DATAMARK delivers an onsite, facility-managed outsourced mail center for a leading financial services company.

1. Insurance and Financial Services
Case Study
www.DATAMARK.net
Transforming a
Large-Enterprise Mailroom:
DATAMARK delivers a
facility-managed solution

2. CASE STUDY BACKGROUND
The client is a highly successful, 90-year-old insurance and financial services company with more
than 20,000 employees. More than half of these work at the corporate headquarters. The company
serves more than 8 million customers world-wide.
The client recognized that its headquarters mailroom operation had grown to a point where it
lacked ideal levels of efficiency, quality and cost-effectiveness. The mailroom had become a very
complex and expensive function, particularly as the company expanded over the years into multiple
financial service lines.
Inbound mail volumes range from 600,000 to 1 million pieces monthly, and the number of
documents processed each month ranges from 800,000 to 1.2 million.
The mailroom was not a part of the company's core business, and, as such, was identified as a
process that would be better off outsourced to a company with specialization in digital mailroom
management and document processing.
As the company explored solutions, it determined that an on-site (facility-managed) outsourced
mailroom would be preferable. This was due to the company's desire to keep the mailroom visible at
headquarters, and to meet the company's comfort level for workflow oversight and accessibility,
physical security and other factors.
After a competitive process, the company selected DATAMARK to implement and manage a digital
mailroom solution at its headquarters.
PROCESS ANALYSIS
A DATAMARK consulting team was assembled to perform an analysis of the existing mailroom
process. The team included a business process engineer, an industrial engineer, a software engineer
and a technology specialist.
The analysis was the first step in DATAMARK's Evolution Solution™, a proprietary, step-by-step
framework for seamlessly implementing outsourced processes. The analysis incorporated a
methodology known as PREP, an acronym for Plan, Review, Evaluate and Propose.
After spending several weeks examining the client's existing mailroom, the DATAMARK team
identified issues at every step of the mailroom process that presented opportunities for
improvement.
These issues included a floor plan that was not optimized for efficiency, a lack of volume data for
efficient scheduling of staff, and an underutilization of mailroom automation and document
processing technologies.
The mailroom
was identified as
a process that
would be better
off outsourced to
a company with
specialization in
digital mailroom
management and
document
processing.
2 ©2012 DATAMARK, Inc. www.DATAMARK.net
Elements of a Digital Mailroom Solution
This graphic illustrates a typical digital mailroom workflow.
Inbound
Letters, Faxes,
E-Docs
Manual and
Automated
Identification,
Sorting,
Distribution
Imaging, Data
Extraction and
Validation via
OCR, ICR, etc.
Automated
Routing Via
Business Rules
Physical and
Digital
Storage and
Retrieval

3. The sections below detail the issues affecting each sub process and describe solutions DATAMARK
implemented to improve the efficiency, quality and cost-effectiveness of the client's mailroom.
ANALYSIS: INBOUND MAIL
Issues: The mailroom needed improved methods for tracking mail and monitoring volumes.
DATAMARK SOLUTIONS:
 Implement a barcode Document Tracking System (DTS)
 Use DTS to monitor productivity throughout process
 Use DTS volume counts for downstream staff scheduling
ANALYSIS: DOCUMENT SORTING AND PREPARATION
Issues: Improvements were needed in the staffing of sorting and preparation stations. The
mailroom needed specialized furniture and an improved floor plan to promote efficient workflow.
DATAMARK SOLUTIONS:
 Reconfigure functions to minimize paper movement between rooms
 Reconfigure floor space to optimize workflow
 Add sorting stations and other specialized furniture to improve accuracy and reduce
touches
ANALYSIS: SCANNING
Issues: The client was underutilizing available technologies for image quality. The scanning workflow
needed a standardization of processes. The pre-scan and scanning workstations needed
improvements in workflow configuration.
DATAMARK SOLUTIONS:
 Automate process to fix images
 Relocate pre-scan stations to align with scanning operators
 Realign scanning stations to follow document flow
ANALYSIS: INDEXING
Issues: The client was underutilizing available technologies for improving index efficiencies. There
was a need for improved staffing, work routing and standardized quality auditing.
DATAMARK SOLUTIONS:
 Upgrade document capture servers
The analysis
was the first
step in
DATAMARK's
Evolution
Solution™, a
proprietary,
step-by-step
framework for
seamlessly
implementing
outsourced
processes.
3 ©2012 DATAMARK, Inc. www.DATAMARK.net

4. Adding sorting
stations and
other
specialized
mailroom
furniture
improved
accuracy and
reduced
touches.
 Enable available quality modules in data capture software
 Enable advanced background lookups in data capture software
 Automate prioritization and assignment of work based on skill set
 Implement standardized quality audit for all indexers
ANALYSIS: QUALITY ASSURANCE
Issues: The client did not have standardized tools or processes for quality measurements. The client
did not have a department specifically dedicated to quality assurance. Because of this, feedback on
performance was irregular and inconsistent.
DATAMARK SOLUTIONS:
 Establish standardized, proactive Quality Assurance program for all processes
 Offer pay incentives to processors for high quality scores
 Online quality tracking and analysis tools
 Daily quality monitoring
ANALYSIS: STAFFING AND TRAINING
Issues: Because of the volume tracking issues, planning for appropriate staff numbers was difficult.
Also, the client needed a consistent staff training program with measurable outcomes.
DATAMARK SOLUTIONS:
 Establish two shifts for indexing
 Staff part-time employees to assist at peak times
 Consolidate mailroom functions to group skill sets and leverage cross training
 Establish formal, documented training programs
PROCESS MIGRATION
After the analysis of the project and the development of solutions to improve every process,
DATAMARK launched the implementation of the client's new mailroom. DATAMARK's goal was to
ensure that the migration was completely seamless and maintained excellent levels of quality and
customer service at all times.
DATAMARK guided the transition using its Process Migration Methodology™ (PMM), an element of
the Evolution Solution™. DATAMARK's PMM is a highly detailed, step-by-step procedure for
successfully transitioning to an outsourced business process. The foundations behind PMM include:
 Complete visibility from start to finish
 Clearly identified functions, steps and roles
 Clear understanding of process inputs and outputs
 Constant quality monitoring and open communication
PROCESS MIGRATION: HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUES
An important component in a seamless transition to an improved business process is the ability to
retain experienced and talented employees, whenever possible. This was of extreme importance to
both the client's human resources department and DATAMARK. The two entities worked closely and
4 ©2012 DATAMARK, Inc. www.DATAMARK.net

5. An important
component in a
seamless
transition to an
improved
business process
is the ability to
retain
experienced and
talented
employees.
cooperatively to ensure that the client's employees had favorable options and incentives for
remaining a part of the mailroom staff. The specifics of managing the human side of a process
migration are detailed in a separate DATAMARK case study.
PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS: MEASURES OF A SUCCESSFUL
TRANSITION
The most visible measure of the successful transition due to DATAMARK's improvements has been
the significant reduction in the number of staff required for the mailroom. The original number of
staff was 240. This number decreased to 150 to 180 (depending on mail volume fluctuations)—a 25
percent to 38 percent reduction in the number of required workers. The reduction in staff alone
delivered enormous savings in annual payroll costs.
Redesigning the workflow and incorporating mailroom-specific furniture significantly reduced the
amount of square footage required for the mailroom. The mailroom space dropped from 32,000 to
21,500 square feet—a 33 percent reduction in size.
ADDITIONAL PROCESS IMPROVEMENTS
DATAMARK's philosophy of seeking new and continuous improvements in business processes has
led to many success stories delivered by this client relationship, from the mailroom itself to several
downstream business processes. They include:
 A new system of form codes for document preparation and indexing for the client's banking
division. This improvement allows bank personnel to route documents rapidly to
downstream processors, saving significant labor hours.
 A recommended process change in the handling and delivery of outbound correspondence,
so that letters could be metered at a lower postage rate. Anticipated savings for the client
is estimated at $6,500 a year.
 A study of the client's internal logistics led to recommendations for the standardization of
mail drop locations, with end-to-end tracking of each delivery item. The study also created
suggestions for improved coordination with the client's copier services vendor. DATAMARK
estimates a 30 percent improvement in operational efficiency when all recommendations
are implemented.
 A business continuity plan that anticipated the effects of a severe ice storm that shut down
roads and highways. DATAMARK planned for mail pickup and staffing to ensure that critical
financial services documents would be processed on time, protecting the client from
unexpected transaction costs, and helping to maintain a high level of customer satisfaction.
CONCLUSION
By all measures, the new mailroom process has delivered significant savings by reducing the number
of staff and square footage required for the facility. Also, a proactive Quality Assurance program is
now in place, delivering significant improvements in processing quality, turnaround time and
customer service.
This study illustrates a common scenario faced by large organizations across all industry sectors:
back-office business processes—such as mailroom—become expensive and unmanageable as more
staff and space are added to handle ever-growing volumes of work.
DATAMARK identified the problems holding back the performance of the mailroom and presented
appropriate solutions. DATAMARK followed through with the implementation of a streamlined, cost-
saving, facility-managed mailroom. In this case, the client made the wise decision to turn over a non-
core business function to a specialist.
5 ©2012 DATAMARK, Inc. www.DATAMARK.net

6. ABOUT DATAMARK
DATAMARK is a leading provider of digital mailroom management, data entry, document processing
and business process re-engineering solutions for Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and
other large organizations.
Founded in 1989, our company is the strategic business process outsourcing partner for Top 10
companies across several industry sectors, including transportation and logistics, healthcare,
insurance, banking and financial services. With onshore and offshore centers, DATAMARK delivers
process optimization, technology and Enterprise Content Management solutions to help
organizations achieve efficiency and profitability in all back-office business functions.
For more information on how DATAMARK’s business processing solutions can reduce operating
costs while improving efficiency, flexibility, and customer satisfaction, call 800-477-1944 or email
info@DATAMARK.net.
DATAMARK, Inc.
123 W. Mills Ave., 4th Floor
El Paso, TX 79901 USA
www.DATAMARK.net
6 ©2012 DATAMARK, Inc. www.DATAMARK.net
THE BOTTOM LINE
A snapshot of the client's monthly mailroom activity, and results produced by a DATAMARK
transformation
Average Monthly Document Volumes
•Physical mail: 600,000 to 1 million pieces
•Documents processed: 800,000 to 1.2 million
•Images Processed: 4 to 5 million
Before
(Client-Managed)
• Staff: 240
• Mailroom size: 32,000 sq. ft.
After
(DATAMARK-Managed)
• Staff: 150-180, depending on volume
• Mailroom size: 21,500 sq. ft.
Estimated Annual Cost Savings
(Reduction in payroll and benefit costs, value of reclaimed facility space)
•$3 million to $4.5 million