OFFICE PRODUCTIVITY
AND
INFORMATION PROCESSING
Ron DeGrand
Developer, Owner of CAS

About Your Presenter
• B.S. Physics degree from Kent State
• Worked with computers since 1975 - used
computers/programs to do the work it would take
me longer to do or not at all
• Database development since 1983
• MS Office User, Application Developer, and
Computer Trainer since 1991
• Owner of Barbron Enterprises LLC with divisions -
Computer Application Specialists and NEO Video
Solutions
• A business person, not an IT person, self-taught

Questions
Would you build a house using just a hammer,
screwdriver, and saw?
Would you take a trip across the country on a
bicycle instead of a van?
Why do you even use a dishwasher instead of
washing the dishes yourself?
Then why do you not automate your
information processing system?
Why do you trudge along using
outdated or manual processing
techniques and programs?

• Productive – doing more things in
the same amount of time1
• Efficient – doing the same
amount of things in less time2
• Busy – spending a lot of time on a lot of
things, not necessarily being productive
or efficient in any of them
3
Definitions

Premises
In manufacturing, we talk about “productivity” or
“efficiencies”. The office employee’s “product” is
data/information. Same principles apply.
Most of your employee dollar goes towards
salaries for information processing.
Companies are wasting large amounts of money
through low “productivity”, low “efficiencies”, and
increased employee expenses.
Managers and employees confuse “Busy” with
“Productive/Efficient”.
When employees are “busy”, they are just high-
paid data processors. Let the computer do the
data processing!! This will free up your employees
to be data analyzers and perform the work they
were hired to do...and more!!

Signs of being “Busy”
• Copying and Pasting Data into Word or
Excel to create different scenarios or to
further process data.
• Performing manual sorting, filtering,
and other operations or analysis with
data or spending a large amount of
time trying to compile data.
• Performing an operation manually that
the computer can do automatically.
• Manually producing letters, reports,
envelopes, charts, etc. in Word or Excel
using data from various data sources.
• Spending time doing a computer
program task the long way because of
not knowing how to do it the correct
or fast way.
• Everybody spends time maintaining
their own documents, spreadsheets,
and databases with the same
information that everyone else uses.

Consider a different way if…
• …you are still using manual
methods or out-dated software
to process your information
• …you are running generic or
canned software to process your
data, having to fit your business
processes to that program
• …your employees don’t work
fast enough due to lack of
training or program knowledge
• …the Left hand does not know
what the Right hand is doing

The Solution…
• Utilize a custom, in-house, User-centric
application to house, manage, link to, and
process your company-wide information.
• Train your employees on how to best use the
programs available.
• By automating your company’s information
processing and providing computer training,
you will save money and/or lower fixed costs,
increase sales, and increase profits.
1 yr 2 yr 3 yr 4 yr
Profits

Data Store
and User
Processing
Interface
Spreadsheets
Import/Link
or Export
to other
Data Sources
Publications,
Presentations,
& other A/V
Files
Emails or
Appointments
(and other
electronic
documents)
Special
Document
Outputs
YOUR INFORMATION SYSTEM

What a User-Centric System can do…
 Enter and edit data with a user-friendly
interface – utilizing data validation
 Produce reports, charts, labels, envelopes,
emails, pdfs, etc. with a click of a button
 Compile and Retrieve data quickly based
on business rules – Dashboard, Metrics,
and Analytics
 Automate data processing tasks – global
updating, appending, and deleting of data
with a click of a button
 Perform complex tasks that are almost
impossible for a human to perform
 Variety of underlying reasons to use a
custom developed system versus a
canned program or web-based program

THE USER-CENTRIC SYSTEM
Data
Container
INPUTS
Manual
Input
Data
Import
Linked
Data
OUTPUTS
Hardcopy
Reports
(Reports, Charts,
Labels, Envelopes,
PDFs, etc.)
Data
Exports &
Merges
On-Screen
Results
(Screens and
Dashboards)
TYPES OF
OUTPUTS
Profile
Reports
(Single Record
Filtered / Sorted)
List
Reports
(Multiple
Records – Filtered,
Sorted, or Grouped)
Analytics
(Results vs. Goals
and Trends)
Metrics
(Real-Time Statistics)
User Friendly Interface
 Switchboards
(menus)
 Custom Data
Screens
 Processing
Screens
Dashboard
(Real-Time Status)
Extracts
(Excel, Text Files)

The Benefits of Implementation
• Increase Productivity – get more done in the same
amount of time
• Improved Efficiencies – get the same amount done
in a much shorter time
• Reduced Employee-Related Expenses (number of
employees; improved Employee/Productivity Ratio)
• Training new employees or substitute employees is
much easy
• Company now has a standard way of doing things
• Decrease or eliminate storage of documents
• Central repository for everyone to access

The Hurdles to Implementation
• “We’ve always done it this way” mentality
• “Learning Curve” syndrome (bicycle)
• Adjusting procedures to new way of doing things –
rewrite SOPs
• Employees not able to embrace or grasp new
technologies – don’t want to learn or not capable of
learning (training philosophy)
• “BUSY” syndrome
• Not part of the process – not my department
• Development Costs can’t be justified
• IT Department doesn’t support Programs

One Option…Microsoft Access
• An Object-Oriented, Event-Driven, SQL-based, Self-
Contained, Relational Database Management Program
• As DBMPs go, it's cheap – it comes with the MS Office
Professional Suite (or a free runtime version)
• Development is “visual” and everything you need is in
one program
• It “talks” to the other Office programs through VBA
• It offers connectability to other datasources
• It's easier to use than SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL
• Development costs are exponentially less
• It's easy to upsize once you outgrow its capabilities

Training Option
Traditional Microsoft Programs
Database - Access
Spreadsheet - Excel
Document - Word
Email/Calendar - Outlook
Presentation - PowerPoint
Desktop Publishing - Publisher
Special Offerings
Excel Tips, Tricks, & Techniques;
Database Querying and Reporting;
VBA Programming

The Benefits of Training
• Get up to speed faster on the various techniques
than the “hunt and find” method
• Learn to use all the software tools correctly
• Custom-designed training for your company – not
cookie-cutter training from a generic manual
• Business training by business professionals using
YOUR real-life business examples
• Increased Productivity and Efficiencies
• Increases Employee Retention; Training is cheaper
than Replacing
• The more employees know, the more the business
grows

Training Methods
Hands-On Computer – Instructor-led where each
person has their own computer
Seminar Style – group of people in a room using
workbooks while the presenter uses a computer
DVD – self-paced learning on various topics
Web-based – log onto a website and walk through
self-paced learning modules
Training Cycle
Pre-test or Evaluation, Training, Re-training or
Modular training, Post-test or Re-evaluation

Ron DeGrand
Developer, Owner of CAS
QUESTIONS?

Ron DeGrand
rondeg@barbron.com
(216) 970-3565 cell