Enterprises now recognize the importance of leveraging innovative technologies to drive digital transformation and achieve cost efficiency. However, a lack of precise top-level planning and a narrow focus on technology without integration with business needs led to significant investments with suboptimal results for many companies.

The path of digital transformation is fraught with challenges. How do organizations avoid the digital risks of ‘technology misuse’ and achieve efficient innovation that ‘technology promotes production’? As an insurance company integrating technology into the new development landscape, BoB-Cardif Life Insurance Co., Ltd (BoB-Cardif Life) partnered with IBM®. Using  IBM Client Engineering methods and introducing AI-powered process mining product IBM Process Mining. This partnership establishes a benchmark for digital transformation in the insurance industry, promoting innovation and achieving cost efficiency through AI-powered business automation.

“Co-create with IBM”

Aligned with the original guidance from the National Financial Regulatory Administration of China on digital transformation and driven by strategic development needs, BoB-Cardif Life formulated a five-year plan. The plan aimed to address digital transformation along with a digital construction plan for 2023. A Digital Transformation Office was established to oversee the company’s digital transformation efforts. Emphasizing ‘Lean Processes’ as a foundational initiative in the company’s 2023 plan, the objective is to enhance overall process management capabilities by constructing specific process-related methodologies, systems, and tools. This initiative aims to avoid unnecessary costs, prevent detours, and lay a solid foundation for continuous digitalization.

The Digital Transformation Office of BoB-Cardif Life analyzed the current processes using IBM Client Engineering’s innovative approach. They identified the lack of an end-to-end perspective and the need to enrich process management methods. The office sought a practical solution for process optimization and automation to address the aforementioned issues. The goal is to quickly identify and resolve process issues, foster continuous resolution of cross-departmental and cross-system collaboration challenges. While optimizing management mechanisms for cost reduction, efficiency enhancement, and risk mitigation.

As a result, BoB-Cardif Life launched the “Super Automation” project through the long-term development of a series of process-related platforms, technologies, and products. With goal of achieving cross-departmental and cross-system business process collaboration to reshape and optimize. The objective is to reduce labor costs effectively, improve operational efficiency, optimize management mechanisms, and mitigate business risks. 

BoB-Cardif Life regards digitalization as a technological innovation and elevates it to the level of strategy and values with foresight and responsibility. Centering on customer value, the company prioritizes long-term development and innovation. Decisions are made based on objective data to uphold the rationality of technology applications and prevent the misuse of digital technology. Based on this premise following a  a rigorous vendor selection process, BoB-Cardif Life chose IBM as its partner to explore digital innovation and transformation in processes.

A representative from BoB-Cardif Life said: “In the field of process development, IBM and BoB-Cardif Life can be described as like-minded. In our early discussions with IBM, we found that IBM’s proposal of a super-automated process solution aimed at creating value for customers aligns closely with ours. IBM provides us with a technology platform that meets our business needs and offers an innovative methodology to translate technology into business value efficiently. This capability is precisely what we need for the long-term development of our digital transformation journey.”

BoB-Cardif Life Process Mining Platform is the first of its kind in the insurance industry in China

In 2023, the BoB-Cardif Life’s Super Automation Project (Phase 1) established a process mining platform that uses IBM Process Mining. It introduced Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in pilot scenarios to swiftly enhance process efficiency and quality, integrating system resources cost-effectively and breaking data silos. The initial focus was optimizing three key processes—claims, underwriting, and a complex approval process—building on the outcomes of the preceding two projects and fully implementing and refining the fundamental process methodology.

Process mining is known as “enterprise nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR),” which can quickly find the “root cause” of enterprise process and identify effective “prescription.” IBM Process Mining can use data from enterprise resource planning (ERP), customer relationship management (CRM), and other business systems. It does this to achieve comprehensive enterprise processes through artificial intelligence and data-driven insights while accurately identifying the problems caused by inefficiencies. IBM Process Mining can also prioritize automation improvements based on the severity of the issue and the expected ROI, driving continuous improvement of processes by triggering corrective actions or generating RPA bots. With this technology, businesses can make faster, more informed process improvement decisions, which can be expected to reduce processing time by 70% and achieve ROI of up to 176%.

At present, the BoB-Cardif Life Super Automation (Phase I) project is progressing well with the following achievements in its phase:

• Methodology: BoB-Cardif Life established methods for assessing current business status, optimizing processes, and implementing digital technology. The follow-up work mode is determined by applying and verifying these methods for an iterative and continuous process optimization—a critical element in the digital transformation journey.
• Business Application: BoB-Cardif Life enhanced transparency in the claim process for key stakeholders, offering visibility into the complete processes and their frequency for the first time. Through this process, the company identified business anomalies, a low proportion of approval processes without investigation, excessive duplicate work, and an uneven distribution of employees handling complex cases. To address specific process breakpoints, the company proposed targeted digital technology and process management measures. With the aim of focusing all investments on customer value, eliminating waste, and significantly enhancing the automation of claims. The company also recognized data issues and introduced measures to ensure continuous and effective data quality oversight.

Through this project, BoB-Cardif Life has identified targeted measures to optimize specific business processes. Along with using RPA support, implementing these measures also entails harnessing the capabilities of digital technologies, including an AI-based knowledge repository and AI-based classification of claim cases.

IBM believes that the digital transformation of an enterprise is a long-term and iterative process that requires business values, methodologies, technology platforms, and tools that align with their business strategy. IBM has a wealth of experience and technical expertise in enterprise digital transformation, focusing on customer value. It offers an  agile, and efficient approach, through methodologies such as IBM Client Engineering, and leading practical  technology platforms and products. This  enables customers to make technology, platform, and path choices that meet business needs, overcome obstacles, and improve the effectiveness of digital transformation. “We are very honored and proud to be able to help BoB-Cardif Life promote innovation, reduce costs and increase efficiency with AI-enabled business automation, and set a benchmark for the digital transformation in the insurance industry,” said the IBM project leader.

Learn more about how IBM Process Mining can streamline your operations, enhance decision-making, and drive digital innovation. Start your journey toward efficient, AI-powered process optimization.