WINNIPEG, Manitoba -
"A number of large credit unions in Canada have come to visit our centralized loan processing unit to see in action how our technology has allowed us to be more efficient," said Rick Male, vice president, retail credit and support services at $1.1-billion Cambrian.
"We can fund a mortgage in as little as 48 hours, with very few errors, where our competitors are anywhere from three days to three weeks," Male added.
A BPM platform ensures that loans originated online and from the CU's 11 branches are immediately and accurately processed through one central location, explained Male.
That's quite a feat, considering many CUs have told the Credit Union Journal over the years that BPM workflow projects can be a slippery slope and that centralized loan processing is hard-won.
Cambrian uses the HandySoft BizFlow BPM solution, offered by Vienna, Va.-based Handysoft Global Corp.
Although Cambrian cleared 2,600 mortgages in 2006 and boasts the lowest mortgage interest rates in Manitoba, the credit union set its sights last year on personal lending, which grew by 20%, Male said.
At the same time, HandySoft has helped Cambrian address the "challenge" of finding new-and long-term-employees. Of the team of 28 loan officers, 15 are new hires.
"The system helps transition the new lenders and assist the experienced team in processing higher volumes," he said.
"Our new hires can be up and running on BizFlow within one week," Male explained. "And our clients can complete the loan process in most cases in one visit, unlike the five visits it used to take years ago."
Cambrian didn't stop with lending workflow; the human resources department is also reaping the rewards of the rules-based BPM platform, according to Lynne Mackan-Roy, vice president, information systems technology at Cambrian.
With 60 new employees in 2006, the human resources team of three was overwhelmed, Mackan-Roy explained.
"New employees need the involvement of many departments," she said. At times, employees would get lost in the shuffle between departments.
With the "new-employee" function, BizFlow automatically notifies each department to take care of new hires, she continued.
"The new process is a dream," said Mackan-Roy. "Many efficiencies have been gained, and our auditors are now satisfied with the controls that are in place."
BizFlow is all about efficiency, explained Scott Byrnes, vice president, marketing and product management, HandySoft.
"Credit unions analyze their existing processes, model them, and then simplify them into BPM solutions so that all work is automatically, proactively routed to the appropriate employee and on to the next level."
BizFlow helps Cambrian's administration department talk to the sales department, Male explained. "We mapped out what administration is, and what sales is, and then we mapped out how we communicate back and forth. The tool is good because it models how we communicate."
BPM acts as an integration tool between disparate applications and legacy systems, Byrnes continued.
"BPM sits on top of these other applications and serves up the user interface and intelligence to make everything work together," he said.
Cambrian proves that BPM can be used across the enterprise for a range of purposes, Byrnes added. One year ago, the CU also automated the workflow for its mutual funds services and referrals.
Of course, BPM didn't always seem transparent at Cambrian.
"Don't forget we started this process at least 12 years ago," said Mackan-Roy. "We've taken a long time but have viewed BPM as the avenue to gain efficiencies. Now, our efficiency ratio is better than our neighboring banks."
The next step in workflow automation at Cambrian? Online applications will automatically send data to the CU's loan system and kick-off a workflow sequence. And soon, the core system will automatically populate BizFlow fields.
FOR MORE RESOURCES
Read more about business process management at cujournal.com and searching any of the following bolded terms in the archive:
COLD Shoulder, for a story on how Hudson Valley FCU created an electronic workflow system.
For more information on this story:
Cambrian CU, www.cambrian.mb.ca
HandySoft, www.handysoft.com
