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Projects

Major Canadian bank

 

 

Personal Computers were a relatively new tool in large organizations in the early '90s. Their data management was entirely based on mainframe systems that required a specialized skillset to build, manage, and maintain the datasets and produce reports.

 

After demonstrating a prototype of a pc-based database solution, we were given approval by the department's executive to move the prototype into a full scale tool.

 

The project plan was to build the solution incrementally and to implement each increment so that its benefits could be experienced sooner than later. This approach also gave us the opportunity to learn from each implementation and get user feedback to help mold the interface and processes for subsequent modules.

 

Up until this project, the information that was managed by each loans officer was housed in a large file room. In order to retrieve their file, they had to place a request slip on their desk and, frequently during the day, clerks from the file room would survey the department and pick up the request slips and subsequently deliver the needed file.

 

To produce management reports, staff would collect information from the files and enter them into the mainframe system. The resulting output was very limited in breadth, depth, and, most certainly, timeliness.

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At the end of the project, loans officers were managing their entire loan portfolio themselves from their desks. Each manager, Director, and Vice-President now also had complete and timely information on which to base decisions. It wasn't long before the President of their Individual Bank services requested the system be installed on his desktop !

 

The tool was implemented in loan departments aross Canada and The Cayman Islands.

Drug and alcohol testing company

 

 

This organization was functioning well with six staff and a pc-based database system purchased from another drug and alcohol testing provider in the States.

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There was significant opportunity to add value to their customers. It was early 2000 and the internet presented an inviting medium.

 

The first step was to make test results available to clients online. This reduced requirements to fax or telephone results to clients and clients would receive notice and access to test results as soon as the results were entered into the management tool.

 

Over the next few years, significant value continued to be added:

 

  • online booking of tests directly with third-party collection sites

  • distribution of positive results to clients via automated text messaging

  • online billing

  • improved chain-of-custody procedures

  • dramatically improved turn-around times for processing results

  • improved results history for each individual tested

  • geographic distribution of two call centres to better accomodate national clients and the time zones in which they opperate

  • more effective and efficient booking of tests in collection sites across Canada

 

These tools and processes enabled the company to quadruple its client-base without effort, other than increasing to twenty call-centre staff.

Regional volunteer-pay newspaper

 

 

The challenge was how to manage 40,000 volunteer-pay subscriptions, the delivery of the newspaper three-times a week, and an army of young delivery staff that changes frequently.

 

The solution included means to:

 

  • record, maintain, and manage clients

  • manage each client's delivery information including whether they receive newspapers, flyers, or both

  • manage stop-start deliveries when clients may be on vacation

  • manage each client's volunteer payment transactions and other client's subscription transactions

  • manage delivery staff including vacation

  • determine bi-weekly delivery staff payroll and export data file for automatic deposit into each staff's bank account

  • provide information required by publisher to produce, wrap, label, and distribute newspapers and flyers to the proper delivery staff and location

  • provide information required by sales staff to help them sell opportunities to companies that wish to distribute their flyers

  • maintain the data such that it can be audited at any past point-in-time.

 

Incorporating a mapping component significantly helped management with determining areas of the city in which they should try to increase distribution. Mapping also helped delivery staff with when deliveries are to be placed.

 

Efficiencies enabled a reduction in department staff while increasing the value-added of the remaining staff. 

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