Abstract - Teixeira & Thompson, 1993

Diogo Teixeira and Jeff Thompson. 1993."The Power of Work Flow Software." The Bankers Magazine 176, (September/October). 10-14.

Banks are a natural application area for image-based workflow systems, since they still process enormous amounts of paper. This article gives an overview of how banks are starting to use workflow software for the routing and control of documents in the form of images. Workflow systems are described that are concerned with the very high volume of clerical type work in banks that is not routine enough to be processed automatically, but falls into clearly definable categories so that there are a controllable number of cases, outputs and options. It is clear that banks are starting to see the advantage of transitioning to form-based workflow as well.

The authors point out that it is almost impossible to make use of imaged documents without implementing workflow software at the same time. Workflow software is viewed as primarily a means for tracking and controlling documents.

The discussion on workflow benefits from numerous references to how workflow is being applied in collection systems, mail tracking systems and credit card processing, among others.

Five benefits are given for adopting workflow software:

1). There is faster processing of work, since the total transaction time is generally much greater than the time to complete the work steps

2) Workflow systems are usually based on the client-server architecture, as opposed to mainframes

3) The information processes of the bank (the "work flows") are made explicit and are more easily changed

4) Paper is eliminated

5) Financial losses from misprocessed paper are eliminated

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8/30/94