Yamamoto Reshapes Business Process at Maritima Seguros
Yamamoto applied the same approach to claims in 2006. According to Yamamoto, during this period, he moved to implemented frameworks and methodologies for application development and project management based on best practice approaches -- such as CMM, Cobit, ITIL and PMBok -- to improve IT efficiency and planning.
By August 2007, Yamamoto embarked on a process review aimed at centralizing all of Marítima's operations and enhancing the company's relationships with its brokers -- the single distribution channel for all insurance in Brazil. Though he declines to discuss the details of these further process and business model changes, Yamamoto shares the impressive results: reduction of more than 10,000 minutes per month on internal phone calls; a reduction of 100,000 printed pages per month and a $120,000 annual reduction on courier costs; a 90 percent reduction in operational errors; the elimination of 2,000 hours of labor to perform manual tasks; and a 50 percent reduction in the time it takes to issue P&C policies.
Currently, "We are designing a new distribution model that should increase revenues and productivity for the sales team," Yamamoto adds, noting that the Brazilian market has grown 11 percent annually in recent years. To take advantage of that growth, Marítima's strategy focuses on efficiency, profitability and superior claims services.
In achieving those goals, as with those he has accomplished so far, Yamamoto says his greatest challenge is likely to be communication. "To convince the company to change its business model, I have needed to evolve my communications skills as well as my management and financial acumen," he notes. "That has not been easy."
Anthony O'Donnell has covered technology in the insurance industry since 2000, when he joined the editorial staff of Insurance & Technology. As an editor and reporter for I&T and the InformationWeek Financial Services of TechWeb he has written on all areas of information ... View Full Bio
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