Case Study: Sri Lankan Insurance Giant Gets Empowered Business Processes With Kodak Alaris

Enterprises across verticals today are undergoing a technological overhaul in order to streamline processes and improve efficiency. Technology is engulfing every aspect of business operations and digitisation is playing a dominant role across industries to enhance productivity. While enterprises have started making a shift from paper based procedures to digital processes, the Government of Sri Lanka mandates that the insurance sector implements a strict record management and claims process. In a bid to strike the right balance between adhering to government guidelines and adopting a digitised approach, a leading insurance company was in need of an integrated solution.

Alaris Information Management helps a  leading Sri-Lankan insurance company accelerate its claims settlement process and double productivity

The claims settlement process within the company required different sizes of paper to be scanned at a fast pace for immediate settlement. Accelerating this process meant providing easy access to documents related to the policy, which required the company to undertake a complete overhaul from the existing batch of scanners and bring in a coherent solution, signalling a shift to digitisation.

The Challenge

The insurance company offers a variety of products to its customers ranging from life insurance, health insurance, title insurance and fire insurance. Settlement of claims forms an integral part of these offerings in the insurance cycle.

Like many other insurance companies in Sri Lanka, this entity too, maintained a balance between computerized and traditional operational methods. This resulted in the company accumulating paper documents; thus making the claims process lengthy and cumbersome. Settling a claim in accordance with the policy required quick reference and access to documents, which was not possible in the current scenario, as they still followed a traditional method of operation. The company realized that this process was becoming tedious due to lack of proper documentation. One of the key requirements for quick settlement of claims was storage and management of documents in a centralized manner, so it could be accessed whenever required. In order to ensure a hassle free and streamlined process for customers who applied for a claim, they introduced a system for immediate settlement. The process demanded different sizes of paper like A4 and legal documents to be scanned and stored, for easy reference, to corroborate with the claim. Scanners which form an essential part of this operation, were deployed for underwriting and claim handling. In 2008, this company was scanning 100 pages per day and by 2016 the number had increased to 250 pages per day. Given the shift in requirement, the company needed scanners that could scale up and meet the demands in a seamless manner. The existing series of flatbed scanners were unable to scan a large volume of papers in a scheduled time frame leading to increased time consumption. Furthermore, the scanners did not allow for features like automatic paper feeding or scaling up and moreover, poor support services from the vendor proved to be a hindrance. A comprehensive approach to resolve these collective bottlenecks prompted the company to explore the market for a homogeneous Information Management solution. A solution that could not only accommodate scanning of different paper sizes with precision and intelligence, but also provide for secure storage of documents that allowed quick access when needed. A digitized approach was the need of the hour in order to amplify efficient customer experience.

In addition, the insurance company wanted a solution that would help them become paperless in the near future by accelerating the claims settlement process and thereby enable them to serve customers better and more efficiently.

Solutions

After doing a thorough market study, the management decided to deploy Kodak Alaris i940, i1150 and i2400 series scanners from Ninehearts Imaging. The company deployed 80 scanners across 60 branches with a view to streamlining the complete claims settlement process. The scanners were found to be user friendly, with an ability to scan different sizes of paper ranging from A4 to Legal in a short span of time. Furthermore, Kodak Alaris scanners integrated well with their existing document management system. The company was able to effectively store and maintain all documents related to its customers and their policies centrally, which was imperative for swift settlement of claims. Over a period of time, the staff work time reduced immensely as documentation could be completed within the stipulated time-frame, thereby enabling improved customer service and efficiency.

Results

After installing Kodak Alaris state-of-the art information management solutions, the insurance company witnessed the following results:

• Documents related to various policies were now available at the click of a button and their dependence on paper based documents reduced significantly.
• The mechanized sheet feeding facility on the Kodak Alaris i940, i1150 and i2400 series document scanners increased productivity by 100%.
• The company was able to scan 250 pages per scanner per day, thereby increasing the output to nearly 20,000 pages per day as compared to 8,000 pages when it was still using old flatbed scanners.
• The feature of scanning different sizes of paper meant that a variety of documents could be scanned without any hassle in a short time-frame.
• Good paper handling capability mitigated paper damage, improved the reliability of the document feed, and also resulted in reduced work time for the staff.
• Higher levels of productivity were achieved due to reduced time in extracting information to be able to act on it, leading to quick disbursement of claims.
• The complete process has enabled the insurance company to work towards their goal of a paperless office and make efficient use of scanned documents in the day-to-day functioning of the business, thereby leading to faster resolution of customer queries.