Module 9 · Process Improvement with BPMN and Lean
Pilot, measure and sustain
Run a change as a PDCA pilot, judge it with a run chart and a fair before-and-after comparison, and put controls in place so the improvement doesn't quietly slip back.
About 25 minutes
The problem
From 1 May 2026, Harbourline checked every customer's documents before the vessel arrived, using a checklist for each importer type. Two months later, the operations director asks: "Did it work? Should we keep it?"
The tempting answer is to compare the average before and after and declare victory. But averages can mislead. Was May just a quieter month? Did the pilot happen to get fewer Red-channel inspections? Did something else change at the same time? And even if it worked, how do you stop the team drifting back to the old way once the attention moves elsewhere? Most improvements fade within a year, not because they didn't work, but because nobody made them stick.
The concept
PDCA
Plan the change and its measures. Do it on a small scale. Check the results against the target. Act: adopt it, adapt it or drop it, then plan the next cycle. PDCA is the small-scale version of DMAIC, repeated.
Judging a pilot fairly
- Plot a run chart: the measure week by week, with the change date marked. A real improvement shows as a sustained shift, not one good week.
- Compare like with like: check that the mix is similar before and after (here, the share of Red-channel clearances and importer types). If the pilot period happened to get easier cases, the averages flatter it.
- Check measures the change shouldn't affect: if they also improved, something else is going on (a quieter port, a new customs procedure).
- Compare with a group not in the pilot if you can. Harbourline put every customer in the pilot, which makes the run chart and the mix checks more important.
Sustain: the control plan
| Control | Harbourline example |
|---|---|
| Standard work | the pre-arrival checklist written down, by importer type, in the booking procedure |
| Ownership | the documentation lead owns "documents complete on arrival" |
| Visual management | a weekly board: clearances at port, days at port, files still incomplete |
| Control limits | if weekly days at port goes above an agreed limit, investigate that week |
| Review | a monthly 30-minute review of the measures, with actions |
Example
Average days at port by arrival week, before and after the pilot started on 1 May:
| Weeks | Range of weekly averages |
|---|---|
| January to April (16 full weeks) | 7.8 to 9.6 days |
| May and June (8 full weeks) | 5.6 to 7.0 days |
Every pilot week is below every pre-pilot week. That's a sustained shift, not luck. The mix checks pass too: Red-channel clearances were 44% before and 43% during the pilot, and every channel improved by about two days. And the wait for duty payment confirmation, which the checklist doesn't touch, stayed the same: about 46 hours before and during. That's good evidence that the improvement came from the documents, not from something else changing at the port.
Walkthrough
- Plot days at port by arrival week, and mark 1 May.
- Compare the before and after averages for days at port, documents complete on arrival and demurrage per container.
- Check the mix: Red-channel share and importer types, before and after.
- Check a measure the pilot shouldn't affect: the wait before Confirm duty payment.
- Write the control plan (the task below), and agree the next PDCA cycle (duty payment reference, from lesson 8).
Practice
Practice
During the pilot (checklist_pilot = Yes), what was the average number of days at port? Two decimal places.
Practice
During the pilot, what was the average demurrage per container? (A rounded figure is fine.)
Practice
What share of pilot clearances had complete documents on arrival? One decimal place.
Task
8 minWrite the control plan that keeps the pre-arrival checklist working after the pilot. One line each for standard work, owner, measure (with a target), visual management, and review (with how often), each starting with its heading.
Your work is checked for
- Standard work line
- Owner line naming a role
- Measure line with a number
- Visual management line
- Review line with a frequency
Check your understanding
Answer every question to check.