Forms and Data Capture Management May 2010
Content Forms Management Perspective Problems Objectives Some Solutions Benefits Forms Management for Insurers Case Study 1 Case Study 2 How can Rhombus help
Forms Management Perspective Filling out paper forms for business might be described in the kindest of terms as a necessary evil for a organization. Gartner, the research group, has found that for every dollar spent on producing paper forms, between $30 and $60 is spent in processing those forms, and estimates that $360 billion is spent annually on processing data from forms. Processing even a simple form can cost a company over $150 per form to process, according to a study funded by Microsoft. This includes labour and materials for printing, storing, filling out, receiving approval, and entering the information into the business system. In a diversified and geographically spread nation such as ours, forms management becomes even more expensive, complex and time consuming. With increased competition and adherence to Government regulations, TAT is very critical for any service offered by an organization, hence faster, accurate data capture will be important aspect of meeting TAT targets. And with increasing regulatory controls, especially in government, insurance and financial industries, it will only get worse, as increasing amounts of information must be extracted and processed from increasingly varied sources.
Form Management Nature of Problem Time-consuming & inefficient processes Incomplete or improperly complete forms Keying & calculation errors Inventory control Locating appropriate forms Revision control Accountability issues Who owns the forms Who reviews the form and how often Who approves the form Who owns the standards Separate attempts to create forms Word, Excel PDF Custom-coded web forms
Online Forms / e-forms Online forms rationale 7% of Indian population is online and growing E forms are faster cheaper to design and deploy Data validation and capture is faster Reduces number of data entry operators Features of Online forms Fully Customizable Layout Many Different Form Items Advanced Entry Validations Insert Calculations Visitors maintain own entries File Upload / Attachments Duplicate Entry Validation e-mail Notification Confirmation Screen Message After Submission Auto Respond By e-mail e-mail Verification Store entries, finish later Barcode processor View Result Entries Download Result Entries Publish Result Entries View Statistics Publish Statistics e-mail Your Respondents Filter Result Entries
Forms Management Objective Fast and accurate Data capture Lower production and processing costs for forms Increase productivity of data capture operators Improve data correctness and accuracy Adhere to approval processes Enable reaching out to remote corners of the country at minimal costs Manage variance in volumes with ease Eliminate / minimize paper forms Minimize training costs of data entry operators
Forms Management Some Available Solutions Automate data capture through technology o o o o Kofax Captiva Readsoft Leadtools Use remote scanning solutions Capture data remotely location such as coastal Andhra Pradesh, Goa, NE states etc. Redesign the forms to enable the automatic data recognition Use offline data capture Use web / online forms
Forms Management Expected Benefits Faster, accurate data capture Ability to meet service level TAT Reduction of data capture costs Increase in operator productivity Lower lead time to manage new forms 24 x 7 operations Ability to manage variance in volumes Ability to create new forms such as KYC (Know your customer, AML (Anti Money Laundering), Address change and manage them easily and efficiently. Reaching remote areas and delivering TAT equivalent to that of developed areas Ability to manage multiple type of forms with same operators
Insurers Perspective Like HR / Admn. / Legal who require to process info. for various matters would like the same info. to be entered in their respective systems for faster disposal. Other Deptts Sales Deptt. Quick receipt of desired Quote from UW based on risk details of client given to UW to close Sale. Seamless receipt of info. in its Claims Management System with details of loss, surveyor s report / assessment for quick claim processing. Claims Deptt. Operations Deptt. UW Deptt. Seamless receipt of desired risk info from Sales entered in the UW system to capture info and generate manual / system driven price, Ts&Cs. Seamless receipt of Quote, risk details from UW entered in Policy Management system for various after sales customer services - policy / endtt. issuance, renewal, CRM etc. Receipt and storage of info go hand in hand
Examples of Forms for Insurers Sales Processes Underwriting Processes Operations Processes Claims Processes Proposal Form Cover Note Premium Receipt Pre Acceptance test / survey report Proposal Form Risk info. Report Quote Schedules to be attached to policy Broker s slip RI slip Lead insurers policy Proposal Form Quote Schedules to be attached to policy Cover Note Broker s slip RI slip Claims intimation Claim payment details Post settlement recoveries Claims intimation Policy details Estimated loss Surveyor s report Assessment of loss Office note for claim approval
Case Study 1 Background Large Life Insure Company 1200+ branches across India Issues more than 75 m policies a year to customers on boarding for life insurance Decentralised operations Objective Reduce policy issuance TAT for remote location customers Minimize physical document flow between HO and 1200 branches across the country to reduce costs. Monitor and adhere to defined processes
Case Study 1 Solution Proposal documents gets scanned from 1200 branches across India to the HO Scanned documents are indexed centrally The index fields and the images are uploaded into Image repository The Images are then used for image based data entry into back end Insurance application Workflow is used for policy issuance and underwriting Once the policy is approved via workflow, Core insurance system will print the policy Front end (could be external agency) prints and distributes the policy to the customer
Case Study 1 Branches Central Office Scanner Branch Input Branch Auth HO Check HO Input HO Auth Local Images FTP & Upload DMS Core Insurance / Banking solution Search Images Search Images
Case Study 1 Cost of the solution (approximate) Software product cost (Onetime) : Rs. 400 Lacs Hardware costs (Onetime) : Rs. 1000 Lacs Implementation cost (Onetime) : Rs. 80 Lacs Support cost (Annual) : Rs. 200 + Lacs Duration for solution deployment 8 months Benefits Direct annual cost savings of approx Rs 650 Lacs on shipping of approx. 75 Lacs policy documents of 15 pages each Lower TAT, quick response, wide branch presence with 24 x 7 connectivity Scanning proposal form remotely and instantiate business process of Policy issuance Centralized repository for all customer communication and correspondences as per IRDA guidelines
Case Study 2 Background Large Private Sector Bank 800+ branches across India Opens more than 24 m accounts a year Centralized operations Objectives To automate data capture from the account opening forms and output the data to the core banking application used by the bank To design the system in such way that it s flexible enough to accomodate growing volumes The system should facilitate improvement in TAT The system should be simple to use so that any non technical person can operate the system easily The sytem should be able to measure the productivity of each operator
Case Study 2 Solution Paper forms sent to central location Paper forms scanned using Kodak scanners Scanned images preprocessed for deskewing and black border removal Form id module identifies the forms based on the bar code printed on the forms The enhancement module ensures recognition accuracy. Routing of forms to different sets of operator queues Recognition of data using OMR, OCR and ICR technology Manual completion of unrecognized data and verification Export to core banking system Rejected form data by core banking system reentered through workflow process
Case Study 2 Benefits Annual savings of approximate Rs. 250 Lacs directly in staff cost, rentals, outsourcing, electrical expenses Increase in data entry productivity levels by 60% Increase in supervisor productivity levels by 400% Data Capture through single screen (Older system used 8 screens) Advantage of deferred authorization (not available in older system) Higher levels of accuracy on account of dual data entry and OCR / OMR Elimination of several offline data capture software packages Multiple business rule validations and default fields to ensure accurate and faster data capture 24 hour operation capability Auto generation of productivity / error reports Instant image retrieval Improvement in quality of filled up form due to redesign of existing forms Lower lead time for system induction (for new recruits)
Case Study 2 Branches Central Office Local Branches Local Branches Local Branches Local Branches Local Branches Courier Input (Maker) Check (Checker) DMS Authoriser Search Images Search Images
Case Study 2 Cost of the solution (approximate) One time Software product cost : Rs. 300 Lacs One time Hardware costs: Rs. 150 Lacs One time Implementation cost: Rs. 50 Lacs Annual Support cost: Rs. 50 Lacs Duration for solution deployment 6 months
Forms Management Is all about.. Right design of form Inventory control Responsibility protocols Proper filling up of forms Data capture Data validation In time, every time Without errors Flexibility for varying load
Forms / Data Capture Mgmt. Some notable BFSI global companies practicing this: HDFC Bank Using for automating the data entry of CASA forms UTI Bank Using for automating data entry of CASA forms Progressive Using for automating their insurance application forms processing Primerica - one of the world s largest marketing organizations Using for automating their client s application form using Formware AIM - is a provider of mutual funds. They processed new applications for these funds on key from image system that used direct data entry into a mainframe environment. Captiva. AON Securities - Warranty Group Using solution for automated means to capture images and extract data from extended warranty service contracts.
How can Rhombus help Forms Processing system review and suggestions Form review with a view to redesign the form for automatic data capture Data capture process review with a view to redesign the process E forms / Online forms usage review and adoption Validation process review with a view to improve accuracy Setting performance standards to measure internal efficiencies Setting up of solutions Scanning / remote scanning Automatic forms processing (use of OMR, ICR, OCR ) Document Management Effective use of Mobile Phones as a means for communicating status to the customer during the forms processing (application received status, missing information / documents, and so on..)
What can Rhombus deliver Form design that enable automatic data capture Scanning and capture architecture including remote capture Forms solution, data capture system design & architecture Forms solution selection Data capture and approval workflow E forms design and architecture for deployment Architecture for integrating scanning, forms processing with document management system SLA s with respect to the TAT requirements Design of Dashboards for internal and external performance measurements Service vendor selection criteria, vendor shortlist
Proposed Scope of Work Study of external forms in use in the organization Study of other systems the forms data has to update Study of volumes Requirements Document Conceptual solution design Architecture Sizing Form definition (up to 3 complex forms 50 fields) Form redesign for auto extraction Forms solution features / functionality criteria Scanning solution features / functionality criteria Short list of 3 products meeting the Forms / scanning criteria Short list of 3 implementation vendors (optional) Rhombus requires 6 7 weeks for this