In pursuit of elevating operational efficiency without expanding resources, a leading Utah-based supply chain management provider encountered a multifaceted challenge. To enhance throughput, they sought solutions for intricate processes involving health and safety assessments, workforce compliance evaluations, ESG considerations, and financial viability assessments for comprehensive risk evaluation. With a team of 90 service agents managing over 20,000 requests, the need for a transformative approach was evident. Discover how Netscribes tackled this challenge that resulted in a 40% increase in overall throughput and a streamlined supplier document management system, all achieved with the existing workforce.
Challenge
The company was looking to increase throughput without ramping up its resources. To achieve this, they faced the following hurdles:
- They needed to conduct intricate scrutiny – a process that involved health and safety assessments, workforce compliance evaluations, Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) considerations, and financial viability assessments for comprehensive risk evaluation.
- Their supplier expertise services were subject to thorough verification.
- Their existing team of 90 service agents was handling more than 20,000 service requests related to both, new supplier onboarding and the renewal of existing suppliers.
Approach and solution
To address this challenge, our service team initiated a detailed analysis of the supplier onboarding process, which involved handling over 30 types of service requests. The approach included –
- Time-motion analysis: Each service request underwent a comprehensive time-motion analysis to understand the steps involved and time spent on each process.
- Identification of high-leverage services: Services with high leverage, promising maximum time savings through automation, were identified.
- Automation solution development: A tailored automation solution was developed and deployed for the identified high-leverage services.
- Browser-based extension: Integrated with the document management system and Salesforce, the extension streamlined the process.
- Salesforce integration: Service types and details were identified through Salesforce.
- Document retrieval: Relevant documents were fetched from the document management system post-identification.
- Rule engine implementation: The solution incorporated a rule engine with verification rules for each service document, enabling automated approval or rejection of service requests based on the document verification results.
Results delivered
The implementation of the automation solution resulted in –
- A remarkable 40% increase in overall throughput
- Approximately 28,000 service requests processed with the existing team of around 90 service agents
- Average supplier onboarding time reduction from 5 days to an impressive 3 days
Client benefit
The implementation of our technology-enabled operation augmentation showcased remarkable efficiency gains. The integration of the document management system played a pivotal role, in expediting document retrieval and verification processes. This contribution significantly fueled the substantial improvements in overall operational efficiency, ensuring a streamlined and agile supplier management system for the client’s firm.
