What is a “ Brown Paper Exercise “ and What is its’ Value?

Transform Your Business Processes with Group50’s Brown Paper Exercise

Visualize. Collaborate. Optimize.

Are your business processes slowing you down? Are inefficiencies hidden in your workflows, costing you time, money, and productivity? At Group50®, we don’t just analyze processes—we bring them to life.

Our Brown Paper Exercise is a game-changing approach to Value Stream Mapping that visually exposes inefficiencies, reveals missed opportunities, and engages your team in real-time problem-solving. It’s interactive, dynamic, and highly effective—far beyond traditional process mapping.

Why This Works Better Than Traditional Methods

Long before computers, businesses used paper-based mapping to uncover inefficiencies—because it works. We’ve modernized this proven technique to help you break free from the limits of digital screens.

• Visual learning is 60,000 times faster than text-based analysis—and 65% of people are visual learners.
• In just one session, companies identify dozens of process fixes—sometimes covering the entire project’s cost on Day 1.
• It’s engaging and fun—keeping teams actively involved and invested in the solutions they help create.

What Makes Group50’s Brown Paper Exercise Unique?

• It’s fast, effective, and immediately impactful. In our first session, expect major “Aha!” moments—those breakthroughs that can unlock millions in cost savings.
• It exposes hidden bottlenecks. Most process failures occur at handoff points between departments and technology. We pinpoint these issues quickly.
• It unites teams across functions. We bring together process owners, customers, and internal stakeholders to create solutions that work across the entire organization.
• It delivers real business results. One recent Quote-to-Cash project uncovered $15 million in annual savings—and that’s just one example.

How It Works

1. Map Out Your Entire Workflow – We spread out your process, piece by piece, in a way that digital screens never could.
2. Engage Your Teams (Hybrid or In-Person) – Employees at all levels contribute their insights, ensuring solutions come from those who know the work best.
3. Identify Inefficiencies Instantly – Within hours, we’ll highlight dozens of process gaps and redundancies that can be fixed immediately.
4. Create Actionable Solutions – Using Group50’s Business Hierarchy of Needs® framework, we ensure your process changes align with your company’s most important goals.
5. Implement and Sustain Improvements – We train your team to continue optimizing workflows long after the exercise ends.

Results That Speak for Themselves

• A $25M manufacturer identified 160 process gaps in just four days—leading to 30% productivity improvement.
• A multi-national company used this method to streamline global operations, cutting costs by $15M per year.
• Teams report higher engagement, better cross-departmental collaboration, and a clearer understanding of how to fix inefficiencies.

What Happens Next?

We don’t just leave you with a massive paper diagram—we take your insights and transform them into detailed Value Stream Maps, enabling data-driven decision-making for long-term optimization.

Call to Action: Don’t Let Inefficiencies Hold You Back

Are you ready to eliminate waste, improve productivity, and transform the way your company operates? Let’s talk.

📞 Call us at +1 (626) 644-9746
📩 Email: info@group50.com

Schedule a Meeting with our Subject Matter Expert

Group50® – Helping Companies Achieve Excellence, One Process at a Time.

About the Author:  Jim Gitney is the CEO and Founder of Group50^® Consulting, and the author of “Strategy Realized – The Business Hierarchy of Needs®” which summarizes a framework for applying Value Stream Mapping and the Brown Paper Exercise successfully (You can find out more about the book and acquire a copy by clicking on the image to the right).

Founded in 2004, Group50®consulting is focused on working with middle market companies to significantly improve their productivity by leveraging people, process and technology as part of a company’s strategic plan. Business process improvement and process reengineering are Group50® specialties. Group50® consists of consultants who have spent their careers in corporate America learning how to optimize businesses.  

We specialize in working with senior leaders to develop and implement programs that leverage people, process and technology to optimize business performance.

By Jim Gitney

April 17, 2018

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