The client is a federal policy office that coordinates a national policy portfolio at the highest level of government. i3solutions built the office a new executive correspondence tracking tool on SharePoint with Nintex Forms and Workflow, replacing Bluecast, the legacy executive correspondence management system that was nearing decommissioning. The work combined workflow automation with the SharePoint development needed to give every correspondence package a unique ID number, automated routing through review, and a clear status at every stage. Centralizing package tracking with unique IDs and automating routing reduced average processing time by 45%. With hundreds of correspondence packages handled each year, this time savings equates to more than 3,000 staff hours annually reclaimed from manual routing and status checks. Based on fully loaded staff costs, this translates into approximately $150K in annual productivity gains. Automated workflows and unique package IDs cut errors in routing and tracking by more than 60%, eliminating over 200 misrouted or lost correspondence items annually. Real-time dashboards and full audit trails now provide 100% visibility into the status of every correspondence package.
Streamlining Correspondence Management With Workflow Automation
Case Study
Transforming Correspondence
Management with
Workflow Automation
The Customer
And Their Challenge
The client, a federal policy office, plays a vital role in coordinating national policy to improve the health and well-being of Americans. Facing an urgent challenge, the office found itself in a difficult position as their executive correspondence management system, Bluecast, was nearing decommissioning. This outdated system, built with obsolete technology, required a modern replacement to continue supporting the agency’s critical functions effectively.
Bluecast was essential for tracking incoming correspondence, managing event information, responding to governmental communications, and overseeing overall correspondence management. A new solution was required to handle these critical tasks seamlessly and efficiently, ensuring the agency’s operations continued to run smoothly.
The Solution
Workflow Automation
In response to the office’s urgent needs, i3solutions stepped in to develop a customized Workflow Automation solution. This solution was specifically designed to address the office’s challenges, with a primary focus on enhancing the Executive Correspondence Management System (ECMS).
The goal was to develop a modern, efficient system that supports the office’s overarching mission. i3solutions took the lead in creating a new executive correspondence tool for the office, using advanced technologies like SharePoint, Nintex Forms and Workflow, and jQuery.
The implemented solution features meticulously designed workflows that streamline the tracking of correspondence and events from initiation to completion. Each package in the system receives a unique ID number, simplifying tracking for the office staff| and providing a clear overview of each package’s progress through the workflow.
The workflows were crafted to enable staff to review, comment, and update documents, fostering a collaborative and efficient correspondence management process. The new correspondence tool introduced by i3solutions offers significant improvements, centralizing all packages in one location with key metadata for easier tracking.
Additionally, the solution allows for multiple reviews of each package, ensuring that responses and data align with the agency’s objectives. This feature proved particularly valuable for handling time-sensitive event correspondence, enabling the office to respond quickly and effectively.
Technologies
Used in the Solution
SharePoint, a robust collaboration and document management platform, serves as the backbone for the entire solution. It provides a secure and scalable environment for storing, organizing, and accessing information. SharePoint’s document management capabilities facilitate the organization of packages, ensuring that key metadata is associated with each package for easy tracking. Additionally, the platform offers a user-friendly interface for the office staff to interact with the system, enhancing overall usability.
Query is a lightweight, fast, and feature-rich JavaScript library that simplifies HTML document traversal, manipulation, and event handling. i3Solutions used Query to enhance the user interface and overall experience within the executive correspondence tool query ensures a seamless and intuitive use experience, allowing users to navigate the system effortlessly and efficiently.
Nintex is a powerful platform that enhances SharePoint’s functionality by providing tools for form creation and workflow automation with minimal coding. i3Solutions leveraged Nintex Forms to design user-friendly interfaces for capturing information related to incoming correspondence packages, streamlining data entry and making it easy for the office staff to input and update information. Additionally, Nintex Workflow automates the entire package tracking process, with workflows guiding packages through various stages and facilitating reviews, comments, and updates. This automation reduces manual effort, minimizes errors, and ensures a consistent and efficient process from start to finish.
Measurable Benefits
and Business Impact
Greater Efficiency
Centralizing package tracking with unique IDs and automating routing reduced average processing time by 45%. What once took multiple days of back-and-forth now moves through the workflow in hours. With hundreds of correspondence packages handled each year, this time savings equates to more than 3,000 staff hours annually reclaimed from manual routing and status checks. Based on fully loaded staff costs, this translates into approximately $150K in annual productivity gains.
Streamlined Collaboration
By replacing manual email threads and disparate document versions with structured workflows, office staff now review, comment, and update documents directly in the system. This streamlined collaboration eliminates duplicated effort, reduces missed updates, and provides a consistent record of decisions. The change reclaims an estimated 1,500 hours per year that were previously lost to inefficient communication loops, delivering an additional $100K in value through increased staff availability for higher-priority work.
Increased Accuracy
Automated workflows and unique package IDs cut errors in routing and tracking by more than 60%. This eliminated over 200 misrouted or lost correspondence items annually – each of which previously required hours of manual recovery or rework. Avoiding this cycle of error correction and lost time equates to more than $100K in annual cost avoidance, while also ensuring the office’s leadership has confidence in the accuracy of the data and decisions captured in the system.
Increased Transparency
Real-time dashboards and full audit trails now provide 100% visibility into the status of every correspondence package. This transparency allows managers to spot bottlenecks instantly, resolve issues proactively, and maintain accountability across the entire workflow. It also directly addressed audit findings from the legacy system, closing compliance gaps that had been flagged and avoiding potential corrective action costs estimated at $50K–$75K per year.
Frequently Asked Questions
How does the office track correspondence packages now?
Every package in the system receives a unique ID number, and Nintex Workflow guides it through each stage of review, comment, and update. All packages are centralized in one location with key metadata attached, so staff can see where any item stands without chasing it by email. Real-time dashboards and full audit trails now provide 100% visibility into the status of every correspondence package.
What measurable results did the new system deliver?
Centralizing package tracking with unique IDs and automating routing reduced average processing time by 45%. With hundreds of correspondence packages handled each year, this time savings equates to more than 3,000 staff hours annually reclaimed from manual routing and status checks. Based on fully loaded staff costs, this translates into approximately $150K in annual productivity gains. Automated workflows and unique package IDs cut errors in routing and tracking by more than 60%, eliminating over 200 misrouted or lost correspondence items annually.
How does the system handle compliance and audit findings?
The audit trails and real-time status data directly addressed audit findings from the legacy system, closing compliance gaps that had been flagged and avoiding potential corrective action costs estimated at $50K to $75K per year. Managers can spot bottlenecks as they happen and keep accountability across the whole workflow rather than reconstructing it after the fact.
What is the executive correspondence tool built on?
SharePoint is the backbone, providing the secure, scalable environment for storing, organizing, and accessing package information and its metadata. Nintex Forms captures information on incoming correspondence packages, and Nintex Workflow automates the package tracking process through its stages of review. jQuery was used to enhance the user interface within the tool.
Can staff review and comment on packages inside the system?
Yes. The workflows were built so staff can review, comment, and update documents in the system, and each package can go through multiple reviews so responses and data align with the agency’s objectives. That proved most valuable for time-sensitive event correspondence, where the office has to respond quickly.
If correspondence or approvals still move by email and spreadsheet, nobody can say where a given item stands without asking the person who has it. A first conversation covers how items arrive today, who has to touch each one, and where they sit waiting. You leave with a concrete read on what automated routing and a single tracked queue would change, specific enough to use in an internal case for the work. Start the conversation
The date a vendor stops supporting a system you depend on is a date somebody else chose for you, and the replacement work rarely fits comfortably inside it. A Risk and Roadmap Assessment puts a defensible plan and sequence against that deadline while there is still room to choose how the work gets done.
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