A recent survey by Microsoft confirmed what many managers have long suspected – workers are wasting or idling away a large slice of their working time. Out of an average working week of 45 hours about 17 of those hours are unproductive, according to the 38,000 people in 200 countries who responded Microsoft Office Personal Productivity Challenge.

While unclear objectives, lack of team communication and ineffective meetings were identified as culprits, the survey also showed that over 50% of workers relate their productivity directly to their software.

Naturally, Microsoft’s suggested remedy for the unproductive workplace is to install the latest versions of its Office software suite (see www.microsoft.com/office/evolve) and there is no doubt that when used properly this is a very effective toolset for general information management and communication. In addition, there are now a range of solutions to support many specific business processes that result in more effective use of staff skills, time and therefore productivity.

We searched the 600+ New Zealand case studies in the iStart.co.nz research portal to identify ten areas where IT can boost productivity most. Here are our suggestions:

1) Business Intelligence (BI)
Business Intelligence applications can help staff and managers quickly collate and analyse data and present the results in graphical format for quick decision making. BI ‘dashboards’ (see image below) can be customised to people’s roles so they are presented continuously with a screen of the information they need.

June 2005

Examples: Rotorua’s Red Stag Timber needed detailed demand, production and financial forecast for three months ahead, as well as a long-range forecast covering the subsequent nine months. It used MIS AG’s BI solution because its existing process for sourcing reports was based on a series of Excel spreadsheets, and was taking 1,500 hours of senior management time each year to maintain.
See: www.istart.co.nz/misag.htm

When IT distributor Express Data implemented Q4bis business intelligence solution staff could quickly assess the needs and buying habits of key customers. This lead to a bottom line improvement of 5-10% in the first 12 months alone, and a reduction of aged stock from 40-50% to 15%, representing a huge saving for the company.
See: www.istart.co.nz/iQ4bis.htm

Further Research: www.istart.co.nz/Business-Intelligence.htm

2) Business Process Management (BPM)
Whenever you have processes that cover multiple staff, departments or organisations, you have the recipe for wastage. BPM solutions eliminate this by mapping out the process and the participants, and then providing a common tool for each to access or integrate with so that all involved know where any given event is in a process, can see the relevant documentation and who has the current responsibility, thus eliminating delays and uncertainty that otherwise require staff to work out manually.

Example: NZ Post has used ECN Group’s Viibe solution to coordinate its international bulk mail lodgements business. Smart internet-based information systems have shelved paper and empowered NZ Post’s supply chain partners - increasing profitability and dramatically improving work processes.
See: NZ Post feels the viibe  

3) CRM
CRM systems enhance productivity through providing a common tool for maintaining customer information, databases and records of how each area in your organisation has interacted with any given customer. Advanced users incorporate customised CRM applications into their call centre, service desks and automate many of their sales and marketing process with the functionality. This all save time on manipulating databases, tracking down up to data details and by automating standard processes.

Examples: When telecommunications company Multelink installed the FrontOffice GoldMine CRM solution the company improved sales force productivity resulting increased closing rates on sales leads by nearly 50%.
See www.istart.co.nz/multelink.htm

In another example, the Auckland Chamber Commerce installed a Pivotal CRM solution which allowed members to register for events online. The effect was little short of revolutionary. Registration automatically generates an invoice in the Chamber’s accounting package and any human intervention is now purely a checking procedure, for example acting on special requests. As the Chamber was putting on almost 300 events a year, the big decrease in administrative processing time enabled the events management team to spend time doing what they do best – organising events. 

Further Research:  See also case studies EECA, Competenz  and see www.istart.co.nz/crm.htm

4) Document Management
In addition to the email and document sharing, management and collaboration tools built into Lotus Domino Notes and Microsoft Office, there are a number of specialist solutions to assist staff handle the amount of electronic and printed documents generated in this day in age.

Examples: Think about all the paper forms your organisation gets people to fill in; application forms, registration forms, purchase request forms, etc. Now imagine if all those paper forms littering the desks, folders and filing cabinets of your organisation could all be filled out online by staff or customers and the results automatically submitted for processing, without even having to print them off? Printing company the Wickliffe Group used the Liquid Office document management solution to fulfil that exact vision internally and is now making the service available to other New Zealand organisations still battling their own wars on paper.
See Workflow/Process Management - Don't mention the paperless office

In an other example, when industrial gas company Air Liquide called in Pickfords to implement a document management solution to streamline its invoicing and archiving it freed up two of Air Liquide’s printers and several staff who were tied up for two days a month when doing the company’s debtor print run.
See www.istart.co.nz/pickfords.htm

Further Research:
See also the case studies on Sealord and Toyota Financial Services and see www.istart.co.nz/BPM-doc-mgmt-portal.htm

5) B2B Electronic Document Exchange/Integration
Why send purchase orders, invoices and shipping confirmations documents to your customers and partners only for them to have staff re-key the data into their system - and visa versa. These days – regardless of company size – there are well-proven systems and services that leverage the Internet to handle these exchanges automatically, and in doing so, eliminating errors and unnecessary manual processing time by staff.

Examples: When book retailer A&R Whitcoulls turned to The ECN Group to automate the handling of 250,000 invoices annually, the retailer saved the equivalent of 18 full time staff.
See: www.istart.co.nz/ecngroup.htm

In a similar example, IBM provided a B2B gateway for agricultural services provider Elders to automate the production of 1.2 million merchandising invoices the company was raising each year across Australasia.. Since implementation, Elders has experienced a 70% productivity improvement in accounts payable, a 70% reduction in manual paperwork and a significantly decreased rate of error.
See www.istart.co.nz/elders.htm

Further Research:
http://www.istart.co.nz/b2b-ecommerce.htm

6) E-Procurement and e-Recruitment
These are two specialist roles within organisations where there are now proven solutions to making procurement and recruitment process management significantly more eficient productive.

Examples: When Crop & Food Research moved from an inefficient and error-prone manual procurement system to a hosted e-procurement automation suite from GSB Supplycorp, the time taken to process an order dropped from five minutes or more to just 30 seconds. Crop & Food estimates the e-procurement system will save at least $100,000 a year on administration and processing costs.
See case study on Strategic Procurement: Widening the net.

In early 2004, DB Group undertook a review of its recruitment function and developed a new recruiting strategy, with key drivers being to lower overall cost and reduce the administration time required of hiring managers. The new strategy resulted in the use of StaffCV’s e-recruitment tool to manage applications, communications, profiling, short-listing and recruiting.
See case study on DB Breweries

Further Research: 
http://www.istart.co.nz/b2b-ecommerce.htm and

7) Mobile Office
Office workers are spending an increasing amount of time sifting through spam, social emails and other unproductive communication. This makes a compelling case for providing mobile email so that can be cleared during down-time, leaving office hours to be more productive.

Example: Mike Pero, CEO of Mike Pero Mortgages, reckons Telecom’s Mobile JetStream has given him an extra 45 minutes to an hour in his day.

“It’s changed the way I work,” says Pero. “I do lots of my emails in taxis. And when I’m flying I do a download just before I get on the plane, write the answers in the air, then transmit them when I land.”

Real estate company Colliers International is another organisation which is reaping the benefits of the mobile office. Colliers implemented Vodafone’s Integrated TalkZone, which transfers incoming calls to its PABX directly to mobiles without any additional transfer cost to the caller. Colliers says the increase in staff productivity has been notable and brokers feel they have more control of their working time.

Further Research:
www.istart.co.nz/mobile-business.htm

8) Mobile Sales and Services
When Christchurch-based golfing equipment supplier PGF Golf integrated SalesLink mobile technology with Accredo accounting software its sales reps could take orders in the field and transmit them directly to PGF’s financial system. This has reduced the delays, errors, repetitive data re-entry, and poor customer service caused by the previous manual ordering system, and time savings have allowed data entry staff to focus on income-generating tasks.

Everyday office applications like Microsoft’s Outlook can also take on a new dimension when they are used collaboratively in a mobile environment. Microsoft hosting solutions specialist Mark Bishop says Microsoft Office and Exchange Server technology can be used to run service teams, for example at a small plumbing company.

“Instead of having an expensive CRM system you can use Exchange Server to look into other people’s calendars, open and put appointments in,” he says. “Next time the field staff synchronise, these appointments will be updated in the field. Conversely the field staff can pop in an appointment on their PDAs and the people in the office will know about it.” Bishop says you don’t even have to install Exchange Server as this type of solution is widely available from ISPs on a hosted basis.
See www.microsoft.com/nz

Further Research:
Speak with Telecom, Vodafone or a business mobility specialist like Orbiz International.
See www.istart.co.nz/mobile-business.htm

9) Web Sites
Your web site is your most cost-effective means of transacting with partners and customers and providing information to those looking to find out more about your products and services. In CMS article Websites that work  argue strongly in favour of investing heavily in a good highly-specified web site content management system so that more basic first level support queries, information, document access and transactions can be made through this efficient channel, 24/7 and worldwide, so that you can free up staff for more productive functions.

Example: Masport was struggling to keep up with calls from customers and retailers about the many models and spare parts it manufactures and distributes. It used Olympic Software’s i-builder portal to provide a site with image mapping for parts identification, in which a dealer or call centre operator could roll their mouse over an exploded diagram and get the correct part number and inventory information automatically. Suddenly, it became possible for the company to make all its information and documentation available to dealers and customers. Call centre support service has become self service with exception-based assistance from call centre staff. Productive staff time and energy is now available to build business capability rather than fight customer support bushfires, and Masport is gearing up for international expansion as a result.
See case study on Masport

Further Research:
www.istart.co.nz/cms.htm

10) Outsourcing
Many organisations hire specialist IT staff that only spend a portion of their time doing their specialist highvalue role. The rest of the time they are either underproductive or over paid for the work they end up doing between times. Outsourcing these functions to specialist organisations can save money, as well as provide 24/7 coverage where an employee would only cover the working day.

Example: New Zealand Trade and Enterprise now uses SQL Services Ltd to provide 24/7 database administrator support for its global operations. Previously it took at least two full time staff to provide the same level of coverage.

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