a review is carried out by three people. This review determines whether the page needs to be revised, but the designer cannot proceed to the next step until the review is complete.
Therefore, if it takes a long time to complete the review, the designer’s work may be delayed which may affect other projects. In particular, because there is no deadline set for the review process, delays are likely to occur, resulting in less time for designers to devote to other projects, and lower overall productivity.
2. Solution: Set deadlines and enable parallel reviews
The process owner added a gateway to the workflow that enables parallel processing, so each user with a review task can perform it without waiting for the other reviewers.
In addition, a deadline was set for each review step, and a mechanism was introduced that automatically advances to the next step if the review is not completed by the deadline.
Before
View workflow diagram details
1. Submit design proposal
The assigned designer submits the design file.
Create folder and File upload
The design draft is uploaded to a folder automatically created in Google Drive.
2. Design check
The production manager checks the design draft.
1x. Design modification
The assigned designer addresses the amendments instructed by the production manager.
3. Prepare for publication
Based on the design draft, the assigned designer creates a private product page.
4. Page check
The production manager reviews the private product page. However, if they cannot respond by the deadline, it is considered to be approved without changes, and the process proceeds to step 5. Publication.
2x. Page correction
The assigned designer responds to page amendment instructions from the production manager.
5. Publication
The assigned designer publishes the product page that was previously private.
Release Notification
Three days after publication, a publication notification is sent to the company-wide mailing list.
6a. Review
The production manager reviews the published page.
6b. Review
Once the production manager’s review is complete, the assigned buyer reviews the published page.
6c. Review
After the production manager and the assigned buyer complete their reviews, the public relations officer reviews the published page.
7. Review response
The assigned designer makes necessary changes as per review instructions.
Final file upload
After addressing the reviews, the final file is automatically uploaded to Google Drive.
Wait until release date
Wait until the release date.
Launch Notification
On the release date, a release notification is sent to the company-wide mailing list.
After
View workflow diagram details
1. Submit design proposal
The assigned designer submits the design file.
Create folder and File upload
The design draft is uploaded to a folder automatically created in Google Drive.
2. Design check
The production manager checks the design draft.
1x. Design modification
The assigned designer addresses the amendments instructed by the production manager.
3. Prepare for publication
Based on the design draft, the assigned designer creates a private product page.
4. Page check
The production manager reviews the private product page. However, if they cannot respond by the deadline, it is considered to be approved without changes, and the process proceeds to step 5. Publication.
2x. Page correction
The assigned designer responds to page amendment instructions from the production manager.
5. Publication
The assigned designer publishes the product page that was previously private.
Release Notification
Three days after publication, a publication notification is sent to the company-wide mailing list.
6a/6b/6c. Review
The production manager, assigned buyer, and public relations officer simultaneously review the published page. However, if they cannot respond by the deadline, the page is considered reviewed, and the process automatically proceeds to step 7. Review response.
7. Final file upload
The assigned designer makes necessary changes as per review instructions.
Final file upload
After addressing the reviews, the final file is automatically uploaded to Google Drive.
Wait until release date
Wait until the release date.
Launch Notification
On the release date, a release notification is sent to the company-wide mailing list.
3. Effects
Reduced Review Wait Times
With three reviewers reviewing simultaneously, designers can move on to the next step faster, improving productivity.
Prevent Schedule Delays
By setting deadlines for each review step, the project will stay on schedule even if one of the reviews is delayed.
Motivate Designers
Less waiting means less backlog and more motivation for designers to get more involved in the project.
4. Other Business Applications
Software Development
This can be applied to a process where multiple reviewers review the code in parallel after a developer submits the code, shortening the wait time for reviews, allowing developers to work faster and preventing delays to the entire project.
Creating Advertising and Marketing Campaigns
Parallel review of ad copy and design by multiple departments – marketers, creative directors, legal departments – helps keep campaigns on track and makes it easier to stick to publishing schedules.
The Editorial Process in Publishing
By implementing a parallel review process for editors, proofreaders, and designers when book or magazine manuscripts are submitted, we can prevent delays in the publishing timeline and help authors move smoothly on to their next project.