Benchmarks & Case Studies

Smart Services: Digital Transformation in Shared Centers

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Search for a transformation plan to improve productivity, reduce operating costs, improve customer experience, and reduce Lead Times by optimizing processes, implementing an organizational system based on continuous improvement, and digital transformation.

The company

It is a company focused on offering services in the field of management and consultancy in the areas of labor relations, accounting, finance and taxes.

The challenge

Currently, a large part of the activity carried out is focused on repetitive tasks with little added value. The aim of the project is to transform the business model towards services with greater added value. To achieve this, the aim is to optimize and automate repetitive low-value-added tasks, develop business channels that promote high-value-added consultancy, and develop a multi-channel strategy to offer complementary digital services.

The approach

This case study details the first phase of the project, which covers the strategic analysis and design of the transformation plan in its different aspects: process transformation, digital transformation, and cultural transformation, with a focus on continuous improvement and transformation of the business model. A multidisciplinary team is involved with the capacity to make strategic decisions in different areas of the company.

During this phase, the Value Stream Analysis methodology developed by the Kaizen Institute was used, focusing on the analysis of end-to-end value chains, defining solutions aimed at generating real results in the short and medium term through a sustainable transformation of the way of working.

The first steps of Value Stream Analysis consist of a detailed analysis of the current situation using two specific methodologies, SIPOC and process mapping.

The SIPOC (Suppliers, Inputs, Process, Output, Customer) is a high-level mapping, which allows us to map the company’s processes as well as the interactions between processes. This allows us to define analysis priorities to move towards a level of greater depth and detail, knowing that we are going to attack the point of impact.

Diagram of the processes organization. The diagram shows the process flow from suppliers on the left side to customers on the right side. Inputs, processes and outputs are indicated with boxes. Involved in the processes organisation are information systems, seasonality, annual commitment, annual errors, people involved and lead times.

Process mapping consists of a more detailed analysis of the main end-to-end processes, where the flow of tasks, participants, execution times, deadlines, costs, quality errors, etc. are identified.

With this level of detail and understanding of the current situation, the main opportunities for improvement are identified and prioritized for further analysis:

  • All customer information is stored in physical files, and although part of the process is digital, the documentation is printed for archiving.
  • Most of the procedures involving customers are carried out in person, being attended to at a counter. Specifically, 77% of the volume of procedures and services is already available to carry them out seamlessly with a digital signature for some of these procedures. There are multiple causes, including a lack of training and information for customers about this digital service.
  • Errors in data entry when carrying out procedures generated by the company and by customers.
  • Constant interruptions to work due to unexpected customer visits and calls to resolve queries. The queries raised are repetitive and generic in many cases.
  • Repetitive tasks performed manually, data entry into systems, copying data from one information system to another, repetitive calculations, data review and verification etc.
  • The marketing and sales strategy is very poorly developed and new clients are acquired through word of mouth.

The next step in the methodology consists of the analysis and macro design of solutions focused on the improvement opportunities detected. The multidisciplinary team is divided into sub-teams that work intensively in workshop format to define the most appropriate lines of action.

The following lines of work are defined in this case:

  • Digitization of physical customer files and implementation of a cloud document manager.
  • Automation of repetitive tasks through improvements in information systems and the implementation of a process robotization strategy with Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
  • Improvement of anti-error systems in digital forms to verify that the data are correct (verification of the number and type of characters entered in each field).
  • Automatic loading of data into information systems from physical documents by means of image and optical character recognition (OCR) systems applied to official documents, invoices etc.
  • Development of a cloud platform for clients, drastically expanding the range of digital services on offer, among others:
    • Customer access to documentation and business data through an app.
    • Frequently asked questions area and implementation of a chatbot to help resolve frequently asked questions with artificial intelligence.
    • Business intelligence and data analytics solutions that allow customers to automatically analyze scenarios, visualize trends and make predictions.
    • Automatic management of previous appointments.
    • Carrying out online procedures with a digital signature.
    • Video tutorials and interactive screen tutorials to facilitate the use of new technologies and services in an intuitive way.
  • Reorganization of work teams and development of new skills and new high-value-added specialized advisory services.
  • Development of a digital marketing strategy, leveraging on the new digital service offering and the specialized high-value-added service offered by the managers.
  • Building a continuous improvement program focused on improving daily routines and engaging the employees in the improvement of their processes.

Results

For each of the identified lines of work, the impact on both cost savings and turnover increase is calculated, identifying the investment required to implement it and thus allowing the expected returns on this investment to be calculated.

The productivity gain has an identified impact of 19% on personnel costs with an expected turnover increase of 10%.

Following the methodology, the last step defines the implementation plan in detail, establishing the work teams, phases and deadlines for implementation, as well as the indicators to be monitored and their objective for each line of work.

The Value Stream Analysis methodology has made it possible to obtain a transformation plan for the company in different dimensions, all of them aligned and pursuing the same objective. The lines of work identified are solidly based on an analysis of the end-to-end processes as well as the calculation of the impact.

This case clearly reflects how digital transformation cannot be considered only at the level of technological solutions, but must have a global view of transforming processes, people and the business model.

#business services #digital

 

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