OneAmerica Standardizes Multiple Back-Office Operations with Automated Workflow Distributor

Through mergers and acquisitions, OneAmerica has built a $17 billion network of companies in Indiana, North Dakota and New Jersey, offering a wide variety of life and annuity products.

Relying on multiple administration systems and geographically dispersed operations to support those products, OneAmerica’s network of businesses lacked consistent processing procedures and service standards. There was no way to measure employee performance, in terms of efficiency and quality. The company considered several work management products but decided on Automated Work Distributor, which is offered to the insurance industry exclusively by CSC.

Site Visit Influences Decision

CSC conducted a cost-benefit analysis to help OneAmerica determine areas of highest impact, quantifiable benefits and implementation costs. OneAmerica had identified 58 critical needs and “AWD was clearly the frontrunner for our division’s particular needs,” said Greg Ruthsatz, director of OneAmerica’s individual Operations Support. AWD had features other work management products lacked — best practices templates that provide insurers with highly efficient workflows for new business, underwriting, claims and other processes — right out of the box.

Ruthsatz and his colleagues also visited American General, another longtime CSC client, to see AWD in action. “The site visit really put our search into perspective,” he said. “Here was a company whose workflow system was doing what we wanted ours to do — streamlining processes, eliminating unnecessary paperwork and reducing operating costs.” AWD was up and running at OneAmerica in just three and a half months.

Improved Business Practices, Metrics

Processing at the three OneAmerica companies using AWD — American United Life, State Life and Pioneer Mutual in Fargo — has evolved to common practices. The company’s mantra is “Common where possible, unique when necessary.” For new ventures, such as the 2005 acquisition of the financial services division of Golden Rule, the company incorporated AWD’s best practices into the transition process.

“AWD really put the differences between various parts of our organization under the spotlight and allowed us to work to resolve them,” Ruthsatz said.

With AWD in place, employees are able to respond to customers’ issues much more quickly and complete more once-and-done customer service calls. The system also improved the process of calculating and distributing performance metrics to managers.

Shifting Work, Improving Service to Producers

AWD allows OneAmerica to rapidly shift work among the different companies. For example, if an underwriter in Fargo is out, an underwriter in Indianapolis who notices that an application is about to age beyond OneAmerica’s service standards can access the file, process it and deliver it in a timely fashion.

OneAmerica has leveraged AWD in other ways. For example, information is now pushed through the system to OneAmerica’s producer Web site, allowing producers to track an application. “So it’s not just the back-office employees who are benefiting from AWD,” Ruthsatz said. “Our producers are using it to their advantage as well.”

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