Written by Presently, the Ohio Bureau of Workers’ Compensation mails paper invoices to employers. This require a lot of supplies and postage. The invoicing system also sends overlapping invoices to some employers, which creates confusion. Additionally, the invoice is difficult to understand.
They created four goals to work on:
- Goal 1: They wanted to create a better invoice to reduce confusion and reduce calls to the contact center.
- Goal 2: Transition to an opt-in electronic invoicing system. Nearly 60% of employers prefer to use electronic invoicing via email.
- Goal 3: Reduce postage and mailing costs by 50%.
- Goal 4: Reduce support staff time by 60% on answering invoicing issues.
The team identified wastes (TIM U WOOD) and used a Pareto chart to focus on the highest quantity of calls. They implemented push notifications, digital invoicing and training for service office clerks.
This led to a reduction in process steps from 47 to 14, and elimination of defects. The estimated annual savings from invoices, call center and support staff was in excess of $1 million USD.
https://lean.ohio.gov/Portals/0/docs/A3/BWC_Doug_Smith_A3.pdf