As one of the largest real estate investment organizations in the country, Archstone's portfolio is concentrated in many of the most desirable neighborhoods in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area, the San Francisco Bay Area, the New York metropolitan area, Southern California, Seattle and Boston.
Business Problem
Paper processes were the lifeblood of Archstone's business, but with nearly 350 communities supporting more than 86,000 units, the organization suffered from form-paralysis. Lacking a central repository for forms, the time to on-board new leasing agents could take as long as three months. In addition, the turnover rate for this position is very high, yet Archstone needed to make a large investment in initial training to help each new leasing agent become self-sufficient, always with the risk that the employee might only stay for six months. Archstone needed a one-stop-shop for locating forms and improving workflow management.
Appian BPM Solution
Since implementing Appian's BPM Suite, Archstone has dramatically reduced the learning curve for new associates. The company has saved time and money, while increasing customer satisfaction, by placing the tools and resources needed to make employees successful at their fingertips; creating a centralized location where forms, processes and tasks are presented and managed; enabling agents to search and retrieve forms and processes across the enterprise using key words; and not requiring associates to fully understand processes in order to participate/initiate. Appian's BPM suite also empowered Archstone to standardize and enforce its policies, resulting in greatly improved efficiencies through reducing multiple paper forms to one electronic process and providing the ability to track the approval chain.
