Case Study: Archstone, Drowning In Paper, Surfaces With A High-Impact BPM Solution

Archstone is a leading provider of apartment-style dwellings, with real-estate holdings in 13 states, including 180 communities and 2,600 associates spread across the United States. Stuck using manual processes, associates relied on mountains of paper forms to handle a vast majority of the company's on-site real-estate operations. Business managers recognized that the 1,300-plus paper forms their leasing associates used every day were artifacts of an inefficient process and launched a business process improvement initiative to drive waste out. This project opened the door for a business process management (BPM) solution from Appian that eliminated the inefficiencies of working in paper and unclogged communication channels. Key lessons learned: 1) Communicate, communicate, communicate to get user buy-in, 2) the business can successfully drive BPM with minimal IT involvement, and 3) forms shouldn't drive the process design — think process first.