Intelligently Managed Business Processes (Belcher Industries)

Belcher Industries can with right be classified as a high-risk business due to the nature of the work they perform. The risks include public liability and project risks including fixed cost, time penalties and product quality. Belcher experienced the following problems – often imposing serious risks for the business: • Belcher Industries are subjected to OSHA regulations. The absence of the necessary controls can result in penalties and increased premiums. Belcher wanted to ensure that the necessary controls are in place to contribute to a 100% no incident reputation. • Immediate productivity improvement in the workshop was a major objective. • Senior management often travels and improved control over task management and the ability to monitor work from off-site locations were high priorities. • Tasks were allocated to staff during meetings. These tasks disappeared from Meeting Minutes; they were often not performed within the time required; or they were misunderstood and the work performed was not according to specification. This resulted in additional labour and material cost as well as time lost. • Meetings were held with clients. Design specifications were agreed or decisions made, but there was no record of the supporting design documentation or the design agreements reached. This resulted in disputes with clients often to the detriment of Belcher. • Various registers are required to support ISO certification. Even though Belcher had all the registers in place the systems were islands and not integrated. • A key objective was to integrate the existing accounting system with the new solution. • The existing BelcherTrac system, that included only job control, quotes and purchase orders, became out-dated. Replacing this system with the XMPro driven BelcherTrac enabled them to integrate loose standing processes and registers into one solution.

Belcher Industries implemented the following XMPro iBOS features: • Case, activity or task visibility. Management can at any point in time assess at which step of the process the case or task is. • A clear audit trail in all automated processes. Traceability and accountability are now characteristics of all processes. • Seamless process automation between applications. • Enhanced controls to ensure that projects are completed within time and budget and according to quality specifications set -including reminder notifications via email and escalations with automatic routing of tasks in the Task Manager. • Enhanced information security and accountability by means of role based access control.  The right person is performing the right task, at the right point in time. • XMPro iBOS product adaptability that supports the client’s continuous business improvement initiatives. XMPro allows the client to design by doing and to continuously improve. • Built-in predictive analysis. Graphs provide Knowledge Workers with the information to determine the Next Best Step in the process. In addition to the features listed above Belcher Industries is planning to include social discussions as part of their Task Manager Process. This will be implemented as the next step in their overall constant improvement initiative.

• [Management Effectiveness - Real Time Information]
  Senior Management can now keep their fingers on the pulse of the business – even while travelling. They access the solution via the Internet on Laptops or from iPads or mobile phones, which implied immediate control, the ability to monitor the business, and predictive analytics that enables management to run the business more efficiently.
• [Cost Reduction - Production]
  Task detail including the person responsible, task descriptions, and due dates are well documented and communicated. Traceability and accountability are very clear. Significant cost savings were immediate due to reduced re-work required.
• [Product Improvement - Brand Image]
  The easy modifiable product skin enabled the implementation partner to deliver a visually pleasing solution that supports the company brand.