| Course | BU 434 Business Analysis for Project Managers |
|---|---|
| Unit | Unit 4 |
| Paper type | Current state process model |
| Length | About 790 words, 5 pages |
| Format | APA 7 student paper |
| School | Herzing University |
| Program | BS in Project Management |
| Updated | September 2026 |
Free sample paper for BU 434 Unit 4
Typed Three Times, Checked Twice, Waiting Four Times: A Current State Process Model of Quote-to-Job at a Composite Michigan Commercial Printer, Workarounds Included
Student Name
Business, Herzing University
BU 434: Business Analysis for Project Managers
Instructor Name
March 11, 2026
Typed Three Times, Checked Twice, Waiting Four Times: A Current State Process Model of Quote-to-Job at a Composite Michigan Commercial Printer, Workarounds Included
Scope and Notation
This model documents how a quote becomes a printed job at Ridgeline Press, the composite Grand Rapids printer followed in this course, as the work actually ran in February 2026. It starts when a customer asks for a price and ends when the job ticket reaches the press floor. It covers the six parties who touch the work: the customer, the sales representative, the estimator, the customer service representative, prepress and the plant.
The model uses swimlane notation drawn from Business Process Model and Notation, the standard maintained by the Object Management Group (2011): one lane per party, tasks in order, and markers for waits, decisions and handoffs. Because the diagram itself cannot be reproduced here in full, the steps are listed below in lane order with the same information the diagram carries. Each step is marked as observed, seen by the analyst during two days of shadowing and in email and system timestamps, or reported, described by staff but not seen. Dumas et al. (2018) stress that process models built only from interviews describe the process people believe they follow, and the observed and reported marks let a reader see which parts of this model rest on which kind of evidence.
The Process Step by Step
Waits are marked W, rekeying of information already captured elsewhere R, and checks that repeat an earlier check C.
| No. | Lane | Step | Marker | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Customer | Emails or phones the sales rep asking for a price | Observed | |
| 2 | Sales rep | Forwards the email to the estimating inbox, often with a one-line note | Observed | |
| 3 | Estimator | Picks up the request from the shared inbox; median wait 0.4 days | W | Observed (timestamps) |
| 4 | Estimator | Checks the request for stock, quantity, finishing and date; 59% incomplete | Observed | |
| 5 | Estimator | Emails the rep, not the customer, asking for missing details | Observed | |
| 6 | Sales rep | Relays the question to the customer; median wait for an answer 1.4 days | W | Observed (timestamps) |
| 7 | Estimator | Types the specifications into the estimating module | R | Observed |
| 8 | Estimator | Prices the job; average 34 minutes | Observed | |
| 9 | Estimating lead | Reviews every quote over $10,000 before release | C | Observed |
| 10 | Sales rep | Receives the quote PDF and forwards it to the customer | Observed | |
| 11 | Customer | Accepts by email; median wait 3 days | W | Observed (records) |
| 12 | Customer service | Types the specifications from the quote PDF into a job ticket | R | Observed |
| 13 | Customer | Uploads print files to the file transfer site | Observed | |
| 14 | Prepress | Compares files with the job ticket; mismatch on about 14% of jobs | C | Observed (records) |
| 15 | Prepress to rep | On a mismatch, emails customer service, which emails the rep, who emails the customer; the job is repriced | W | Reported; seen once |
| 16 | Plant | Press scheduler enters stock and quantity on the scheduling board | R | Reported |
Waits, Rekeys and Double Checks
The model contains four waits, three rekeys and two checks that repeat earlier checking. The two longest waits, for missing details and for the customer's acceptance, sit outside Ridgeline's own lanes, in the customer's, but the first of them is caused inside: step 5 routes every question through the sales rep, adding a relay in both directions. Put in time terms, the queue at step 3 and the clarification loop at step 6 together account for close to two of the 2.6 days a customer waits for a price, while the pricing itself at step 8 takes well under an hour. Any change that leaves steps 3 to 6 alone will leave most of the delay in place.
The three rekeys take the same specifications through three systems or documents: the estimating module, the job ticket and the press scheduling board. Each copy is a chance to change a detail. The estimators and customer service staff described rekeying as routine and did not count it as a problem, which is typical of work people have done for years.
The two checks look at the same question from different ends. The estimating lead checks large quotes against the request, and prepress checks files against the job ticket, but nobody checks the request itself for completeness at the point it enters, which is where the problem definition located the root condition.
Workarounds the Procedure Does Not Show
The written quoting procedure, last revised in 2021, describes steps 1 to 12 in a single straight line. The observed process includes two workarounds it does not mention.
Estimators keep a personal spreadsheet of the stocks and finishes that regular customers usually choose. When a detail is missing and the job looks routine, they price on the usual choice rather than wait. This was observed twice in two days, and it explains the 17 jobs in 2025 repriced because an estimator's guess was wrong. It also explains why some incomplete requests are quoted quickly: the workaround hides part of the delay while adding risk.
Some sales representatives phone an estimator directly rather than sending a request to the inbox, asking for a rough price while the customer waits. This was reported by three reps and one estimator but not observed. It bypasses the queue for favored customers and means the inbox figures understate how often estimators are interrupted.
Observed Versus Reported
Fourteen of the sixteen steps were observed or confirmed by timestamps and records. Two rest wholly or mostly on reports: the relay of prepress mismatches back to the customer, seen only once, and the press scheduler's rekeying, described by the plant manager but not visited during the shadowing days. Both should be observed before the future state is designed, since the plant step in particular would change if job data flowed directly from the ticket. The BABOK guide recommends that analysts confirm process models with the people who perform the work before relying on them (International Institute of Business Analysis, 2015), and the model will be walked through with each lane's staff in the second week of March. Ridgeline Press, its staff and every measured time here are composites written for this course.
References
Dumas, M., La Rosa, M., Mendling, J., & Reijers, H. A. (2018). Fundamentals of business process management (2nd ed.). Springer.
International Institute of Business Analysis. (2015). A guide to the business analysis body of knowledge (BABOK guide) (Version 3). IIBA.
Object Management Group. (2011). Business process model and notation (BPMN) (Version 2.0). https://www.omg.org/spec/BPMN/2.0/
BU 434 Unit 4 instructions, in plain terms
The fourth BU 434 unit asks students to document how a business process currently operates. Requirements usually include a defined scope with start and end points, a process diagram in a standard notation such as BPMN swimlanes, identification of roles, and analysis of delays, rework, handoffs and pain points. Many instructors emphasize modeling the process as it is actually performed, including informal workarounds, rather than as written procedures describe it. Students are often asked to state their evidence for each step. A process model table can support or replace a diagram in the written paper. The deliverable is commonly a short APA 7 paper built around the model, with analysis that sets up the future state work in a later unit.
Inside the BU 434 Unit 4 example
The sample starts by setting the scope from price request to press floor, naming six lanes and explaining the notation and the difference between observed and reported steps. A sixteen-row table gives each step's lane, description, marker and evidence. The analysis section counts waits, rekeys and double checks, converts the two main waits into a share of the customer's delay and notes that no one checks requests for completeness on arrival. A workarounds section describes the estimators' guess spreadsheet and the reps' direct phone calls, and ties the first to measured repricings. The last section lists which steps rest on reports and plans observation and a walkthrough with staff before the model is relied on.
Reading the BU 434 Unit 4 rubric
Herzing's rubric for the current state model usually weighs scope definition, accuracy and completeness of the model, use of notation, analysis of inefficiencies and the evidence base, with writing and APA. Scope earns points for clear start and end points. The model criterion rewards capturing the real process, including workarounds, over the documented ideal. Notation is judged on consistent use of a named standard. Inefficiency analysis scores highest when waits, rework and handoffs are identified and, where possible, measured. The evidence criterion pays for distinguishing what was observed from what was reported. Instructors also credit models validated with the people who perform the work, since an unconfirmed model may describe a process nobody follows.
BU 434 Unit 4 help: mistakes that cost points
Current state models commonly lose points by copying the written procedure, which usually omits the workarounds that explain the real problems. Another frequent issue is a diagram with no analysis, leaving the reader to find the waits and rekeys alone. Students often skip roles outside their focus, such as downstream departments or the customer. Some mix current and future steps, drawing improvements into the baseline. Others give no evidence for any step, so observed facts and assumptions look the same. A common omission is timing: without even rough waits, the model cannot show where delay sits. Finally, models of a real employer's process with internal details raise confidentiality concerns a composite case avoids.
Get a BU 434 Unit 4 example written to your instructions
Send the Unit 4 instructions and the rubric from your BU 434 classroom, plus the process description your section provides. We write a custom example with lanes, both branches at every decision, waits drawn explicitly, a workarounds section and a sourcing note. First custom sample free, delivered in 24 to 48 hours.
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BU 434 Unit 4 questions, answered
Which notation should the diagram use?
Follow whatever the instructions name, and if they leave it open, pick one and apply it consistently. Consistency is graded far more than sophistication: a plain flowchart with lanes, labeled decisions and a legend beats a modeling standard used loosely. Add a short key explaining each shape you used, because the instructor should never have to guess whether a diamond meant a decision or a checkpoint.
How detailed should the steps be?
Detailed enough that a handoff, a wait or a rework loop would be visible, and no finer. If two adjacent boxes always happen together, in the same lane, with nothing between them, they are one step. If a box hides a transfer to another role, split it. The test is whether the level of detail can carry the gap analysis your section builds later.
Can I model a process I run at work?
Write it at a level of generality that removes the company, and treat everything on paper there as off limits. Internal requirements documents, elicitation notes and any recorded interview stay where they are. Your own understanding of how such work flows is yours to use; the employer's map of it is not. Label the model as a composite in the opening scope statement.
Where can I find a free BU 434 Unit 4 sample paper?
The BU 434 Unit 4 current state process model is available on this page at no cost, with the sixteen-step table, the workarounds and margin notes. For a different process, pass along your prompt and a free custom model is prepared, usually within 48 hours.
Which notation should BU 434 Unit 4 use?
BPMN swimlanes are the most common choice, and the sample follows them. Any standard notation works if it is named and used consistently. What instructors look for is lanes for each role and clear markers for waits, handoffs and rework.