Nintex > Case Studies > Virgin Australia's Automation Journey with Nintex: Centralizing Processes and Unlocking Data

Virgin Australia's Automation Journey with Nintex: Centralizing Processes and Unlocking Data

Technology Category

Application Infrastructure & Middleware - Event-Driven Application
Networks & Connectivity - 5G

Applicable Industries

Aerospace
Cement

Applicable Functions

Human Resources
Logistics & Transportation

Use Cases

Leasing Finance Automation
Material Handling Automation

Services

Training

About The Customer

Virgin Australia is the second largest airline in Australia, with an expansive flight network that provides access to both domestic and international destinations, directly or with airline partners. The company has a large and mobile workforce, including 3,000 cabin crew members and 1,100 pilots and flight crew. The airline industry is characterized by significant compliance requirements, and Virgin Australia is no exception. The company manages a large amount of forms and has a workforce that is often remote or in constant motion. Virgin Australia's Workflow Automation Team Lead, Mark Bardsley, is responsible for ensuring that the company’s automation solutions are efficient and effective.

The Challenge

Virgin Australia, the second largest airline in Australia, faced a significant challenge in managing its large and mobile workforce. The airline industry is characterized by significant compliance requirements, a massive amount of forms, and a large workforce that is often remote or in constant motion. Virgin Australia's workforce, which included 3,000 cabin crew members and 1,100 pilots and flight crew, needed to submit safety reports, leave requests, check flight status, and complete various other tasks on a daily basis. The data collection required manual processing across multiple teams, which was time-consuming and inefficient. The challenge was to find a solution that could automate these processes, reduce the workload on HR staff, and provide cost-effective access to data and systems.

The Solution

To address these challenges, Virgin Australia implemented an automated forms and workflow solution using the Nintex Process Platform. The solution replaced manual data entry and processing with online forms that delivered data in a fixed format, eliminating the need for manual data processing. The platform allowed multiple teams to build and manage their own automation requirements. Nintex became Virgin Australia’s global repository to access and manage all workflows. Administrators could manage who they let in to create workflows and what level of access they gave to that person to build or create their own connectors. The IT team could provide governance and oversight to new systems and processes before they became operational. Virgin Australia also used Nintex Process Manager to centralize and provide visibility of their processes across the organization. The Nintex workflow tools were agile and responsive, allowing Virgin Australia to quickly demo and create proof of concepts.

Operational Impact

The implementation of Nintex's automated forms and workflow solution has resulted in significant operational benefits for Virgin Australia. The automation has reduced the workload on HR staff, freeing them up to focus on more impactful work. The solution has also streamlined the employee onboarding process, with the entire process from initial application to contract delivery now automated. This has not only simplified the process for Virgin Australia, but also for the candidates. The use of Nintex automation tools has also prevented the collection of inaccurate or incomplete data, reducing the need for follow-up and corrective actions. The overall efficiency gains have enabled employees to increase their throughput or allocate their time to more impactful tasks that align with their passion and contribute to the company’s success.

Quantitative Benefit

Weekly reduction of two-thirds of a week for a full-time HR staff member to process position descriptions
Rapid deployment of automation across teams, with users able to create functional forms within two hours of training
Significant cost savings from efficiency gains, with one person able to complete tasks in an hour a day that previously required multiple team members three days a week