DVLNI

Company: StaffwareCustomer: DVLNISubmitted by: Spreckley Partners LtdSince implementing Staffware workflow, Driver and Vehicle Licensing Northern Ireland (DVLNI) has largely eliminated its paper based processes, increased staff efficiency and reduced the time taken to manage its case load. It has also streamlined its enforcement operations and automated key business processes to create further time savings.

As a direct result of the project DVLNI has picked up two prestigious industry awards.DVLNI is an executive agency within the Department of the Environment in Northern Ireland. It operates its headquarters at County Hall, Coleraine, and from eight local Vehicle Licensing Offices around Northern Ireland. DVLNI employs over 300 staff and it officially became an Agency in 1993. Its main functions are the issuing of driving licences, registration and licensing (taxing) of vehicles and the collection and enforcement of Vehicle Excise Duty (motor tax).

A New Direction

DVNLI recognised that if it was going to continue providing excellent levels of customer service it needed to address its IT strategy to improve business process efficiency and streamline operations. Martec Systems Limited, a Anacomp company and leading systems integrator specialising in the public sector and utilities, was successful in winning a competitive bid for the replacement of the Agency’s image system, and for subsequent business improvements through the use of workflow technology to automate key business processes across the enforcement division of the business.Martec had already implemented a new Electronic Document Management (EDM) system -ARCHEA – across the entire DVLNI, which went live in 1997. Today DVLNI is now capable of handling up to 240,000 documents per month.Key to the initial requirement was the need for a workflow solution to integrate with ARCHEA which could be easily adopted by up to 35 end users.

Having carefully examined the leading workflow vendors, Martec found Staffware workflow provided it with the right level of functionality to integrate with ARCHEA, as well as enabling it to automate the key business processes involved in the enforcement function which were predominately paper based and time consuming.The enforcement function’s main role is to issue fines and progress legal proceedings for those drivers who have not paid their road tax.The Staffware workflow implementation was phased in two projects. The two main criteria central to the workflow implementation were the anticipation of early delivery of business benefits and that the processes should be capable of being maintained by DVLNI.This had the added benefit of the in-house workers actually familiarising themselves with workflow early on into the implementation as well as reducing the overall development costs of the project.

Phase One – Processing Detections of Unlicensed Vehicles

When an unlicensed vehicle is detected on the road, the detecting officer completes a report and sends it to DVLNI.

There are two strands to this process. The first, a named offence applies where the car owner is at the vehicle or can be named when the vehicle is detected. The second, an unnamed offence, will occur if the vehicle has been left unattended or the owners details are not forthcoming.Previously, the administration processes involved in managing the receipt of 60,000 reports per annum, was carried out manually, involving basic computer systems running on mainframes coupled with several data verification checks. A standard letter would then be produced which was issued directly to the offender.

If the offender did not pay the fine it would progress to court proceedings and potential prosecution.Now, when an offender receives a letter notifying them of the need for tax disc renewal, the quality of information is greatly improved. The old mainframes which DVNLI used to run, typically led to the reproduction of poor quality letters and layout problems.Phase one of the Staffware workflow implementation to automate all manual business processes relating to the issuing of reports went live in just under 8 weeks

Phase Two – The Prosecution Process

Phase two of the project takes account of the prosecution process and work for this commenced immediately following the successful live implementation of the first phase.

A New Streamlined Enforcement Operations

DVLNI’s enforcement section is now operating more efficiently, having completely eliminated the paper-based methods involved in each stage of the process leading up to a prosecution upon no payment for a tax disc.

Prior to workflow, the file handling process was between 12 – 32 actions to physically shift the paper across the department. The old ways of working often meant skilled people were frequently carrying out non-skilled roles. With Staffware workflow DVNLI has actually managed to halve the time taken to manage its case-load.Due to Staffware’s inherent flexibility the workflow can be adjusted should DVNLI need to change any existing business processes.Commenting on the project, Brendan Magee, Chief Executive, DVLNI, said: “We selected Staffware workflow because of its stability, flexibility and speed.

It not only reduces the need for vast paper storage, it cuts response time in half, requires fewer staff, and is central to the Agency’s achievement of business objectives. The workflow system delivers even greater automation which in turn leads to increased efficiency.”

Award Winning Formula

DVNLI has recently won two prestigious awards which have directly resulted from implementing Staffware. They include the Department of Environment Quality Award 1999 and Government Computing Innovation Award 1999. The awards reflect the improved business performance DVNLI has seen in recent times.As DVNLI reaps the benefits of its new efficient ways of working it is already considering Staffware workflow to support other areas of the business, to further streamline and improve key business processes which will guarantee radical improvements as it enters a new millennium.