This business-process management (BPM) standardization project, dubbed the Electronic Document Archiving and Retrieval System (eDarts), has increased the efficiency and quality of processes considerably. AXA Winterthur employees now manage up to 60,000 transactions - quadrupling the project workload.

Max Meili, head of customer applications at AXA Winterthur, said: "For us, BPM is not merely a process-supporting system, but also an integration tool. We link all systems to BPM so that the user has an integrated interface and doesn't have to move from primary system to primary system, adapting each time. In addition, the BPM solution from TIBCO has made a huge leap forward in the last two years. By way of example, the processes are more dynamic, the prediction and analysis functionality are improved, and the graphic modeling options are based on BPMN."

Today, all 1,300 employees in the company's Vested Benefit division work on the eDarts platform, which gives them one precisely-defined way to process a particular case. Separate procedures for specific cases or for individual sectors are no longer possible. This enables a maximum degree of standardization and consequently better process efficiency and service quality, as well as the shortest possible response times. AXA Winterthur now has an overview of all open business transactions at all times, and is therefore in a position to offer enhanced and more professional customer service.

The TIBCO solution has brought considerable benefits for the insurer, with seven-figure administrative savings leading to a positive return on investment in just over one-and-a-half years. As planned, AXA Winterthur became the cost and quality leader in this area. In addition, the eDarts platform is increasingly being used by users in the other AXA Winterthur divisions. Two initiatives are currently underway, designed to map new processes to the platform or adapt existing ones to the division's specific needs.

"AXA Winterthur is an excellent example of what companies can achieve through the consistent application of the BPM concept and its practical realization using TIBCO solutions," explained Fabio Pulidori, senior vice president, TIBCO. "Optimum interplay of integrated systems, automated process steps, human interaction, documents and information result in maximum process efficiency. It is this interplay that breaks the mould of traditional BPM. At TIBCO, we have a name for it: BPM+."