Discovering and Improving Processes

Real World Example: Processing Home Loan Modification Requests

A Jump-Start on BPMN Modelling

BPMN is the standard for business process modeling, but business analysts are frequently
at a loss for where to begin their process modeling efforts. To help jump-start BPMN
process modeling and analysis efforts, we are supplying a set of pre-built models and
simulations for popular processes. These models were built through real-world process
Software Requirements
improvement engagements. These models are not expected to match your organization’s
The current and future state process
own processes, but should help you get a head start on your modeling and process
models are visible to anyone with access
improvement efforts. To help you better understand the models, simulation results, and to Visio 2007 or greater. In order to access
improvement reports, this companion guide will offer a summary of the business situation the native BPMN stencils and process
that established their creation. simulation, Visio Premium 2010 and
its analystView simulation plug-in are
Request for Loan Modification at Big Corp required. If you do not currently own
Visio or analystView, free 60-day trials
In May 2011, the Mortgage Banker’s Association reported that 8.1% of all residential of the software are available at:
property loans in the United States were delinquent 90 days or more. In order to help
http://visiotoolbox.com/2010/
home owners better manage their mortgage challenges, the Obama Administration’s trial-downloads.aspx
“Making Home Affordable Program” created a defined loan modification process through
http://www.global360.com/products/
which borrowers who are in default, at risk of imminent default, or in foreclosure can have process-discovery-analysis
their loans modified to a more affordable monthly payment targeted at 31 percent of their
monthly gross income.

In order to process requests under this program, homeowners needed to submit a Request
for Modification and Affidavit (RMA) form to their bank.

For the many banks, processing of RMA requests has been a manually intensive process,
with documents being collected, organized, and tracked across paper folders on desks,
email messages, fax machines, and mailrooms – all across numearous processing
departments. Big Corp was one such bank.

Big Corp is a large regional bank headquartered in Boston that serves four New England
states. In 2010, the bank processed over 100,000 home mortgages for its clients. Like
many banks that offered mortgages through the real estate bubble, delinquencies and
defaults are an unfortunately part of their business today. Big Corp employs 20 people in
its loan processing center to assist with RMA requests. F ollowing process discovery, the
business analyst created a model
Challenges with Processing Modification Requests of the current RMA process.

The RMA team at Big Corp processes over 500 RMA requests each month. Although
twelve processors assigned to handle the front end collection and reviews, they were
challenged to complete their work in a timely manner. When documentation was missing,
the customer or another process worker in the bank was asked to send in the required
information. Tracking was completed using hand-written checklists that were attached to
each RMA applicant’s folder. Coupling incoming faxes and emails with the physical folder
resulted in processing times that exceeded the Big Corp’s service level agreements.
Improvement of this process at Big Corp began with the manager of the RMA processing
team clearly defining the following goals:

»» Average overall processing time not to exceed 7 hour SLA

»» Keep current RMA staffing levels at or below 20 individuals

»» Reduce RMA processing costs by 25%

Understanding and Validating the Current RMA Process

Following process discovery sessions with the RMA staff, a business process analyst at
Big Corp used Visio to quickly visualize the current process (as-is) used to handle the
applications. Next, the business process analyst incorporated additional detail into the
model, including: process activity, participants, resources, time requirements, costs, etc.
The details were paired to the model using a Visio plug-in named analystView that helps
simulate and report on the performance of a modelled business process.
 hat-if scenarios were used by the
W
To ensure the RMA application processing model accurately reflected the operations at Big Business Process Analyst to compare
process improvement alternatives.
Corp, the process analyst simulated the current process map to validate her diagram with
the RMA Manager and other process stakeholders.

Analysing and Optimizing the RMA Process

Next, the process analyst wanted to explore alternatives to improve the application
process. By visually assessing the process model and holding discussions with the
stakeholders involved, it was evident that several departmental tasks could be performed
in parallel, accelerating the application completion rate. By organizing work and
stakeholder collaboration through a case management software solution, the front end About Global 360
processors could better organize and track applications, customers could be kept up-to- As the leader in process and case
management solutions, Global 360 has
date with a more accurate report of their application’s status, and fulfilment operators
helped 2,000 customers in 70 countries
would not have to search for missing or misfiled documentation that needed reduce paper, automate processes, and
to accompany each application. empower individuals to deliver increased
productivity and business performance
Additionally, by automating some of the tasks and monitoring the readiness of application while reducing operational costs. As a
documentation with the case management software suite, the business analyst explained business process management (BPM)
market leader on the Microsoft® platform,
to the RMA Manager how staffing of front-end processors could be reduced significantly
our products enable customers to improve
and reallocated to support other businesses at the bank – lowering her overall operating business performance and maximize the
costs for the team. productivity of all participants in a process,
as well as leverage and extend their Microsoft
Measured Results of Improving the RMA Process investments in BizTalk®, SharePoint®, Visio®
The BPMN process modelling and simulation exercise at Big Corp provided a clear and Office®. Global 360 is headquartered
in Texas with operations in North America,
understanding of what their current (as-is) process was and concise changes they could Europe, South Africa and Asia Pacific. For
take to meet their goals. With these specific changes in place, Big Corp’s revised (to- more information visit www.Global360.com
be) process resulted in a 50% reduction in cost to process applications. The new case
management software suite allowed the remaining processors to spend more time on
application reviews and less time tracking down missing or misfiled documentation. And
the average overall processing time was also reduced from 7 hours and 44 minutes to 5
hours – helping the RMA team meet its SLA for the first time in months.

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