Summary

A large European energy company faced the problem of automated document flow involving several levels of access rights. The work cycle on a typical project is three to five years. These projects generate vast amounts of work product and complementary documentation. There are many different document versions and different access rights further compounding each project’s complexity. In addition, the Client needed a convenient solution for teamwork on documents, including offline collaboration.

We implemented a solution based on the SharePoint Online platform which offered a complete solution to the Client’s tasks. As a result, the Client received an appropriate and flexible solution. One that provided fast and accurate searches of huge collections of documents, facilitated the work of specialists, and enabled employees to work with projects offline without violating safety regulations.

Client

A large European energy company with an average project duration of three to five years. The number of employees is approximately 1,000 people.

Problems:

Prior to the introduction of automation, the Client used the Dropbox file storage system, which was used as a “folder in the cloud” to store documents and work with them. This made it impossible or inconvenient to work concurrently, to search, or to create new documents based on templates in Dropbox. As a result, documents were lost, conflicts arose over current and earlier document versions, and experts wasted considerable time solving these problems.

Project Goals

To suggest a solution which enabled the Client to store huge collections of documents complete with integration of a quick search function.

The following functions were envisaged:

• Viewing of documents and their versions for each project.
• Checking the availability of equivalent documents in the system when downloading newones.
• Finding documents using the related information search and metadata.
• Generating templates (creating documents based on specific templates).
• Teamwork on documents.
• Differentiation of access rights to documents, in accordance with security requirements.

In addition, it was necessary to develop and implement applications that would enable employees to work with the system offline (for example, those on business trips or working remotely).

What Did We Do?

We implemented an appropriate cloud-based solution using the SharePoint Online platform. The result was a completely managed, controlled and configurable system, unlike the Dropbox file storage system, which is a simple folder in the cloud.

Project results

The SharePoint Online implementation automated document flow and made the work with project documents easier for company employees.

We configured the SharePoint Online platform to eliminate any loss of documents. We also ensured that any version of a document could be accessed promptly. Searches based on a description or metadata could now be performed instantly.

Company employees began to understand the essence of the document work process using:

1. A search.
2. Document tags (addition of metadata).
3. Document templates.

Other functions ensured the possibility for document collaboration offline. Previously, when working concurrently on the same document, employees could not be sure which version had been saved. The previous system simply saved the latest version of a document with the same name, replacing the original file completely. After automation, the system either merged the changes into a single document or notified the user about the conflict, leaving the final decision to their discretion.

Task 1 – Development and Implementation of the Sales Portal

The Sales Portal enabled the Client to:

• Automate the preparation and issue of commercial offers.
• Apply a price quote system for automatic correction and price verification, depending on the customer location.
• Automate the receipt of current purchase prices from vendors.

Result:

The development and implementation of an automated process of price verification and substitution in commercial offers supplied the solution. The time required for the preparation and issue of a commercial offer was reduced from several days to 5–10 days minimum.

Task 2 – Development and Implementation of an E-Signature Portal

The E-Signature Portal enabled the Client to:

• Automate contract preparation when a customer has accepted a commercial offer and wants to make a purchase.
• Eliminate the need for manual data transfer from a commercial offer to a contract.
• Connect a billing system that was developed for the Client’s needs.

Result:

The development and implementation of an automated process of price verification and substitution in commercial offers supplied the solution. The time required for the preparation and issue of a commercial offer was reduced from several days to 5–10 days minimum.

Task 3 – Development and implementation of a Purchase Portal

The Purchase Portal enabled the Client to:

•  Standardize the purchase procedure.
• Automate the approval of purchase orders at a fixed price.
• Exclude the possibility of purchases at a higher price without approval.
• Systematize information on all purchases, using the “what, from whom, when, at what price” template.

Result:

The Client is a reseller of hardware and software purchased from other vendors. It was therefore important:

• To create a purchase procedure for goods up to a certain price, including automation and simplification.
• To introduce additional regulation for purchases above a certain price.

To achieve this an algorithm that displays roles and statuses when approving and completing purchases was implemented.

Task 4 – Development and Implementation of an Installation Portal

The Installation Portal enabled the Client to:

• Systematize the work of engineers and project managers.
• Synchronize equipment connection requests with the conclusion of an agreement for its purchase.
• Synchronize technical support with subscription fees.
• Link payments to service engineers to provide evidence of work performed under contracts.
• End the transfer of project documentation hard copies.

Result:

Requests for the connection and set-up of equipment (for example, IP telephony) are now sent to the engineers immediately after a customer signs a contract. This ended any loss of information or undue transfer of information between the sales and service engineering departments. The regulation of time in both commissioning activities and technical support significantly reduced the amount of time between lead receipt and payment.

Project Results

Powerful automation of the company’s core business processes from sales, to the installation of equipment, and payment of invoices increased the total work efficiency of the company with respect to its customers. In addition, the transition to this new management system and its four mutually integrated portals:

• Accelerated the implementation of projects.
• Led to faster payment of invoices.
• Increased the customer loyalty with these improvements in service.

Summary

Operating within the markets of Western Europe, the US, Canada, Australia, and Hong Kong, our Client’s company is a designer, sewer, and seller of clothing in the luxury market segment. To work with its end customers, the business was using a CRM system. However, business was growing, so the Client needed to automate the management of both its clothing engineering process and its lead management system, which this company uses to financially incentivize employee productivity.

We analyzed the workflows involved, as well as the relationship between a sales manager’s work quality and their compensation. As a result, we proposed a solution that enabled the Client to control their entire business process, from the generation of a lead request from a “cold” customer through to the tracking of employee compensation.

This new business management system enabled the Client to improve business efficiency, allowing the Client to:

1. Increase its rate of sales.
2. Speed up staff workflow.
3. Automate an incentivized compensation plan to motivate employees based on their speed of work and complexity of an order.
4. Obtain business analytics on its product line and pricing strategy.

As a result, the sales process was optimized, employee engagement and productivity increased, and the order processing rate increased. This enabled the Client to increase profits.

Client

Problem

The CRM system the Client was using did not take into account:

1. The complexity of business workflows.
2. The speed and quality of sales manager work.
3. The relationship between employee work quality and employee compensation.

Project Goals

To develop and integrate automated systems into the company’s existing infrastructure and processes for both working with customers and motivating employees. We also needed to account for the specifics of the industry and their already established production process. We developed the following systems for automation:

1. Maintenance of the product catalog.
2. Tracking of orders, including those that require changes in the design and manufacture of products.
3. Calculation of each employee’s compensation based on the duration of the work and individual order complexity.

What Did We Do?

Task 1 – Development and Implementation of a Client Management System

The Client Management System (CMS) enabled the Client to:

• Take orders.
• Update the product catalog.
• Enter discounts.
• Account for order complexity (making changes to both design and manufacture).
• Calculate individual employee commission percentages.
• Track the status of transactions
• Create invoices that incorporate order complexity.
• Obtain business analytics for sales.
• Display employee performance analytics including motivation, speed, and work complexity.
• Account for payments received from customers when calculating employee compensation.

Result:

The integration of the CMS with payment systems enabled us to automate order payment based on order complexity. It also allowed the system to generate business analytics on the range of products (demand for specific goods during a given time period as well as prices during the same time period). The relationship between delays in customer payment and accrual of employee compensation increased the efficiency of their work with customers.

Task 2 – Development and Implementation of a Lead Customer Relationship Management (Lead CRM) System

The Lead CRM enabled the Client to:

• Automate data transfer from a lead to the Client.
• Measure the speed of lead processing by sales managers;
• Monitor the full production cycle from lead receipt through payment of compensation to employees.

Result:

The unique, seamless integration of the CMS and the Lead CRM ensured no data was lost during the conversion of a lead (request) to customer (order placement). Since the process was automated it eliminated miscommunication and increase sales manager efficiency.

The integration of an accounting system for all operations within an order, including processing speed, modifications to manufacture, customer installment plans, etc., enabled the Client to factor these variables in when calculating employee compensation. This improved both the accuracy and speed of these calculations.

Project Results

All the relevant company departments (design, manufacture, etc.) received necessary work information instantly and automatically.

These integrations provided the accounting department with an efficient tool to quickly calculate employee compensation which depends on multiple variables.

Order work cycle became much faster with the introduction of a mechanism that defined the relationship between compensation and an employee’s work speed.

The seamless integration of these systems provided automated customer and order data from the Lead CRM to CMS, minimizing data loss or miscommunication of information. This ended delays in information transfer.

Both the company and its department heads now had the opportunity to check the workmanship of each individual employee. This allowed them to monitor work complexity and individual multiplication ratios (commission percentages). The introduction of this transparent and easy to understand system provided financial motivation for employees, especially sales managers.

The combination of these measures led to a significant reduction in order work cycle (the period of time between registration to payment), resulting in increased profits per unit time.

Summary

A company selling Internet solutions (network equipment, IP telephony, technical support) experienced problems with manual project management. Their main workflow involved a complex chain of interaction with suppliers, customers, and business units within the company.

Any task from the submission of commercial offers to the payment of invoices, incurred significant losses of time and information. It was impossible to solve these problems without process automation.

We offered the Client an integrated and automated solution. Solutions implemented during the project included:

• Sales management.
• Contract work.
• Purchase management.
• Projects involving installation and follow-up technical support.

This new business process management system enabled the Client to significantly improve business efficiency, and in particular:

• The time needed for preparation and submission of commercial offers decreased from several days to 5–10 minute.
• Errors when filling out project documentation no longer occurred.
• The approval process for purchase requisitions was automated.
• Project task time was reduced, due to the seamless integration between the Sales Portal (lead generation) and the Installation Portal (project implementation).
• Payments for completed work started to be made regularly and on time.

Client

A company serving as a reseller of network solutions and IP telephony, based on hardware and software from other vendors.

Problems:

1. Problems with preparation of contracts. The company did not use IT systems to record and control sales. Employees had to fill in Excel spreadsheets manually. Moreover, the sales process had a complex structure: the total contract amount depended not only on the equipment list, but also on its configuration, current purchases, retail prices, and other factors such as the buyer’s location. A preliminary calculation made at the request of a potential customer took longer than a week.
2. Problems of communication between company departments. When a contract with a customer was concluded, the sales department forwarded the project documentation to service engineers manually. At this stage, the “human factor” affected business processes: the project documentation might be transferred with a delay, might be incomplete, or not transferred at all. As a result, the cycle of engineering work was unacceptably long, cash receipts were delayed, and the payment of subscription fees under technical support agreements incurred constant delays.
3. Problems related to an outsourcer. To improve the situation, the Client recruited an outsourcer, who examined the business process details for eight months in an attempt to standardize them. However, the Client was unable to implement their recommendations, as they would have disrupted rather than helped the company’s activities.

Project Goals

To develop and implement a solution that would significantly reduce the number of problems concerning interaction between contractors, customers, and company employees.

• To develop a user-friendly consumer application (portal) for each business process stage, in order to automate:
• The preparation and issue of commercial offers (sales department).
•  Interaction with vendors (purchasing department).
• The organization of work on the installation and maintenance of equipment (service engineers).

To develop a system of internal communication capable of integrating different information portals.

To eliminate the risks of information loss or miscommunication during the interaction of departments, excluding needless control procedures and adding necessary ones.

What Did We Do?

A situation analysis showed that:

1. The results of the earlier contractor’s (the outsourcer) work could not be used.
2. The Client did not have a full picture of what the results would look like.

Task 1 – Development and Implementation of the Sales Portal

The Sales Portal enabled the Client to:

• Automate the preparation and issue of commercial offers.
• Apply a price quote system for automatic correction and price verification, depending on the customer location.
• Automate the receipt of current purchase prices from vendors.

Result:

The development and implementation of an automated process of price verification and substitution in commercial offers supplied the solution. The time required for the preparation and issue of a commercial offer was reduced from several days to 5–10 days minimum.

Task 2 – Development and Implementation of an E-Signature Portal

The E-Signature Portal enabled the Client to:

• Automate contract preparation when a customer has accepted a commercial offer and wants to make a purchase.
• Eliminate the need for manual data transfer from a commercial offer to a contract.
• Connect a billing system that was developed for the Client’s needs.

Result:

The development and implementation of an automated process of price verification and substitution in commercial offers supplied the solution. The time required for the preparation and issue of a commercial offer was reduced from several days to 5–10 days minimum.

Task 3 – Development and implementation of a Purchase Portal

The Purchase Portal enabled the Client to:

•  Standardize the purchase procedure.
• Automate the approval of purchase orders at a fixed price.
• Exclude the possibility of purchases at a higher price without approval.
• Systematize information on all purchases, using the “what, from whom, when, at what price” template.

Result:

The Client is a reseller of hardware and software purchased from other vendors. It was therefore important:

• To create a purchase procedure for goods up to a certain price, including automation and simplification.
• To introduce additional regulation for purchases above a certain price.

To achieve this an algorithm that displays roles and statuses when approving and completing purchases was implemented.

Task 4 – Development and Implementation of an Installation Portal

The Installation Portal enabled the Client to:

• Systematize the work of engineers and project managers.
• Synchronize equipment connection requests with the conclusion of an agreement for its purchase.
• Synchronize technical support with subscription fees.
• Link payments to service engineers to provide evidence of work performed under contracts.
• End the transfer of project documentation hard copies.

Result:

Requests for the connection and set-up of equipment (for example, IP telephony) are now sent to the engineers immediately after a customer signs a contract. This ended any loss of information or undue transfer of information between the sales and service engineering departments. The regulation of time in both commissioning activities and technical support significantly reduced the amount of time between lead receipt and payment.

Project Results

Powerful automation of the company’s core business processes from sales, to the installation of equipment, and payment of invoices increased the total work efficiency of the company with respect to its customers. In addition, the transition to this new management system and its four mutually integrated portals:

• Accelerated the implementation of projects.
• Led to faster payment of invoices.
• Increased the customer loyalty with these improvements in service.