Process Automation LIVE - Épisode 1 : Assurance

Introduction to the Webinar

Overview of the Session

• Nicolas Chinard introduces himself as the Customer Success Manager at Bonita Soft, overseeing the Altima project.

• The webinar is titled "Process Automation Live" and focuses on insurance, featuring discussions with three representatives from Altima.

• Bonita Soft is presented as a platform for process automation and digitalization, offering both an open-source community version and an enterprise version.

Meet the Altima Team

Team Introductions

• Denis Baudin, a freelance product owner for over two years at Altima, discusses his role in optimizing business processes using Bonita.

• An unnamed female representative shares her decade-long experience at Altima, focusing on various insurance products and client management.

• Giselin Renal introduces himself as an architect at Altima for four years and currently serves as a product owner for API insurance.

Understanding Altima's Operations

Company Background

• Giselin explains that Altima has been operational for over 20 years with around 100 employees and manages approximately 50,000 auto risks and 70,000 IRD risks.

• The company positions itself as an innovator in insurance under MAIF's umbrella, launching unique products like Assurance Unique that consolidates multiple insurances into one contract.

Innovative Insurance Solutions

• They offer innovative contracts such as pay-per-mile auto insurance with embedded devices in vehicles to track usage.

The Need for Process Automation

Challenges Faced Before Automation

• Giselin highlights that prior to automation, processes were managed manually through Excel spreadsheets which led to inefficiencies in compliance checks and document completeness.

Goals of Implementing Automation

• The team aimed to automate manual tasks like reminders for life events or document submissions to streamline operations and improve reliability.

• They sought to enhance customer reassurance by automating follow-ups on claims status and satisfaction surveys.

Automation in Business Processes

Benefits of Automation

• The client experienced time savings and improved work comfort due to automation, allowing focus on higher-value tasks.

• Implementing BPM (Business Process Management) enhanced visibility for activity managers, addressing issues with manual reporting that lacked clarity.

• Automated reminders for quotes increased proactivity in handling pending responses, ensuring consistent treatment of all clients.

Compliance and Workflow Improvement

• Ongoing efforts are made to address compliance issues, particularly regarding client documentation requirements.

• A process is established for improving workflow related to compliance checks and fraud reporting.

Project Overview and Process Automation

• The project focuses on automating business processes to enhance efficiency by reducing manual tasks.

• Initial automation targeted processes that could be fully automated without user interaction, simplifying technological complexity.

User Interaction in Processes

• Current developments involve more user-interactive processes like compliance forms and exception management, requiring user input for decision-making.

• These interactive processes allow escalation of tasks to managers or technical services based on user submissions.

Development Phases and Observations

• The initial phase involved understanding company processes through observation before moving into development.

• This observational phase lasted several weeks, focusing on documenting processes and identifying key performance indicators (KPIs).

Frequency of Development

• The team classified processes by difficulty level; the development speed varied based on the complexity of each process being automated.

• Emphasis was placed on a thorough understanding before implementation rather than rushing into execution.

Business Process Automation and Connector Development

Initial Observations and Selection of Processes

• The team focused on generating user efficiency and compliance by selecting specific processes for improvement based on various indicators.

• A second phase involved developing custom connectors, with a focus on integrating existing systems into the Bonita platform.

Custom Connectors and Integration

• Native connectors such as Alfresco were utilized to connect to Jed, alongside API connectors developed for integration with other technical components like Kiamo (a telephony software).

• After completing the observation and selection phases, the first process was put into production within approximately three months.

Process Automation Timeline

• The automation processes have been launched every two months since the project's inception, with more complex interactions requiring additional time for development.

• Emphasis was placed on redesigning Excel-based processes to improve efficiency during automation rather than replicating them directly.

Strategy in Process Selection

• A key strategy discussed was prioritizing which processes to automate first based on their potential value versus effort required, highlighting effective decision-making in project management.

Collaboration and Team Structure

• The project involved both internal teams and external consultants from CGI, who provided guidance during the solution selection and integration phases.

• CGI's role included advising Altima on BPM solutions while also assisting in implementation; this collaboration has evolved into a mixed model of internal development supported by external expertise.

Internal Competence Development

• Over time, Altima's internal team has gained competence in managing production tasks related to Bonita processes, including incident detection and analysis.

• This hybrid approach allows for flexibility in development while ensuring that internal capabilities are strengthened over time.

Choosing Bonita: Key Criteria and Insights

Selection Criteria for Bonita

• The choice of Bonita was influenced by several criteria, including a comparative study that highlighted its design simplicity, making it more user-friendly compared to programming-heavy tools.

• Deployment processes are straightforward due to the structured environment setup (development, testing, pre-production, production), facilitating easier management of deployments.

• Availability of pre-configured connectors simplifies integration tasks and reduces operational overhead. Cost considerations also favored Bonita, particularly regarding ongoing maintenance rather than initial purchase costs.

• Altima's affiliation with the Maif group provided valuable prior experience with Bonita, enhancing confidence in its selection based on shared insights.

Results and Automation Achievements

Impact of Automation on Processes

• Daily automated processes handle numerous tasks after hours (starting at 19h), allowing managers to focus on customer engagement and sales opportunities.

• The automation leads to improved reporting accuracy and visibility for team leaders over various timeframes (daily, weekly, monthly).

• Currently implemented only in the main product (automobile insurance), there are plans to extend automation across other insurance products following successful testing phases.

Quantitative Outcomes from Automation

• Monthly statistics reveal significant automation: 113 contract reminders via email/tasks; 149 subscription confirmations via SMS; 127 life reminders; and 502 claims lifecycle notifications.

• Automated communications respect client preferences—emails or task creation occurs when clients opt out of email contact or lack an email address.

Process Automation Metrics

Overview of Automated Processes

• Approximately ten processes have been automated so far. These include operations scheduled during off-hours to optimize resource use without disrupting customer service availability.

• Current automated processes primarily involve client notifications through SMS or email while ensuring human interaction is prioritized when necessary for sensitive matters.

Automation and Process Optimization in Altima

Overview of Current Processes

• Discussion on the need for generating tasks for managers when contact information (SMS or email) is unavailable, emphasizing a shift from manual notifications to automated systems.

Future Steps in Project Development

• Acknowledgment of nearing the end of the session, prompting concise responses regarding project metrics and next steps.

Automation Goals

• Plans to automate exemption requests currently handled by another tool, enhancing visibility and tracking for team members during colleague absences.

• Long-term goal includes digitizing all incoming flows (mail, emails, faxes), eliminating manual distribution to streamline processes.

Task Management Enhancements

• Focus on automating task management through Bonita software, allowing managers to receive daily workload based on their schedules.

Technology Integration

• Introduction of character recognition technology separate from Bonita for digitizing incoming flows while Bonita manages task distribution.

Generalization of Existing Processes

• Strategy involves testing processes on specific products before generalizing them across all products to ensure effectiveness.

Advice for Automation Initiatives

• Emphasis on the importance of process discovery and observation phases to identify optimization opportunities effectively.

Measurement Importance

• Suggestion that measuring performance before and after automation is crucial for assessing gains accurately.

Resource Engagement

• Highlighting the necessity of involving key personnel during process launches to facilitate change management effectively.

User Support Strategies

• Regular demonstrations and process documentation are essential for user support; providing clear guidelines helps users understand new processes better.

Communication Tools

• Mention of creating process sheets that outline what each process does, including automated communications sent to clients.

Conclusion and Transition to Q&A

• Recognition of the importance of cross-departmental collaboration in successful projects; transition into a Q&A session with audience questions.

Automation and RPA Integration Discussion

Interface with RPA Software

• The discussion begins with a question about interfacing their solution with RPA software, specifically UI Pass.

• The speaker clarifies that they are not currently using RPA software but focus on API calls for automation, indicating a shift in their technological approach since 2015.

• They mention that some clients in the banking sector have successfully integrated Bonita with UPS for document generation and validation, suggesting potential commonalities across industries.

Measuring ROI and KPIs

• A question arises regarding the measurement of ROI beyond existing KPIs, particularly concerning paper correspondence replaced by automated processes.

• The speaker explains that while they haven't formally measured ROI, they estimate time savings based on tasks processed and time spent by managers on those tasks.

• Emphasis is placed on the importance of measuring before and after implementing automation to accurately assess ROI; however, improving service quality remains the primary goal rather than focusing solely on financial metrics.

Monitoring and Reporting Capabilities

• The conversation highlights how previous manual processes lacked monitoring capabilities; now, reporting tools allow them to track performance effectively.

• There’s an acknowledgment that while formal ROI calculations weren't prioritized due to cultural reasons, having KPIs enables them to assign value retrospectively if needed.

Team Structure and Resource Allocation

• Questions arise about team size working on Bonita; the response indicates a small core team supplemented by additional resources as needed.

• The team consists of one-and-a-half developers dedicated full-time along with a business analyst contributing half-time efforts towards project goals.

Maintenance and Process Oversight

• As processes become automated, questions about ongoing maintenance and oversight emerge. This indicates a need for continuous monitoring post-deployment to ensure functionality.

Maintenance and Monitoring in Production Processes

Overview of Maintenance Responsibilities

• The maintenance process involves monitoring production processes, managed by the HS team using a tool called Centréon, which is integrated with Bonita for alerting anomalies.

• Regular updates are necessary for the tools used; the team monitors new versions and aligns with major releases rather than every update.

• Maintenance primarily focuses on version management and platform monitoring, with no specific maintenance beyond evolutionary changes.

Monitoring Practices

• There is ongoing surveillance of business indicators to ensure they align with expectations, supplemented by periodic checks from the service center team.

• The current organizational structure does not have dedicated process managers; instead, the plateau team oversees reporting consistency across various processes.

Deployment Strategies

• New solutions are initially tested within a limited scope before being generalized to broader contracts or products based on successful outcomes over time.

Real-Time Processing and Monitoring

• Both batch processing and real-time processing via APIs are utilized; while most production processes operate in batches, some require immediate handling.

Choice of Enterprise Version

• The decision to use an enterprise version was driven by the need for support to meet operational demands during industrialization efforts.

• Key differentiators between community and enterprise versions include support availability and additional functionalities that enhance user experience.

Conclusion and Future Engagement

• Acknowledgment of participants' contributions; upcoming discussions will focus on education and public institutions related to digitalization projects at Paris Dauphine University.

• Encouragement for audience engagement regarding questions about Altima's project or digitalization initiatives.