Business Process Improvement in the Economic Programs Directorate at the
U.S. Census Bureau
Deborah M. Stempowski
Shirin A. Ahmed
U.S. Census Bureau
ICES III
June 2007
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Agenda
• Background
• Identifying Opportunities
• Business Cases for Top Ideas
• Other Improvement Ideas
• Future Steps for Process Improvement
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Background
• Economic Programs Directorate measures the economy through Censuses every 5 years, 100 current economic and government programs, Foreign Trade Statistics.
• In 1994, Economic Planning and Coordination Division (EPCD) formed to focus on corporate planning and implementation of key processes.
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Background
• Over the next decade, significant progress was made on corporate generalization and standardization.
• Standard Economic Processing System (StEPS)
• Business Register Modernization• Economic Census Metadata-Driven
Instrument Design• New Analyst Tools
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Formation of BPIT Team
• New Strategic Plan / Business Process Improvement Team Formed
• Major Process Areas – Program management– Content planning and approval– Sample design, selection, maintenance– Data collection, follow-up, capture– Respondent assistance– Editing and tabulation– Data review and correction– Data dissemination and outreach
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Identifying Opportunities• Team solicited ideas that would
produce cost savings.• 240 ideas were received• Ranking system was developed:
– (1) Ideas to consider– (2) Off the table (out of scope)– (3) Easy to implement or survey specific– (4) Things already in progress– (5) Nice idea but not process improvement
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Identifying Opportunities
• 60 ideas were classified ‘Ideas to Consider’
• Team further reduced the list to 25 and ranked those by:– Benefits other than costs– Cost savings– Implementation Effort / Cost
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Top 5 Ideas
• Automated Workflow and Electronic Tracking System
• Standardization and Generalization of Current Survey Data Collections
• Economic Directorate Analyst Toolkit• Improvement in Data Editing Procedures• Improvement in BR Maintenance
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Automated Workflow and Electronic Tracking System
• Would support all processing steps for the 2007 Economic Census at the National Processing Center.
• Over seven million records are processed and one million are referred for additional review.
• Benefits would include the elimination of paper, early identification of bottlenecks and real time information for managers.
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Automated Workflow and Electronic Tracking System
• Group evaluated costs, benefits, and risks of the existing system an automated system.
• Two packages were evaluated: Oracle and Feith.
• Based on cost, the group did not recommend implementation.
• To take full advantage, the processes would have to be re-engineered and that was out of scope for 2007 / To be considered for 2012
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Standardization and Generalization of Current Survey Data Collections
• Would provide for the development of a generalized data collection system for current surveys.
• Standardize letters• Generalizing mailings and follow ups to
eliminate duplication• Using more electronic reporting• Adopting a company centric approach
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Standardization and Generalization of Current Survey Data Collections
• In fiscal year 2004, directorate spent over $9 million for data collection for 18 key programs.
• Cost savings associated with the implementation of several recommendations would be approximately $1.6 million.
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Standardization and Generalization of Current Survey Data Collections
• Development of a business portal that would provide a one stop service center
• Would be an extension of our Business Help Site (BHS).
• Standardizing and generalizing mailouts.• First steps are:
– Automation of the company reporting calendar – Secure messaging
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Economic Directorate Analytical Toolkit
• Next generation of analyst tools.• Common look and feel based on a similar
conceptual design.• Tools would use common data sets that
reside in one place to facilitate easier review and corrections.
• Common tools could be developed for use with the census and current surveys.
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Economic Directorate Analytical Toolkit
• Team evaluated how analysts were spending their time using a survey.
• Cost algorithm using average salaries was developed.
• Directorate spending nearly $30 million annually on analysis.
• 350 analysts were spending 60% so a small gain in efficiency could produce substantial savings.
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Economic Directorate Analytical Toolkit
• Senior managers approved a technical evaluation.
• Focused on single sign on, displaying data from multiple sources and passing identification and data between multiple sources.
• Team developed a proposal over 6 months• Due to the current budget situation, the
project did not proceed.• Conducted exhaustive evaluation of StEPS.
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Improvement in Data Editing Procedures
• Focused on improving efficiency by defining measures for editing, investigating alternatives, reducing ‘low value’ edits and trying to reduce the number of failures to be reviewed manually.
• Team assessed current practices and developed 7 recommendations.
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Improvement in Data Editing Procedures
• Management endorsed the recommendation to share knowledge about editing.
• Management also requested that 5 pilot studies be done to evaluate the efficiency of the edits for those programs.
• Studies recently completed / results under review
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Improvement in Register Maintenance Procedures
• Purpose is to keep the BR up to date with information from the current surveys and administrative records sources.
• First part is to set up a continuous information flow so organizational changes are updated.
• Second part will to identify additional administrative data to improve coverage and relevancy.
• Research started on a small scale / no concrete results as yet for business case.
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BPIT Easy Ideas
• On-line use of calendaring software.
• Use of more project management tools.
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Reforming BPIT
• Team reformed in Late 2006• Lessons learned from Phase I showed
ideas successful at implementation:– Ideas needed to be doable – Resources for an idea needed to be
squeezed into current resource duties– The process for improvement and the
results needed to be measurable.
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Approach for BPIT Phase II
• Review original list of 240 under new criteria
• Ask staff for further ideas
• Review and select top ideas through facilitated discussions
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Top 5 Ideas for BPIT Phase II• Provide an effective document management system • Improve web-based reporting for current surveys by
evaluating Census Taker• Publicize and increase awareness of the business
help site • Inventory analysts’ review practices, develop
checklists and ensure review procedures / MIS are in place
• Establish a document series to reflect key policy and strategic decisions