Artificial intelligence helps Wärtsilä to become the most efficient claim handler in the field
Claim handling is complicated when customers, subcontractors and spare parts move around the world. Netum brought the use of artificial intelligence (AI) into Wärtsilä’s warranty and claim handling process. Now the process can be up to five times faster than before.
With business in all continents and a turnover of more than EUR 5 billion, even small daily operations accumulate. Wärtsilä, a global leader in technology solutions for the marine and energy industries, handles a large amount of customer feedback every month, totaling dozens of working days. Together with Netum, Wärtsilä wanted to find out how to enhance claim handling.
– Before, our warranty and claim handling process relied on silent knowledge. The process was complex and required strong skills in SAP. Moving from one transaction to another and copying data took time. We asked, what if AI could do some of the work, tells Wärtsilä’s Senior Expert, Operations Support Johan Wik.
The goal was to save specialists’ resources and to improve customer service.
Historical data became a guide for the future
The result was the One Touch Claim Handling process, in which AI mines Wärtsilä’s warranty and claim data in order to give the best solution for the current situation. When a similar problem has been solved many times before can AI be taught to deduce an applicable answer. Now every claim handler can benefit from all former claim decisions.
– Claim handling can be up to five times faster than before. A task that previously took more than ten minutes now takes about two minutes, says Wik.
One Touch Claim Handling runs on the SAP Fiori interface. The cloud-based solution provides a recommendation in just one click. A task that formerly demanded senior-level professionals can now be performed by more unexperienced employees.
– With AI involved in the decision-making, specialists can now focus on more demanding tasks. The risk of errors has also decreased with less manual work. In the end, the customer wins whenever processes are automated, says Wik.
Digitization step by step
Wärtsilä has been cooperating with Netum for more than a decade. Confidence in Netum’s expertise is strong, and smooth communication makes projects easy.
– Netum is an agile partner with high quality standards, especially their expertise in SAP is outstanding. Netum knows our business well and understands what is relevant for us, says General Manager, Operations Support Robert Högkull.
Wärtsilä already gazes at future possibilities of AI. It’s especially tempting to envision how AI could be harnessed in decision-making that has no historical data to utilize.
The business potential of digitization is significant. The implementation of digitality in a multinational company doesn’t however require a massive change of direction, but rather refining processes step by step.
– Digitization it not about reinventing the wheel but streamlining processes one at a time. With the latest developments we now have made it possible to be the world’s best claim handlers in our field, says Högkull.
Cerion Solutions Oy, that nowadays belongs to Netum Group Plc, was responsible for the execution. Netum Group Plc purchased the entire share capital of Cerion Solutions Oy on 1 October 2021. Under the new organisational structure, the employees and operations of Cerion transferred to Netum Ltd on 1 October 2022, and Cerion Solutions Oy officially merged with Netum Ltd as of 31 January 2022.