Productivity Improvement: Summaries

All PPI engagements summarized in the table below were aimed at productivity improvement via increases in operational effectiveness and/or efficiency, and focused on accomplishing one or more of the following improvement objectives:

• Increasing customer value through operational improvement
• Streamlining costs
• Aligning IT more closely with specific operations
• Utilizing accountable Performance Metrics
• Allocating resources more effectively

Functional Area	Selected Core sub-processes	Examples of Key Performance Metrics Used	Some Results
Sales (CRM Utilization) Capture leads Perform outbound follow up calls Perform up-selling Coordinate the sales process with other sales roles (e.g. Field sales, Account Management, Brokers, etc.)	Campaign management Incoming sales call handling Outbound sales calling Up-selling Referral management Order processing	Call-to-sale conversion ratio Amount of sales leads requiring in-person attention Correct call disposition Length of Lead-to-close sales cycle Qualified leads	Segmented and restructured key sales processes Re-aligned processes with skill sets Conversion ratio increased Sales cycle reduction of 38% Lead capture improvement by 69%
Enrollment/Order Processing (Sales processing) Evaluate & qualify new orders Process orders Resolve inquiries Create & maintain cases Perform on-going customer updates	Order definition Order processing Inquiry resolution Issue escalation Account management	Volume based measures for each of the core processes Speed related metrics Survey results "New idea rep. points"	Increased processing productivity by 42% Customer satisfaction index increased 12% Merged departments and implemented process alignment
Fulfillment (Fulfillment consolidation project) Provide assistance to accelerate the consolidation of several Fulfillment locations. Project involved assessment and improvement implementation services in connection with the consolidation.	Order accuracy Shipment accuracy IT utilization Bill of Material Management Order-to-Fulfillment sub-processes Inventory management	Cycle times covering sub-processes impacting Fulfillment Issue notification metrics Order-to-fulfillment effectiveness rating IT support rankings Manual vs. automated activity scales BOM value measurements	Shortened planned consolidation by 2 ½-months Developed protocols for key Fulfillment processes Implemented enhanced SLA's Reduced BOM's by 13% Increased overall Marketing-to-Fulfillment cycle time by 259% Improved Inventory turn over 2x
Customer Service (Post-sale support) Respond to customer questions and issues Address issues resulting from the enrollment process Administer contract changes Manage customer disputes	Inquiry resolution Contracts Enrollment Appeals and Grievances Compliance IT alignment	Amount of calls handled Amount of calls resolved Time spent per call Proper and timely transfer of calls to the correct department or individual Time required to turn applications into enrollments Inquiry Management and Problem Resolution (IMPR) speed	39% improvement in enrollment cycle time Abandon rate improvement of 44% 11% decrease in Complaints/Grievances Developed 11 new activity-based metrics Implemented major process improvements with IT-User alignment
Information Technology (IT Project Governance) Develop processes to collect, evaluate and provide support to end-user requests Accumulate information to support ROI analyses Perform reporting processes to end-users Participate in budgeting processes	Request submission process Business case analysis Budgeting Status Reporting	Year-to-year request volume "Linkage ratings" - how well project fit with corporate strategic goals "Responsiveness index" Budget vs. actual results Internal customer satisfaction ratings	Created improved IT Governance processes Increased Responsiveness index by 22% Improved Linkage rating by 3 points Reduced Request-to-Analysis cycle time by 19-days Increased customer satisfaction by 2 grades
Benefits Administration (Claims-focused functions) Respond to customer questions and issues Execute the claims processes Administer contract changes Manage customer disputes	Inquiry resolution Claims: Eligibility Review Adjudication Management Rules Compliance	Amount of calls handled Amount of calls resolved Time spent per call Proper and timely transfer of calls to the correct department or individual Time required to process a claim	19% improvement in enrollment cycle time Abandon rate improvement of 44% 11% decrease in Complaints/Grievances Reorganized work group with new metric establishment Established SLA's with key IT functions
Order-to-Cash (Composite process management) Manage and accelerate the sub-process work flows, from order entry to cash receipt, e.g. Customer Order entry & Fulfillment Distribution Finance & accounting	Marketing management Order entry Credit administration Inventory management Fulfillment Invoicing & collections	Cycle times in the various sub-processes and the end-to-end process Accuracy %s % of sub-processes that are manual vs. automated SLA compliance ratings between departments Time-based exception management metrics Service quality satisfaction	Numerous cycle time improvements covering functional and composite business processes Customer satisfaction increase of 19% Reduction in exception handling by 187% Increase in order accuracy by 72%
Finance & Accounting (Forecasting) Develop corporate-wide forecasting processes Develop procedures to embed qualitative information Gather and analyze information on a quarterly basis Reconcile major variances with actual results & Annual Plans Perform selected benchmarking	Forecasting Governance Product line segmentation Financial analysis Reporting	Quarterly due date compliance Start-to-publish forecasting cycle time Consistency & accuracy of the #s Cycle time to respond to Senior Mgmt. questions Senior Management "Decision-making Rating" (DMR) Internal customer satisfaction scale	Decreased Publishing cycle time by 196% Reduced average response time by 2-days Increased DMR by 2-points Implemented corresponding metrics to coincide with improved processes Reduced IT applications used by 37%

For more information about specific PPI engagements, view our Case Studies.