A couple of Bob’s friends have iPads. They love them. Bob went to the Apple store to check it out. He found out he could check e-mail, read books and magazines, play music and games, and watch movies. The salesman also showed how Bob could connect remotely to his work computer and do everything he could do at his desk. With a stylus, Bob could also write on it like a pad of paper. Perfect – a “connected vacation!” Guilt-free.

The first person Bob saw when he returned to work was Steve Paperwaster. Steve was in charge of operations. Steve believed in keeping people informed by distributing reports on every aspect of the company. Steve’s three assistants, Peter, Mary and Paul, spend most of their time printing, copying and delivering Steve’s reports. The local office supply store had made Steve a charter member of the “Save What Trees?” club and offered free delivery for all of the company’s paper orders.

On Bob’s first day back, Steve cornered Bob and told him he needed to hire another person. His staff was having a hard time keeping up with all of the reports and was really behind the eight ball if one of them went on vacation. Bob wasn’t sure adding staff was a good idea. Steve’s budget was really high as it was, and Bob knew Jim Strong, the president, wasn’t going to like seeing it go higher. There had to be a better way to “Slay the Dragon,” as they say…….

Bob remembered an article he had read on his iPad – it was from ACG, a technology firm in Ohio. The article was about “pushing” information out to people electronically. The article stated that any report currently being printed could also be created automatically and sent by e-mail. With no human involvement! And, another bonus — specific events and exceptions could be reported when they happened. Bob remembered when Molly MICR in AP cut a check to a vendor and added a couple of extra zeros. She was on the hot seat until she got the check back! ACG’s offering would have caught the error before the check was mailed. Bob gave ACG a call.

Bob learned that ACG has been in business for over 25 years and has a great reputation for helping clients successfully implement technology. (End of commercial message!)

Bob sent ACG samples of the reports Steve had been creating. Bob was surprised ACG could generate these reports from almost any type of ERP or accounting system and route them appropriately! Bob was given the green light that Steve’s reports could be created with ACG’s system. When Bob got the quote, he was floored. The cost was less than a fraction of the salary of just one of Steve’s employees. Bob went to Jim Strong with a plan based on his findings.

Jim Strong listened to Bob. Jennifer, Jim’s assistant, would be happy with this plan, too. She spent a lot of time at the shredder destroying Steve’s reports after Jim read them. The shredder noise distracted everyone. Mary, Peter and Paul would be transferred to other departments as part of the plan – this was like gaining new employees.

A month after the system was installed, Steve caught Bob in the hall. Steve was happy! All of his reports were being delivered to the right people at the right time. Always. Automatically. He also shared with Bob that he was leaving on a jet plane for vacation. With his iPad…Guilt-free.

To be continued……..

If this fills your day, how do you do anything about the other important stuff?

Why not let your computers do the work for you? They are faster and paid for…… We can get you there….

WHAT DOES BUSINESS PROCESS AUTOMATION NOT DO?

bitch
take time off
make mistakes
forget
miss deadlines
ask for a raise
get sick
say “whoops!”
WHAT’S YOUR PREFERENCE????

Management was hesitant to agree, because the manufacturing manager had been there a long time, and they didn’t want to lose him. Bob argued that the cost to The Company of not having accurate information was more than what the manager was worth. He also knew the manager didn’t understand the value of automation and would see the benefit after using it. Management agreed to the project. As you can guess, the results were positive. The Company now knew the exact cost of manufacturing and started quoting using this data. They also found out that they could not be competitive in some areas and stopped bidding on those projects “just to get the business.”

A couple weeks later, Bob was called into Jim Strong’s office. Jim was the president of The Company. Bob wondered what this was all about. He walked down the hall thinking of all the possible subjects. He said “Hi” to Jennifer, Mr. Strong’s secretary. Jennifer told Bob to have a seat and Mr. Strong would be with him shortly. Just as Bob was starting to sit down ………

The End (or is it?)

In his second year on the committee, he was responsible for instituting an online employee portal where employees could now review their pay stubs and were able to request information changes, instead of using the dreaded paper change form. Managers were now able to review employee information and electronically route their approvals. When Marge retired from HR, they didn’t have to hire a replacement. More money to the bottom line!

About a year later, the Operations Manager retired. Bob was offered the position, and he accepted. His first goal was to automate the manufacturing process. This was a “sacred cow,” and nobody tried to mess with the manufacturing department. Bob knew the reported manufacturing costs weren’t accurate and that The Company was losing money on some of the jobs they quoted. In addition, the Accounting Department was spending way too much time working on manufacturing variances.

To be continued……..

Once again, Bob asked how much this person would cost. He then shared how his old company added scanning and handheld devices to warehouse and manufacturing processes. This eliminated the need for Accounting to enter the data, because it (data) was entered directly into the handheld devices. Accounting still performed the update process to ensure accuracy of data. The results? Customer shipment accuracy was increased, receiving functions were accomplished more quickly, and everyone had the right information at their fingertips to ensure on-time delivery to the customers. Customer satisfaction increased. So did profits, because of the increase in sales due to higher customer satisfaction. They were able to increase business by 20% before considering adding additional employees. The committee decided to contact their software vendor to investigate their options. Once again, the purchase could be spread over three years and would cost less than hiring another employee.

The Company’s management agreed to the change. They had been looking at another system that had all the bells and whistles, but the cost was very high. Management was also impressed with how the recruiting issue had been handled. As you can guess, productivity increased, errors decreased, and customer satisfaction skyrocketed! Bob was starting to see The Company for which he had always wanted to work start to live up to his expectations!

Bob now had the committee’s attention, and they started looking at other ways to improve internally. He started sharing how his former employer had a performance review system tied to corporate goals. This increased productivity even further, by about 5%. Turnover was also reduced by 14%, since employees felt more valued and knew what was expected of them.

To be continued……..

Both the HR/Payroll and Accounting departments stated they needed to add more employees. They said that, with the economy starting to improve, more people would be needed to keep up with data entry in both departments. Also, HR was spending more and more time printing and reviewing applications. They had stacks of folders full of applications all over the place! It was taking too long just glancing at the applications to find duplicates from previously
rejected candidates. Bob saw a window of opportunity… He shared that his old company had an online job board and that everyone who wanted to work there had to log in and apply online. The applicant was also asked questions related to the job position as part of this process. The applicants were then ranked by their qualifications and answers. The top candidates were easily identified, and their applications were forwarded to the recruiter for follow-up. His old company only had one person working part-time on this. The Company had two full-time recruiters and was requesting another. And they certainly weren’t hiring six times as many people as his old company!

Bob asked what the salary was for the new recruiter. He knew how much the old company’s recruiting system cost. It was about the same price as one year’s salary. Why not buy the system instead of hiring a new employee? His old company also was able to pay for the new system over three years. That made the cost one-third of a new hire request. The committee agreed to research the possibility. After due diligence, management approved the purchase. This system was up and running quickly and the proper people trained. The results? Hiring, on average, took half the time. In addition, The Company found great candidates who excelled at their positions. Another benefit was a reduction in turnover. The committee was praised by management for such a great idea!!

Bob had found a way to make The Company see the value of technology! The next area was the Accounting Department. This was going to be fun. Bob was still working at the old company when they converted, and he knew what benefits resulted from the changes.

To be continued……..