for government agency
The Client - A major Transportation Research and Development facility of the U.S. Department of Transportation specializing in analyzing, developing, and testing improvements to air, ground, rail, and marine transportation systems.
The Challenge - Our Client decided to outsource its computer center operations and focus on its research activities. However, management was concerned about:
- Not losing control of their mission critical applications while maintaining the flow of electronic-based research and business information with the Client’s sponsors
- Ensuring their IT resources and infrastructure kept up with changing and increasing demands
- Controlling the cost of operations in light of the nationwide shortage of qualified IT skills
- Developing, implementing, modifying, enhancing, and maintaining all administrative applications (e.g., Y2K remediation, financial transactions, payroll, personnel, contract administration, and program budgets)
- Network infrastructure management and development for LANs, Internet, and Intranet
- Help desk and end user support
- Strategic systems planning
- Host computer center operations
- Rapid application development that incorporates change management to achieve extremely high rate of success
- Technology planning that performed on a Just-In-Time basis and driven by a Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) model
- Automated help desk support that maximizes availability of solution information and allows workload management
of 3.5 million items per year
The Client - The Lead Organization for designing, developing, and deploying major automated information systems to support the major programs to reutilize and dispose of the Department of Defense’s excess surplus property consisting of over 3.5 million items, including scrap, hazardous materials, and waste.
The Challenge - One of our Client’s mandates is to upgrade and enhance the Defense Logistics Agency’s Automated Information System (DAISY), which serves as the principal information system to support all hazardous material control and tracking, demilitarization, property accounting, reutilization, marketing, contracting and management reporting activities. A broad mix of skills were needed to modify legacy systems, as well as develop new applications, interfaces, and databases for desktop and client/server environments.
Our Solution and Benefits - WT Chen quickly assembled and established a multi-talented project management, analysis design, development, and documentation on-site team with core competencies using Oracle, Microsoft, IBM, UNIX, Unify, and HP technologies to support Client’s extensive requirements. To date, the team has successfully . . .
- Developed a totally new application known as the Financial Tracking System
- Developed the Single Hazardous Input Program (SHIP) - a worldwide hazardous waste tracking and reporting system
- Developed the "standard setting" design specifications for the RAID Hazardous System
- Completed the specifications and programming for 87 of 112 programs for the automation project known as the Conversion of Referrals and Local Sales
- Addressed Year 2000 deficiencies and implemented necessary modifications
- Created applications utilizing case tool technology
Our Client now has a reliable, highly productive, cost-effective
source of IT talent to help
complete its current and future modernization requirements.
State agency improves service dramatically
and cuts
costs by more than 50%
The Client - The Lead Agency to facilitate and audit the acquisition of over $2.5 billion worth of commodities and professional services, per year, by all the departments of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The Challenge - The amount of time and cost to issue Requests for Proposals were escalating significantly as the size, complexity, and number of procurements increased. The Client needed a new approach to issuing RFPs and eliminate the associated paper blizzard without increasing operating costs.
Our Solution and Benefits - WT Chen focused on enhancing the Commonwealth’s purchasing and acquisition Web site, known as Comm-PASS, to include new Internet and Intranet features. Today, 75 state agencies are able to remotely post their solicitation and purchasing requirements to Comm-PASS. Potential bidders are able to identify and download selected Request for Proposal (RFP) documents at their own desktops or from any of the 30 public access sites located in public libraries and chambers of commerce throughout the Commonwealth. The results have been dramatic!
- The average time to deliver and advertise an RFP document through Comm-PASS was one week. Now, it takes just minutes
- It used to take approximately one week to receive copy of an RFP document by mail. Potential bidders are now able to download most RFPs within minutes
- The number of site visits to Comm-PASS has increased from an average of 2,000 to over 250,000 per month
- The Commonwealth is now saving approximately $75,000 per week in labor, material, and distribution costs for their procurement and solicitation documents
Electronic document management system
increases portfolio
manager efficiency
The Client - A Fortune 500 Financial Services Company providing international commercial leasing and mortgage financing products.
The Challenge - The Client’s portfolio managers located in London, Paris and Tokyo make numerous requests each day for documents from their clients’ master files which are archived at the headquarters office in the United States. Each request required 1-2 days to fulfill. Two to three weeks were required to complete each transaction. Something had to be done to reduce this processing time and improve customer service.
Our Solution and Benefits - Based upon a thorough review of our Client’s requirements and processes, WT Chen designed and implemented a networked Electronic Document Management System (EDMS) to automate many of the labor intensive and time consuming document retrieval steps. Productivity gains have been dramatic.
- Portfolio managers around the world can now retrieve, view, and print required documents themselves, and fax copies to each other
- Documents from active files can be retrieved within 1 second
- Archived records can be obtained within 8 seconds
- Customer service and satisfaction levels are way up
EDMS was designed to support up to 50 portfolio managers simultaneously.
The system, however, can be expanded to support a larger staff or enhanced
with many Web related features.
Documents now located within seconds rather than days with electronic document imaging system
The Client - A leading personal, commercial, and casualty Insurance Agency in New England.
The Challenge - The Client’s Personal Policies Group archives and retrieves over 800,000 documents per year on an on-going basis. The staff was taking hours and sometime days to locate, process, and refile customer insurance documents. Customer service was suffering while document storage costs kept escalating. A way had to be found to improve customer service, stop the paper chase, and control costs.
Our Solution and Benefits - WT Chen’s solution was to develop and integrate an Electronic Document Archive and Retrieval System (EDARS) with the Client’s existing insurance policy processing systems. The Client is now deriving multiple benefits from our EDARS solution. Their staff is now able to do the following:
- Retrieve active documents in less than 1 second, and retrieve multi-page archived documents within 5 seconds
- Browse the client folders electronically from the desktop
- Respond to customer requests more quickly
- Store and routinely access up to 800,000 new pages of documents per year electronically requiring less than 5 square feet of office space instead of 600 square feet of combined floor and shelf space needed to store the equivalent volume of paper copies
New enhancements are planned to achieve even greater productivity
and customer service gains. We will be there to help our Client make
IT work for them again.
IT used to
improve internal operations
and tenant services
The Client - A leading commercial and residential development, construction, property management, financial investment, and asset management firm with over $1 billion worth of properties located throughout the Eastern United States.
The Challenge - Monitoring and acquiring key financial and project information in a timely, consistent manner was becoming increasingly difficult because of the number and dispersed geographic locations of our Client’s site offices and properties. Delays in receiving this information impacted construction schedules and costs, as well as the Client’s ability to quickly respond to tenant service requests. An enterprise-wide solution was needed to reduce or eliminate these delays, as well as help maintain our Client’s competitive edge.
Our Solution and Benefits - After reviewing our Client’s requirements, WT Chen determined how IT could be used to quickly improve internal business operations, and to distinguish the Company’s newest residential construction project in the Boson area from the it’s competitors. We helped our Client . . .
- Consolidate and enhance their network infrastructure to integrate legacy system and desktop application functionality, and to allow remote access by its site offices and field crew to data and e-mail
- Design and implement a Virtual Private Network (VPN) for their new residential project - the Boston area’s first Internet-ready apartment building
- Create Intranet applications to enable tenants and appartment building manager to submit and track service requests, provide bulletin board capabilities, and other information services to each apartment unit
These new IT capabilities
are enabling our Client to improve their productivity, tenant service,
and competitive position. New ideas are under consideration, and
WT Chen will be there to help make IT work
again.
for 1,200 employees
The Client - A major Transportation Research and Development (R&D) facility of the U.S. Department of Transportation specializing in analyzing, developing, and testing improvements to air, ground, rail, and marine transportation systems.
The Challenge - The Client routinely processes a core set of 42 paper forms impacting a majority of its business operations. With approximately 1,200 employees and contractors, the routing and processing of these forms was becoming cumbersome and time consuming. A more efficient, less labor, paper, and cost-intensive method was needed to store and disseminate these forms.
Our Solution and Benefits -
WT Chen’s solution to this challenge was to create and implement electronic
versions of each form and make them readily accessible to the client's
staff. Other features include, electronic signature approval, sequential
routing over the existing e-mail system, and automatic updates to the legacy
mainframe applications. The Client no longer has to maintain large
inventories of these forms, and employees now have instant access to the
following forms via their PCs whenever they are needed.
| Advance of Funds | Nomination for Special Achievement Award | Request for Directory Change |
| Annual Procurement | Performance Appraisal | Request for Personnel Action |
| Application for Leave | Performance Appraisal Job Elements | Request for Training |
| Application for Transit Benefit | Position Description | Request for Transfer of Labor Charge |
| Cardkey Application | Position Vacancy Application | Requisitioner Determination |
| Communications Service Request | PPA Advance Approval | Shipping Request |
| Daily Attendance Sheet | PPA Modification | Spot Cash Award |
| Functional Review Checklist | Procurement Request | Stores Stock Requisition |
| General Working Agreement | Project Plan Agreement | Suggestion Form |
| IMPAC Credit Card Order | Project Plan Agreement Concurrence | Travel Authorization |
| Material Handling work Order Request | Purchase Requisition | Travel Voucher |
| Meeting Facility Reservation | Reimbursable Agreement Review | Car Pool Parking Application |
| Nomination for employee Excellence Award | Report of Loss and Request for Replacement of Identification Card | Parking Registration Application |
| Nomination for Quality Increase Award | Request for Approval for Publication | Work Plan Budget/Job Order |