It’s time for a business process overhaul! Ask yourself ...

• Do you suspect some inefficiencies in frequent activities?
• Do you expect increased workload in certain areas, without increased staff?
• Do you wonder if equipment or other supplies could be managed more effectively?

If you’re looking for some inspiration, look at the business process improvements your CU colleagues have accomplished!

We’ve seen some great submissions to the CU Innovation & Efficiency (CU I&E) Awards Program this year.

Your colleagues have told us how they’ve improved their own departments’ operations:

• At CU Denver|Anschutz Medical Campus, they developed systems to compare data with billing in the area of medical waste removal, to “build in redundant oversight, and identify vendor invoicing discrepancies,” especially critical since program costs had more than doubled in three years without any increase in budget. Their new business processes have resulted in over $41,000 in savings to date. See Data Analysis and Financial Account Reconciliation for Waste Disposal Systems. 

• At CU Boulder, they implemented a management model to enhance mobile device security and functionality, and minimize configuration and administration time, allowing the department to “decrease labor costs while increasing functionality, security and user satisfaction.” See Mobile Device Management Model. 

• At CU Boulder, they initiated a direct-to-Distribution-Center delivery model to reduce congestion and safety concerns associated with third-party delivery vehicles on campus, obtaining funding from those parties to “cover additional labor and other handling costs, and create a more efficient delivery process.” See Office and Custodial Supply Delivery.

• At CU Denver|Anschutz Medical Campus, they redesigned robot programs to cut performance steps and time in half and take on additional tasks,  which "enables more samples to be tested with less effort, eliminates the need to purchase another expensive robot, and reduces human error” during critical lab tests. See Robotic Programming.

• At CU Denver|Anschutz Medical Campus, they studied staff operations surrounding regulated medical waste, resulting in a new program that “provides additional required services, serves off-campus entities previously not included, and eliminates the need to hire an additional FTE” ... saving over $60,000 annually. See Time-Motion Analysis for Efficient Waste Pick-up.

• At CU Boulder, they compared general contractors’ supply chains with campus supply chain to ensure they were getting the best discount structure possible for goods used during construction/interior finish processes. “This has produced over $400,000 a year in savings on carpets and flooring, and a recent contract with a paint supplier saved $49,000 last year alone.” See Total Supply Chain Integration Model.

Take a look at other departments’ efforts to enhance operations.

Pick the ones best suited for your own departmental overhaul!

In fact: check out all the CU Innovation & Efficiency Awards Program submissions this year on the Office of University Controller website.

What's the CU I&E Program all about? Watch our quick flick!