The customer is the receiver of the output; the customer can be an internal end customer or an intermediary to the next “chain” of events on the way to the final customer. Ultimately, we are aligning our actions (Suppliers, Inputs, Processes, and Outputs) in a way that provides the biggest benefits for our final customer. The presumption is that satisfying the intermediary customers will improve the probability of ultimately satisfying the final customer’s needs.  This stands up to logic. Imagine deliveries to the transitional organization that are such that the organization cannot use. For example, imagine our systems specifications were not written good enough so as to allow for the generation of the software specifications. We now are at risk of delivering something totally errant, or revisit and deliver the specifications yet again. This amounts to a waste of time, talent and resources.

Using SIPOC as a process review, critique or simply uncovering how you work makes it possible to streamline the delivery of the final product. Additionally, you will find that your team will become more aware of what constitutes successful delivery (metrics) even for the intermediate. This is where we find our leading indicators.