Reduce inefficiency in financial transactions, achieve better customer service
Build visible value streams and create sustainable, continuous improvement in knowledge work processes; learn how to build standard work across value streams; engage knowledge workers in creating better standards for the business and implementing improvement strategies.
Learn how to continuously improve knowledge work processes and achieve significant efficiencies, using a back-to-the-basics approach. Hear about Grange initiatives focused on financial transactions—work that is largely invisible and dependent on IT systems. Get information about strategies used by its operational excellence (OpX) team to build visible value streams. In turn, knowledge workers became informed about waste, documented and validated critical quality characteristics, redefined metrics for baseline and ROI measurements, built standard work across the value stream and set up new control systems for sustainable improvement. Find practical details about two projects that traveled this path, achieving thousands of dollars in savings as they created better standards for the business. Hear how a request from management, “Reduce costs on reports,” led to analysis and improvement of the underwriting decision process (saving $100,000 in annual report costs and paving the way for better quote submissions tracking). Another request, “Serve our agent customers faster,” sparked a project to fix call routing, improving customer service and saving associates 45 percent of time spent on calls.
Grange Insurance, founded in 1935, is headquartered in Columbus, OH. The company markets personal and commercial property and casualty insurance, as well as life insurance, in 13 states through the independent insurance agent system. Grange has $1.3 billion in annual revenues and $2 billion in assets. It is rated “A” (excellent) by A.M. Best. Grange developed a strategic business initiative around operational excellence in 2011, focused on building a spirit of continuous improvement as it developed education/projects and delivered results. www.grangeinsurance.com
Amy Tomaszewski, assistant vice president of operational excellence for Grange Insurance, has 26 years’ experience in the insurance industry. She has a B.B.A. degree from the University of Toledo and has a Chartered Property Casualty Underwriter (CPCU) designation. She worked in claims, operations, IT and project management, including experience with continuous improvement and lean six sigma. She works with the Ohio State University Fisher Business College Center of Excellence, serving on the steering committee of its consortium, the IT Leadership Network.
