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Imagine that you
are awaiting a document that describes a major new
project for your organization. After the document
arrives in the mail room, it is delivered to you on the
daily mail cart. It is now your responsibility to see
that the 30 or 40 responsible persons, who are located
in several buildings around the city and around the
country, complete the hundreds of different tasks
described in the document. Each person must then record
his or her work on a paper form and pass the package on
or return it to you.
Will the project ever get completed? Probably, but
only with an inordinate amount of effort, expense, and
anxiety.
There is a better way to complete that project.
Workflow automation, which replaces manual processes
with electronic ones, vastly speeds up and improves on
the execution of major tasks. In this case, the original
document is placed online so that it is easily
accessible to everyone at all times. Each participant
records his or her efforts electronically, and the
information is automatically updated to a database.
Everybody knows exactly what stage the process is in at
any given time. And, finally, a complete historical
record of the process is created.
Workflow automation is an increasingly important
means for improving the core business processes of an
organization. In conjunction with
business process reengineering and other
professional services, it can transform the way you
do business. CSC, a leader in automation, has
helped many organizations automate their key business
processes. We can help you, too, streamline your
organization's current operations, reduce associated
labor costs, speed up processing time, and enhance
overall process quality.
For more information, please contact
Kumait Jawdat,
Business Development.
What We Offer ||
Success Stories
Information Flow Definition
CSC sees workflow automation as a major way to
improve the way you do business. We begin by identifying
and analyzing the key processes of your business. We
then determine the steps that will make up the new
process and we define the rules that will govern it. We
also determine the skills that an employee will need to
complete a step, the most efficient sequence for
executing the steps, and the conditions under which they
should be performed. The information is summarized in a
workflow chart and detailed in other documentation.
Forms and Links Design
CSC designs program instructions for the
automated system based on a
system architecture. We design the user interface,
including the forms that users will work with, and the
reports they will produce. We create the business rules
for the
databases. And, we create the software that links
the forms to the databases and the databases to the
reports.
Modeling and Prototyping
We use
network modeling to model and simulate actual
conditions. This allows us to discover and correct
potential problems even before we build a prototype.
Based on the results of the modeling, we build a
prototype. We test the prototype for critical
indicators, including feasibility, usability,
reliability, availability, sizing, and performance. We
then use the results to build the best system for your
needs.
Optimization and Testing
In our labs and at your site, we apply the results of
our simulations and prototype tests to optimize routing,
database access, and other critical functions. We also
conduct tests to verify that all your requirements have
been met.
Monitoring and Measuring
We provide guidelines for monitoring and measuring your
system so that we can ensure that it will meet your
needs as your business grows.
As part of its
Joint Staff Automation for the Nineties project for
the Joint Chiefs of Staff, CSC designed and
implemented a system that allows up to 1,300 Staff
officers to process thousands of "actions" each year
from their computers. Incoming correspondence is scanned
into the workflow system, called Joint Staff Action
Processing (JSAP), and is assigned a code that directs
it to the right officer for action. The officer then
attaches letters, forms, or other electronic documents
and forwards the response to the next officer in the
process. Others may add or revise information, and
various officers up the chain of command review the
action. A single action may take months to complete and
involve hundreds of officers. At any one time, JSAP
handles about 2,000 actions, which are constantly
changing.
CSC also has performed workflow automation
for its own organizations. In a project for GTE
Telephone Operations, we designed, built, delivered, and
installed an advanced document-imaging, intelligent
forms processing system for the Accounts Payable Center
in San Angelo, Texas. The Accounts Payable Image
Retrieval System (APIRS) is a 45-seat client/server
system that automatically scans, recognizes, processes,
verifies, and archives machine-generated and
hand-printed employee expense reports and
check-requisition forms. The system, which supports the
processing needs of 70,000 employees, disperses more
than $12 billion in vendor payments annually. |
