As Sportmaster automated the servicing processes using First Form

Sportmaster enters in Top-10 of world retail sports networks, and in Russia and Eastern Europe takes the I place. In Sportmaster network more than 450 shops in 200 cities in the territory of Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan and China work, and service more than 200 million people a year.

Decision on implementation of First Form

In retail chain stores a number of corporate systems – accounting, warehouse, accounting, personnel works. In them all processes connected with a goods turnover and finance are automated. But there was still a quantity of processes which were controlled with the help of e-mail and the tables completed manually. It concerned the servicing processes, such as order of a retail store equipment and uniform, verification of the calculation of goods, processing of requests in economic and repair services, collecting of the reporting from shops, control of accomplishment of orders of the central office It was, etc. obvious that these processes have a high potential for increase in efficiency. In scales of the largest retail chain stores the effect of such improvements is calculated by millions.

The systems implemented in the company "ground" everyone under the specifics were not suitable for implementation of these processes therefore the management looked for the new platform of the class BPM. The flexibility of setup and width of opportunities, from technical aspect, and friendly, the intuitive interface were the main requirements. Also the ability to integrate a new system with already existing was considered. By all these parameters First Form was also selected.

The choice of processes for automation

The need for process automation is not connected directly with their complexity. For example, setting and control of accomplishment of instructions – this functionality is implemented practically in all projects. In Sportmaster it is used for instructions from the central office in shops. Here several simple regulations work, escalation of overdue instructions for the management, a possibility of delegation of instructions is configured. It is obvious that automation even of such quite normal process gives a significant gain both on labor costs, and in respect of increase in performing discipline.

Difficult processes were configured by specialists of First Form, Sportmaster automated a part of processes independently. For example, process of a design of business trips is interestingly implemented: in it dates and the budget will not just be approved (and approval routes quite difficult), but the chain of actions, everyone for a certain contractor – on execution of accounting and personnel documents, the adoption of orders is automatically started. Besides, the employee can independently be engaged in preparation of a trip, and can make a mark "the help is required", and then the subtask on the assistant who will undertake armoring of tickets and hotels, the organization of a transfer, visa processing will be created.

Consolidation of purchasing requests

The most active and difficult of the processes implemented in First Form – consolidation of purchasing requests of uncommercial products (the equipment for trading floors, a uniform, household goods).

Applications are submitted by shops of times a month, then step by step consolidated. Then existence of stock balance and the budget for acquisition of missing positions is checked (for this purpose First Form exchanges data with the warehouse and accounting systems). If not all positions become covered by the budget, adjustment at first of the consolidated request becomes, and then these adjustments also on a chain go down down to shop.

The consolidated requests affirm, and the complex array of approval is used, and are transferred to accomplishment. Shops can trace planned dates of receipt of the ordered products.

Special attention was paid to the interface – to facilitate and accelerate filling of requests as in them there is a lot of positions and process requires attentiveness. It is convenient that at the order of some position its image is at once loaded – not to make the wrong choice.

Management of electronic signatures

Integration with Crypto Pro Certification center which registers the electronic digital signatures (EDS) became the most interesting in respect of automation. The signature is used for confirmation of actions with documents (delivery notes, acts and so forth) in the different systems of Sportmaster.

The EDS registers in the personal card of the employee – the plastic card with an electronic band which is used for access to First Form and other corporate systems.

The EDS is necessary not for all employees, it depends on job responsibilities. Therefore upon transition to other position or to other division there can be a need for obtaining the EDS or on the contrary, in a withdrawal of earlier issued signature.

In Sportmaster network over 10 thousand employees work. As well as in other retail networks, among linear employees there is a high percent of rotation, processes of acceptance and dismissal go almost continuously. Manually it is impossible to manage issue and cancellation of the EDS in such scales. The interface of the most Certification center in the system of Crypto Pro is focused on technical specialists and is difficult for normal users. Therefore this functionality was implemented in First Form and integrated with Crypto Pro means of API.

Issue or cancellation of the EDS are tied to personnel events – acceptance, transfer, dismissal. To avoid double entry, events are not started manually, and imported from a personnel system.

Need of release of the EDS is checked in the special reference book which contains a set of personnel rules for divisions, positions and sometimes even for individual employees. Rules can be two types: the EDSs resolving, i.e. requiring existence and prohibiting to have such signature. Often on the employee several personnel rules – for example, the resolving rule extend to division and prohibiting to a position at once. In this case the prohibiting rules have an unconditional priority.

"The first Form" sends a request in Crypto Pro Certification center, the unique key of the electronic signature is generated there and transferred back to First Form. The key registers in the personal card of the employee using the special device. If all actions took place successfully, confirmation is transferred to Certification center, and the EDS becomes effective. All procedure takes several minutes, and steps of process are visually displayed in a system.

"The first Form" in IT infrastructure of Sportmaster

Abilities to integrate were estimated prior to the beginning of the project and were important criterion when choosing the BPM platform. Depending on requirements of the automated process different approaches are applied: and online data exchange, and unloading of aggregated data according to the schedule or on demand.

For example, in the company the Register of tasks is used - it is the internal portal on which tasks from the different systems are displayed. The employee sees on the portal the list of all the tasks and of the link can follow in the necessary task, having opened it in the interface of this system. Tasks from First Form perfectly joined this process and are available to work on an equal basis with the others.

Reference books of goods, shops and employees are updated daily – First Form loads data from the accounting systems and a management system for master data.

Problems with work on the distributed network also do not arise. In regions there are shops which have problems with stability of Internet communication, and for them it was necessary to finish a system a little. For example, on shops tasks of control of the calculation of goods are periodically set. Directors of shops take the picture of the specified sections and send photoreports to the central office. At the same time it is necessary to send rather large volumes of data and therefore working off of ruptures of communication in the course of transfer was added to a system.

Plans for further development

Niches in which First Form is effective are visible rather accurately. First, a system perfectly is suitable for implementation of a set of auxiliary business processes for which implementation of separate independent applications is unprofitable, but which are in great need in automation. In the large and distributed retail chain stores of such processes it is enough, the list is already planned for the near future.

Secondly, First Form is convenient for support of processes which only form or reviewed, and have no accurate regulations yet. In First Form it is possible to make changes to process literally in several hours, at most – several days. Any idea it is possible to simulate, estimate result, to correct and at once to start again. For Sportmaster permanent development is a part of strategy, and First Form provides such support.