The AXA UK Automated Document Factory

 

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Summary

Part of AXA UK’s business strategy was to centrally manage the delivery of information with the objective of improved customer service. This led AXA UK, in 2002, to implement EOS and RSD Folders on an OS/390 platform. EOS handles the back-office document delivery and RSD Folders provides long-term archiving and immediate online access to the archived documents.
The flexibility of the automated document factory, with RSD solutions as key components, helps to retain each entity's IT independence. It allows each unit to produce information as required by its various departments whilst ensuring a unified document management system. All AXA UK business critical information is handled by a "shared service delivery organisation".

The challenge: a total document management solution

AXA UK and its entities (AXA Insurance, AXA Life and AXA PPP) identified two requirements: improved customer service through faster access to customer information and a "full-functioned" archival system. AXA’s previous archival system lacked the functionality that allowed users to easily retrieve documents and view them online.
To fulfil those requirements, an analysis of its former IT structure led AXA Tech to the conclusion that they needed to redesign their IT organisation, use of resources and their document management architecture.
The technical requirements for a document management system included:

• long term archival functionality – to maintain document integrity for a specified duration, this could be from a few hours to many years, according to any business or legal requirements;
• volume scalability - handle large volumes and support any foreseeable expansion;
• easy retrieval of documents - provide a Web interface allowing users access to documents, customisation of user views and indexing of documents dependant upon each company’s working routine.

Vic Baines, AXA Tech’s Document Services Manager explains: “Of all the products we evaluated, RSD solutions proved the best match with our technical requirements, which initially included 6 pages of detailed prerequisites. They also offered us a choice of client solutions for Web access. In addition, RSD’s product flexibility was a key element that convinced us to choose RSD as a partner”.

The Automated Document Factory: for shared service delivery

The implementation of a total document management solution involved a restructuring of AXA UK’s IT responsibilities, the shared use of resources, the redesign of the former AXA UK document management architecture and the adoption of RSD solutions.
The new system allowed the individual AXA UK companies to continue to operate as self-contained units, generating information within their separate computer environments using their own applications and deploying EOS and RSD Folders to ensure a complete and cohesive document management system.
EOS now occupies a central position in the system, receiving all company-generated documents, in multiple formats, processing them and dispatching them to the appropriate targets, print devices and/or repositories. RSD Folders then ensures the safe archival of documents and online viewing by the customer service departments.
Initially, the deployment of RSD’s products was targeted for AXA Life. The plan is to progressively extend it to AXA PPP Healthcare and AXA Insurance. At present, the system handles some 6 million images per month. This would double with the proposed roll out to the other subsidiaries.

The EOS post-box: the central process

The separate AXA UK companies use numerous business applications (CRM, Office, Siebel, Legacy…) to generate customer documents and route them to the AXA ADF spooler. At that point, the "shared delivery service" concept is applied. Each document is assigned a technical record detailing all information relevant to its life cycle through the system, including its document composition parameters, its retention period and target(s): online viewing, printing, etc. The next step is to apply document composition and AFP format unification to assure standardization of all output. Documents are then routed to EOS, which acts as a post-box, collecting and holding them until all elements needed for a particular service or delivery to a customer are gathered. Once collated, the documents are extracted and dispatched to a print stream conditioning tool and the appropriate target device such as printers, fax or e-mail systems. In parallel to printing, documents are also stored in RSD Folders.

RSD Folders: customer service tool

One of the most crucial project objectives, was to provide fast and efficient customer support. This was met with the implementation of RSD Folders and its client interface. As the documents are received from EOS, they are automatically archived in RSD Folders and available for instant online access. Using the client interface, the customer service representative views an exact replica of the document that has been sent to the customer. For easy browser viewing, documents are converted on-the-fly from the original repository format (AFP) to PDF.
To support customer service requirements, AXA uses RSD's flexible classification system. This enables the user to automatically create folders based on the customer name and to place in each folder all the documents that have been sent to that person. A complete picture of all documents sent to a customer is immediately available for online viewing by opening the related folder. For the time being, letters received from customers are scanned and stored in a different archive, but AXA plans to link those technologies in order to have a complete picture, in one repository, of all documents produced or received from a customer.
Currently, access to RSD Folders is internal for dealing with customer enquiries. At a later stage, AXA UK intends to extend access, first to its agents and then ultimately to their customers.

The Automated Document Factory: the payback

One of the major benefits anticipated by the deployment of EOS is the automation of document processing and the consequent significant decrease in manual intervention for customer mailings. This is expected to yield considerable savings, meeting an AXA objective to increase profits and responding to the requirements of a new UK legislation, where insurance companies must reduce the administration costs of stakeholders pensions products to 1%.
RSD Folders implementation provides customer service departments with the rapid and organized access to customer information necessary for better response time.

RSD products supporting AXA UK business

According to Vic Baines, “the implementation of the system was complex and I was impressed that RSD took the time to examine all the issues and offer suggestions. RSD proved that they could respond to our needs, not only to deliver the solution according to our time schedules but by enhancing their products to meet our present requirements. We are confident that future issues will be given the same consideration."

 

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