Lifetime powers productivity with software robotics

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Published on the 17/12/2020 | Written by Fujifilm

AT A GLANCE

Lifetime Group Limited

INDUSTRY

Financial services

BUSINESS OBJECTIVE

Required an innovative solution that will not only make the investment reporting process more efficient but will also allow staff to perform more cognitively
To achieve an in-house capability known as a Robotic Centre of Excellence (RCE) where Lifetime Group’s team will be able to scope a process for suitability, design the corresponding robot and maintain that robot
A simple electronic process that will eliminate ‘swivel-chair integration’ from the business

SOLUTION

Kofax RPA software. The solution includes cognitive capture, process orchestration, mobility and analytics which mitigate compliance risk and increase competitiveness by freeing staff to focus on activities that add value rather than data processing.

BUSINESS BENEFITS

Out of five robots, one robot has saved 15 hours, and another has saved two weeks of manual work
Data-cleansing exercise which required a person to spend over seven hours poring over a massive spreadsheet is now executed in 30 minutes, error free
Stitching together information for client portals, which once took several hours, is delivered in three minutes

FOR MORE INFORMATION

FUJIFILM Business Innovation
W: FUJIFILM Business Innovation
New Zealand
E: kevin.ptak.pc@fujifilm.com
T: +64 21 275 4321

Fuji Xerox delivered a Robotic Centre of Excellence, giving the company the ability to deploy software robots for data processing…

With senior staff members spending an inordinate amount of time extracting and checking reams of data, financial services company Lifetime Group Limited (Lifetime) turned to FUJIFILM Business Innovation for a Robotic Process Automation solution.

Situation
When Lifetime merged with Camelot NZ Limited (Camelot) in 2018, the combined group had over 100,000 clients across New Zealand accessing services including life and health insurance, mortgages and business lending. “The size of the business basically doubled overnight and we realised that time-intensive manual jobs would just get worse,” says Lucie Moloney-Geany, Lifetime Projects Coordinator. “At the same time, even as a bigger organisation we knew we had to retain the personal relationships we have with customers as a fundamental differentiator.”

Those manual jobs, she explains, included the extraction and presentation of detailed information into personalised customer portals. “The portals support growth as they provide individuals with information specific to their portfolio, but the rollout was limited as the information required manual accuracy checks. As a result, while we knew the portal provided great value to clients, it was expensive.”

“The time saving is staggering. And remember, the work the robots are doing is unpleasant. None of our team enjoyed it.”

Aware of the emergence of software automation tools, Lucie says Lifetime has maintained a watching brief in the two years since the Camelot merger. “We kept an eye on the market while also working to fully understand our own requirements,” she explains.

“We realised merely deploying robots to meet the initial requirement would be a tactical rather than strategic response. Instead, a Robotic Centre of Excellence would mean solving the immediate problem, and then achieving the capability to do more as further use cases emerged.”

Solution
FUJIFILM Business Innovation emerged as the preferred supplier of a suitable solution, using Kofax RPA software.

“Market analysis showed us what other businesses in the financial services industry are using and what stood out for Lifetime was the approach from Fuji Xerox which would put the tools in our hands so we can develop internal skills and self-build robots, meeting existing needs and any new ones”, says Lucie.

FUJIFILM Business Innovation delivered a ‘no-code’ intelligent RPA automation platform which addresses information-intensive business processes. Software robots are designed by line-of-business workers or business analysts without the need for software programmers; the robots reduce manual work and eliminate errors particularly in processes which require data entry from one system to another.

The solution includes cognitive capture, process orchestration, mobility and analytics which mitigate compliance risk and increase competitiveness by freeing staff to focus on activities that add value rather than data processing.

Delivering the solution in the first weeks of the COVID-19 lockdown was a revelation: largely conducted through video conferencing, installing the software, and building the first robot took little more than five days. Within two weeks, the first four robots were in production.

“It was sensational. Going remote meant a few spanners in the works and some of what we’d set up technically had to change at the last minute, but in terms of getting the RPA solution installed and working, it just happened,” confirms Lucie.

She has praise for the technical and support teams of FUJIFILM Business Innovation, which rapidly pivoted for the solution delivery.

“The remote training was essential to the success of this initiative. There were reservations about how well this would work through screens rather than in person, but the end result is we are up and running and we now also have a library of recorded sessions we can refer to at any time as our Robotic Centre of Excellence gears up.”

Results
Seeing the robots in action for the first time was, Lucie says, nothing short of thrilling. “We were so excited as we knew we had solved the problem and had taken the time to be sure we had implemented the right thing. Seeing the first reports uploading and watching the robot creating them was genuinely exciting.”

The robots are in production and have completed the first run of reports for Lifetime with outstanding results. “Owing to compliance overheads, we have tight deadlines in which to run certain reports [from which data is subsequently loaded into customer portals].

“Right now, we have five robots; one robot has saved 15 hours, and another has saved two weeks of manual work that we just don’t have to do any longer,” Lucie explains.

Another data-cleansing exercise which required a person to spend over seven hours pouring over a massive spreadsheet is now executed in just 30 minutes, error free. ‘Stitching together’ information for client portals, which once took several hours, is perfectly delivered in three minutes.

“The time saving is staggering. And remember, the work the robots are doing is unpleasant. None of our team enjoyed it, notes Lucie.”

It is therefore Lifetime’s view that once the processes have run several times, the solution will have paid for itself.

There is a bigger picture to the value achieved from the RPA solution. With no limitation to the number of bots Lifetime can build, and with the establishment of a Robotic Centre of Excellence which includes team members from across the business, it is empowered for robotic innovation.

“Our initial experience shows that there are many areas where we can create further value,” explains Lucie, noting the RCE team includes individuals from marketing, operations and more. “Our team is closest to understanding where and how RPA can address tasks which take time and can be done better by a robot.”

Even as Lifetime moves into the next phase of its RPA journey, she has advice for any business looking at solutions of this nature.

“Start simple and gain confidence. Use internal processes to get used to what the robots are and what they can do. While there isn’t any programming, there is a lot to learn and you must be very detail focused. But getting it right means relieving people of tedious work on the one hand – and getting it done faster and accurately, on the other.”

Source: This article was originally sourced from FUJIFILM Business Innovation