Ventiv Technology

There is much more visibility of what happens and much more control 360º Aon eSolutions | 23 For more information, please contact Michiel Thomas on +31 10 448 7324 or email michiel_thomas@aon.nl " Now, we can make the report ourselves at any time, which means we can take action immediately" claims are outbound shipments within Europe, so from our regional warehouses to destinations within Europe." By using the reporting capabilities of RiskConsole, trends are identified and unusual activity investigated. Ms. Schaafsma relays an interesting example: "In Germany, we noticed a lot of thefts were occurring at a particular transport hub. 31 claims had the same carrier, same day of loss and so on – it was very unusual. First we had an internal investigation and, with the help of a surveyor, we discovered the facts. It transpired that an employee at the transportation company was stealing the items. He was arrested and it finally led to a change of supplier." In the past, Canon may not have noticed these trends so early. "We received a document twice a year and analysis was made by transport company, transport method, product, route, area or country, or product category," reflects Mr. Fukuda. "Now, we can make the report ourselves at any time, which means we can take action immediately." Canon has various KPIs for claims, such as the lead-time of the insurance handling, from when the incident happened and when the insurance claim is settled. Mr. Fukuda adds, "We have KPI targets and we have to check our progress. Based on reports from RiskConsole, if we have a gap between our target and the real situation, we have to take action." Mr. Fukuda continues, "RiskConsole has enabled many things to improve dramatically. Lead-time has reduced, as well as the associated administrative activity. Everybody has visibility of the same data, so the reaction of the insurers is quicker and settlement is faster." Ms. Schaafsma comments, "In the past, lead times could be three months or more and now it is a maximum of 35 days." Perhaps the most dramatic improvement has been the reduction of time to receive claim data at Aon from actual loss date. In 2003, it was an average of 131 days, which dropped to 21 days in 2007. Mr. Fukuda adds, "RiskConsole helped to achieve this, because by using the same system, each country inputs the information in the same format and everyone involved can see that information immediately. That is a completely standardised process and very good for us." There are even cases where a claim is settled within a day. The claim is entered in the morning by the local Canon representative, reviewed by Canon Europa in the Netherlands, processed by an Aon claims handler and settled by the insurer in the afternoon. Without a single database shared by all stakeholders this would not be possible. "We are now investigating the possibility of extending it to a few of our third parties," suggests Ms. Schaafsma. "They handle a lot of our claims and then forwarded them to us by post or email. This could be entered via RiskConsole and save time. We feel we will be more efficient if we can achieve it." In addition to the claims function, the data in RiskConsole is also used in other ways to facilitate other departments. For example, twice a month Canon generates an overview of the amount paid per country per product group and forwards it to the accounts department for book-keeping. Mr. Fukuda summarises, "Key to success is commitment to the benefit, understanding and sharing the benefit, the good support of Aon and the good relations between Aon and Canon. The real benefits are the paperless aspect; the ease to perform queries; the reduction of the lead-time; and visibility and for head office. There is much more visibility of what happens and much more control." Ms. Schaafsma concludes, "There are many advantages, too many to write down." It is clear from talking with Canon that it is not an over-night solution, but one that has taken hard work and collaboration between Aon and Canon, as well as between the various units within Canon to ensure the change is implemented fully. They have achieved a lot already and both parties look forward to the future.

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