Rob is the supervisor of scanning operations at Insurance Resource, a firm that specializes in digitizing handwritten insurance claims. The client companies mail their insurance claims in batches to Insurance Resource for processing into a digital format. In addition to scanning the handwritten documents, Insurance Resource also creates computer files for clients, and forwards the claims to the appropriate insurance company for reimbursement.

With profit margins being small in insurance claims processing the document scanning technicians must work rapidly as well as process a large volume of claims. One day when Rob asked Wendy to improve her speed, he received a response that he had heard many times in the past.

"How can I work fast when so many of these claims are rumpled, crumpled, and incomplete? We get some forms with missing names and addresses. The other scanning technicians say the same thing. We even have to stop to remove staples from the forms. If we are not careful, the staples get caught in the scanner, and then we have to call tech support to de-jam the machine.

"My speed problem is that some of our clients are just stupid. The speed problem is theirs, not ours. I know that we can send the documents with missing information to our research department, but that takes time from my scanning."

Rob replied, "Some of our clients make work difficult for us, but they are still valued customers. If we put too much pressure on them to give us claims forms that are easier to scan, they might look for another outsourcing firm.

"I'm going to get with Kim (the vice president of operations), and see if we can get a task force set up to work on this problem of difficult-to-scan documents right away."

CASE STUDY QUESTIONS:

1. In what way does this case deal with a customer service problem? 2. What steps do you recommend that Insurance Resource take to get clients to send the company documents that are easier to manage? 3. What suggestions can you offer Wendy and the other scanning technicians to process their work more effectively for now?