BACKGROUND

GE Capital Fleet Services (GECFS) is one of the largest fleet management companies in the world. The company has 1.5 million commercial cars and trucks under lease and service management and manages the corporate vehicle fleets for companies such as AT&T, Honeywell, and Johnson & Johnson. It has operations in the United States, Canada, Mexico, Europe, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, and Brazil. GECFS is one of 28 specialized businesses within GE Capital, a global, diversified financial services company with over $345B in assets.

CASE STUDY:

GE Capital Fleet Services

INDUSTRY: Contact Centers for GE Capital Fleet Services

WORLDWIDE EMPLOYEES: 3,400 employees in offices throughout North American, Europe, Australia, and Asia

NORTH AMERICAN CUSTOMER SERVICE: 245 total employees

ASSETS: Over $10B with a fleet of 1.5 million cars and trucks

THE CHALLENGE

GE Capital Fleet Services North American Customer Service (call centers) wanted to achieve the following goals:

20% productivity improvement
Establish service level goals by call group to minimize staffing needs
Implement, maintain and track new Service Level Agreements by call group
Become the Global Employer of Choice by addressing work/life balance issues and improving turn-over by 10%

GE Capital Fleet Services saw a natural fit between Coleman’s methodology, GE’s Global Quality Six Sigma process, and the goals they wanted to achieve.

THE RESULTS

Working with Coleman Consulting Group on the 15-week project, GE Capital Fleet Services decided to emphasize the minimization of the total full-time employee count by adapting more efficient service level goals and schedules for two of the three contact centers. The annual cost savings identified by Coleman Consulting Group were in excess of $963,000 annually, and the project generated a 480% annual ROI.

As part of its 52-week follow-up, Coleman provided a number of follow-on services for GE Capital Fleet Services:

Developed metrics for measuring productivity
Continued to refine new service goals resulting in savings greater than anticipated
Conducted a follow-up survey with the workforce to refine schedules in the direction of employee preferences for the first “re-bid” since the original implementation
Introduced additional software and systems, which will enable GE Capital Fleet Services to achieve even greater efficiencies.

THE SOLUTION

Fleet Services contracted Coleman Consulting to identify potential cost savings and profit-making opportunities within each of their call centers, and then to implement strategies/systems that would improve upon the current practices. The Coleman Methodology was utilized to:

Determine new service level goals for each call type
Optimally match the workforce to the call volumes
Develop HR policies that fully supported the call center environment

The management team launched several initiatives, which included the following:

Improve productivity through internal control measures and processes
Automate certain transactions through IVR
Outsource certain low skill services
Engage Coleman’s strategic consulting to optimize operations and the scheduling of capital and human resources

Coleman Consulting Group determined which calls were categorized as “Critical” or “Routine,” as well as “Revenue Generating” or “Non-Revenue Generating.” An appropriate strategy for servicing each type of call included:

Splitting queues that have multiple, dissimilar, incoming call types and determine optimal service goals for each
- Raised service goals to capture critical calls (i.e. increase staffing)
- Lower service goals for routine calls (potentially decrease staffing) and leverage other resources more effectively, such as the web
- Developed entirely new service metrics where appropriate
Automating calls where possible through IVR type technology
Outsourcing calls where appropriate
Discontinuing service if not necessary

Coleman Consulting Group utilized an optimal mix of 5.5, 8, 9, 10, and 11.5-hour shifts in its solution along with a complete set of policies (e.g., breaks & lunches, vacations, holidays, schedule selection timing and process) to properly staff the call centers.

The derived schedule models were then reviewed, rated, and finally selected by the employees. To ensure a smooth implementation, Coleman Consulting Group relied on engaging the management team at all levels and employee participation throughout the process.