Like most General Electric (GE) functional groups, CP&SO wants to use the Web to provide value to its customers, enhance the speed of service delivery, and improve its own as well as user productivity. CP&SO provides property management, telecommunications, and services for GE’s corporate headquarters in Fairfield, Conn., and for other co-located GE businesses that contract with it.

CP&SO’s e-business plan seeks to create a one-stop shopping experience for internal customers while offering a consistent look across the enterprise. Rather than employing the standard method of organizing material by GE business unit, the new system is based on occupant process, such as booking a conference room, tracking a mail package, or moving an individual from one location to another. With just a few clicks, users will be able to request services and information pertaining to their own particular needs.

“Our vision of the Web’s role in our business is clear and customer focused: to deliver workplace services that enable our customers to get the job done most efficiently,” says GE’s Maria Romani-Seville, Manager of Corporate Facilities and Engineering.

Six Sigma Backbone

Six Sigma, the quality-based program that defines GE’s corporate culture, has been the backbone of CP&SO process design since the project’s inception in April 2000. Six Sigma allows employees to design and implement systems with customer expectations and satisfaction at the forefront by employing statistics to measure and understand how effectively a given process is performing. It also provides specific tools to create process improvements.

In essence, Six Sigma involves two basic approaches: DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, and Control) and DFSS (Design for Six Sigma). DMAIC is a process for continued improvement for programs already in place, eliminating unproductive steps and focusing on new measurements and the enhanced use of technology.

“Basically, it is defining what the problem is today, measuring what the impact of that problem is and what the costs are to the company, analyzing why the problem exists, resolving it, and putting a control plan in place to ensure that the problem never recurs,” Romani-Seville explains.

DFSS, on the other hand, focuses on designing processes correctly the first time. Through a systematic methodology--Design, Measure, Analyze, Design, Verify, Implement--DFSS facilitates the design of products and processes that meet customer expectations and maintain Six Sigma quality levels. (See sidebar What is Six Sigma? )

“Since the Internet is a new venture for all of us, we utilized the DFSS methodology to help us develop our Web strategy,” says Romani-Seville.

After defining its vision, CP&SO addressed customer expectations, or CTQs (Critical to Quality requirements). Customers asked that the Web site be intuitive, well organized, easy to use, and personalized with relevant information. CP&SO already had a lot of content on the Web, but links were embedded within links and information was scattered everywhere, outdated and difficult to find.

Distinguishing between its two distinct customer groups--GE employees around the world and contractors working in GE facilities--proved critical in developing the CP&SO Web strategy. To meet the specific needs of each constituency, CP&SO crafted two different Web service structures, maintaining both under one URL link.

“In order to get the right services in the face of each customer, we needed to devise some very intricate search tools to identify users whenever they log on to our site,” says Romani-Seville.

Employee vs. Occupant Services

Rather than building an entirely new portal, CP&SO utilized two existing technologies that had already been deployed in-house. This solution was simpler, less costly, and addressed the need for employees to have all information in one place. Inside GE technology, based on a design developed by the company’s corporate communications department, underlies services delivered to company employees, while Support Central technology drives Occupant Services, targeted for employees, visitors, and consultants who work at GE sites.

The employee services portal is powered by software that immediately identifies customers, their business, and location by the benefits package they receive. This information then determines the portfolio of services available to each user. Employees easily access this menu by selecting “My Business Services” on their GE business-specific home page. From here, it is just one click to localized information on building, telecommunications, corporate sourcing, meeting, conference, office, safety, and security services.

“Overall, once our customers get into the services that are specific to them, they are able to search based on a concept of ‘How Do I?’ ” explains Romani-Seville.

She also notes that Inside GE has created some standardization in Web page organization across all GE businesses. This consistent format facilitates navigation through the Web site. At its core, Inside GE provides GE employees with information and services pertaining to their career, healthcare, community involvement, travel, and localized facility and support services.

Support Central technology, rather than an HR database, drives the Occupant Services portal. Developed by the Corporate Initiatives Group as a collaborative tool, Support Central allows experts in a given field within the greater GE community to share best practices with each other. In December 2000, CP&SO adapted this technology to deliver services globally in a uniform package to both employees and contractors.

“The basic concept behind Support Central is that services are based on communities. A community could be a function, a business, a location, or a country, depending on how the services are provided,” says Romani-Seville.

Customers can subscribe to communities based on job location and responsibilities. Once logged on to Support Central, they are identified and offered customized information based on the specific communities they have chosen.

Behind each community is a Resource Structure to guarantee the accuracy and relevance of the information provided. A facilitator, supported by a co-facilitator, owns and maintains the data put into the community. Users can also view the photograph, biography, and expertise statement of the specialists in their community who operate behind the Web structure. Customers can easily contact these resources via telephone or email for further guidance.

Self-Help and E-Learning Tools

Support Central also offers expansive self-help tools, allowing customers to draw upon the expertise both in their own community and within the entire GE Support Central community. Manuals can be accessed simply, tips and tricks are identified, and frequently asked questions, which ultimately will be displayed in order of their actual frequency, are easy to find. Web pages can also be linked to this site.

E-learning tools, customized by community, are another unique feature offered through Support Central technology. By selecting ‘Show Me’ and ‘Teach Me’ options, customers can watch 60-second video clips dedicated to a specific task. One step-by-step piece, for instance, addresses how to put a picture in a PowerPoint presentation, while another shows a viewer how to forward voice mail messages. CP&SO believes that these straightforward, brief clips will reduce the number of calls handled by its help desks and other resources that support these services.

Process Rollout

CP&SO rolled out the first pilot of its Web-based management model at its Fairfield, Conn., corporate headquarters in April 2001, just one year from the project start. The pilot ran for three months, at which time CP&SO conducted a checkpoint analysis based on the success of the tool and the effectiveness of the Web site’s content. Key measurements include how many times customers have visited particular communities, how many documents have been downloaded, and how many people have subscribed to each community. CP&SO then correlated this data with customer satisfaction as determined through surveys and a customer focus group held in July 2001.

“Customer feedback validates the fact that our customers are happy with the use of the online tools and the content available,” says Romani-Seville.

CP&SO launched a second pilot of Support Central in 153 locations globally, including the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and the U.K., in late August 2001.

Currently, Support Central offers 1,950 links of information and self-help tools. Customers are able to customize the information to meet their own facility service needs. There have been more than 15,000 visits to the Web communities and more than 6,700 document downloads since August 2001.

Hard dollar savings realized through the implementation of CP&SO’s Web-based system are difficult to quantify, Romani-Seville adds, noting that it might be possible to measure savings in terms of productivity gains. Geared to meeting the individual needs of its users, this system has made it faster to navigate through the vast array of services offered and could thus impact customer productivity. The higher throughput and lower costs associated with e-business operations are also expected to drive the organization to become smarter and leaner.

Lessons Learned

Romani-Seville points out that a critical factor in the success of this project is having a clearly defined, customer-focused vision. This vision, supported by a well-documented and regularly updated plan, will help to ensure that the project remains within scope.

Customers now rely on and expect quality information and tools on the Support Central Web site. Depending on the complexity, CP&SO can respond to a customer’s request for more information and/or more content almost immediately. For example, a request for instructions on how to network a voice mail message was answered within minutes. The request went straight to the telecommunications leader, who posted a simple Microsoft Word document to the Web site for all customers to use. It was not necessary to involve the IT Department with the request.

According to Romani-Seville, the power of the self-help tools has been an enormous boon to the organization. Internal productivity increases as CP&SO is able to add, change, and update Support Central without the use of IT support. The speed at which Web-based information is provided increases CP&SO’s ability to meet the customers needs quickly, completely, and accurately.

“It’s all about the content--transactional, training, and up-to-date information,” says Romani-Seville. “We give the customers what they want when they want it.”

By Lisa Weitzman