Examples of the results Mike Chirveno has provided to his clients

Process Improvement and Project Management - Managed a $1.7 million system conversion project involving 280,000 customers, 600 distributors and 2,100 business accounts.  In the course of the project - evaluated vendors and selected vendor for project, assembled a project team from operations, IT and finance staffs, managed mapping of all processes supported by system, implemented process improvement in conjunction with system installation, managed project team (scheduling, assignments), managed vendor relationship (monitored vendor deadlines, approved specs, conducted weekly status calls), briefed staff and management on project progress and managed all aspects of conversion (data conversion, software testing and approval, user training).  System went online in February 2005. Project was completed under budget. System manages all day-to-day functions of a $50 million division of a major corporation including customer service, customer billing, distribution, distributor billing, retail outlets and reporting.

Process Improvement and Project Management - Managed a system conversion project for one of the largest RV resorts in the United States. The resort has more than 600 permanent residents and 1100 transient campsites with annual revenues in excess of $9 million.  In the course of the project - evaluated vendors, led negotiations and selected vendor for project, managed an overhaul of the resort’s IT infrastructure, interviewed local IT support companies and engaged one for the ongoing support of the organization, worked successfully with staff members at all levels of the organization from the owner to the customer service staff, identified inefficiencies in operations and implemented process changes during system installation, conducted all user training including the development of training materials and managed all aspects of implementation (data conversion, software testing and approval, user training).  System went online in November 2007. Project was completed on budget. System manages all reservation activities. System is functioning well with excellent user buy in.

Research, Analysis and Diagnosis - Designed a zoning infrastructure that allowed a major daily newspaper to successfully keep advertisers in their newspaper products and out of direct mail competitors.  Analyzed the existing infrastructure of newspaper carrier routes.  Layered in the need for sufficient granularity to satisfy advertiser needs.  Developed a route scheme that allows routes to be financially viable for newspaper carriers and yet gives advertisers enough granularity in advertising zoning.  This newspaper is one of the few in the country that has not permanently lost advertisers to direct mail competitors. Each advertiser that defects to direct mail can represent several thousand dollars annually. The new infrastructure also allowed the circulation-auditing agency to segregate circulation correctly for auditing purposes.

Research, Analysis and Diagnosis - Analyzed newspaper insert advertising data for a major daily newspaper to leverage multiple delivery methodologies to minimize delivery costs and maximize bottom line revenue.  Built a technology infrastructure for housing delivery, revenue and expense data.  Calculated profit and loss numbers for each delivery methodology in each geographic area (zips and routes) where advertising inserts are delivered.  Developed a methodology to simultaneously compare multiple delivery methods to determine the most profitable in each geography.  Developed a methodology for identifying excess capacity in mailed insert packages so that additional ads can be mailed without incurring additional postage costs.  This analysis is currently underway. After initial presentation of test data and identification of revenue and expense opportunities, client commissioned full-blown application and on-going analysis of insert advertising data.

Leveraged Technology for Process Improvement - Developed a self-service reporting system for a $50 million division of a major corporation.  Inventoried all on-demand reporting requested by users over a five-year period. These report requests were fulfilled by IT staff or system administrators.  Compiled a list of most frequently requested report types.  Collaborated with IT staff to develop an infrastructure for a self-service reporting system. The system allowed users to query data by date, geography and transaction type.  Designed, with technology already in use at the company, a reporting system that could be deployed on the computer desktop of all division employees.  Constructed the reporting system in a way that allowed additional reports to be added to the system with minimal effort.  System was used for seven years with only one major revision (to convert it to run on a new operating system, not because of a deficiency in the system). Employees were able to run, on their own, more than 95% of all the reports that they formerly requested from IT staff or system administrators. IT resources were free to work on other projects.

Leveraged Technology for Process Improvement - Instituted an automated dispatching system for delivery messengers.  Replaced 15+ year-old two-way FM radio system with off-the-shelf cellular phones.  Tapped into cellular-vendor-provided text messaging capability to deliver requests for delivery to cellular phones.  Directed IT staff in programming to retrieve customer messages from transaction processing system and formatting them for cellular phone text message. Messages are automatically picked up from transaction processing system and sent to phones without human intervention.  Directed IT staff in programming web-based front end to manage messaging and assignment of messages to messengers.  Latest iteration of the system has been in use since July 2004. Because all dispatching is automated, dispatching staff salaries have been reduced by 40%.

Strategic and Tactical Planning - Authored overarching strategy for newspaper circulation systems that was adopted by parent company as corporate strategy.  Assessed industry landscape and determined future system capabilities for both operational and marketing needs.  Identified subscriber relationships that could be leveraged against other business relationships in the company that would result in increased revenues and better customer retention.  Translated future system capabilities to high-level specifications and recommended appropriate technologies.  Published document that was presented to a group of circulation and IT executives.  Document was presented to a group of circulation and IT executives and was immediately selected as the corporate strategy for circulation systems. Strategy was implemented and is now in fourth year of execution.