---
title: Process Redesign Methods & Heuristics
type: method
tags: [bpm, redesign, bpr, heuristics, 7fe]
sources: ["[[sources/2018-dumas-fundamentals-of-bpm]]", "[[sources/2005-reijers-limanmansar-best-practices-bpr]]"]
created: 2026-04-13
updated: 2026-04-20
---

# Process Redesign

Covered in [[sources/2018-dumas-fundamentals-of-bpm]] ch. 8 + Appendix A. The heuristics catalogue in that appendix is a consolidation of [[sources/2005-reijers-limanmansar-best-practices-bpr|Reijers & Liman Mansar (2005)]]; see [[concepts/bpr-heuristics]] for the named concept. Two broad families:

## Transactional methods (§8.2)
Incremental, within the current organisational model:
- **7FE** — seven-phase redesign framework (ownership, engaging, stakeholders, understanding, improving, institutionalising, realising).
- **Heuristic Process Redesign** — apply catalogued heuristics (Appendix A) guided by [[concepts/devils-quadrangle]].

## Transformational methods (§8.3)
Radical, clean-slate:
- **Business Process Reengineering (BPR)** — Hammer & Champy 1993; famous but risky (high failure rate historically).
- **Product-Based Design** — derive the process directly from the product/service structure.

## The Redesign Orbit (§8.1.5)
A decision framework: scope of change × depth of change × stakeholder involvement.

## Heuristics (Appendix A) — 7 dimensions
1. **Customer** — relocate touchpoints (e.g., integrate tasks on customer side).
2. **Business Process Operation** — eliminate, compose, decompose activities.
3. **Business Process Behaviour** — resequence, parallelise, split.
4. **Organization** — reassign roles, empower, specialist vs generalist.
5. **Information** — share data, buffer, central repository.
6. **Technology** — automate, task integration, knowledge systems.
7. **External Environment** — trust-based alliances, outsourcing, standardisation.

Each heuristic is tagged with its expected impact on time/cost/quality/flexibility — the [[concepts/devils-quadrangle]] trade-off is always made explicit.

## Related
[[concepts/bpr-heuristics]] · [[concepts/devils-quadrangle]] · [[concepts/bpm-lifecycle]] · [[methods/flow-analysis]] · [[concepts/prescriptive-process-monitoring]] (runtime, data-driven successor)