A process is a series of activities which produce a result. In Lean Six Sigma process thinking, a process transforms inputs to desired outputs for a customer. Individual activities are called process steps. Transformations can be mechanical (e.g. machining widgets), physical (e.g. boiling water), chemical (e.g. polymerizing plastics), information (e.g. checking a control chart, writing a procedure) or any human activity (e.g. hospital patient, person being trained).
There are three flows that can be mapped in a process: material, information, and energy (rare in LSS). See Process Mapping, Process Flow Diagram, Systems and Systems Thinking. A process is part of a system.
« Back to Glossary Index