Adobe Success Story

The Bundessortenamt (BSA) is an independent senior federal authority under the supervision of the German Federal Ministry of Food, Agriculture, and Consumer Protection. It is responsible for the granting of plant breeders’ rights, which protect new varieties of plants as intellectual property, as well as managing the National Listing of new plant varieties.

BSA customers include national crop breeders as well as process facilitators who aid foreign breeders in obtaining German registration. The analysis and granting of registrations is stringent, with only about 30% of plant varieties registrations accepted annually; this equates to 400 applications approved from 1,200 total applications. Most of the 70% of applications rejected do not conform to the agency’s stringent criteria required to be recognized as a new variety. New varieties or plant breeds need to be uniform and distinct from all known varieties; failing on just one condition means the variety can not be accepted. Furthermore, errors on application forms create delays in the registration process which can in some cases extend the application process into the next growing period.

Challenge
BSA, like all federal authorities, is required by the German government to achieve a minimum of a 1.5% increase in personnel efficiency annually. In 2004, the Agency decided to focus on inefficiencies in its information and contact systems, primarily because there was an obvious savings to be made by reducing the number of erroneous forms submitted through the existing paper- and mail-based application process. The potential savings were estimated to be in excess of 300 man-hours per year, with additional economies to be gained in internal data exchange.

Historically, customers of the agency filled out plant and seed variety registration documents on paper and submitted them by mail. The agency would then manually process these submissions by first typing the relevant data into the BSA system. BSA estimated that roughly 15% of these manual applications contained errors, most of which were related to the input of data by the applicant. With estimated costs running at about two labor hours to address and correct each erroneous application, the agency determined that the project would be instrumental in helping it meet the government imposed personnel efficiency gains of 1.5% per year, effectively saving €15,000 per year in labor costs.

To decrease the errors inherent in a manual forms submittal process, BSA recognized the need for a secure, web-based solution that ensured the accuracy of forms prior to submittal.

To address a general requirement for the entire federal government in Germany a forms management system request for proposal was created with the resulting contract awarded in 2004. The winning supplier implemented the FormsForWeb solution in 2005, backed by a federal cabinet who further insisted that all federal agencies implement the solution. However, some agencies, including BSA, found that certain requirements had not been addressed in the initial contract and, through a special dispensation by the federal court, granted a new contract, awarded to Adobe later in 2005, to address the functionality and features not available in the original solution.

"The decision to adopt the Adobe LiveCycle solution was based on the optimal online and offline functionality of the system," says Dr. Uwe Meyer, head of section, biostatistics, information processing, and communications engineering at Bundessortenamt. "In addition, the advice and presentation of the Adobe team was the most professional and reliable of all the solutions presented."

Benefits

• Saved 840 data entry hours annually
• Reduced data entry errors by more than 95%
• Eliminated 360 error correction hours
• Reduced reliance on slow, costly paper processes
• Enabled users to complete forms offline or online
• Increased security with reliable electronic signatures
• Enhanced management controls and tracking of registrations

Project Details

Flexible, customer-focused service
The objective of the project was to save application process time and help ensure application accuracy by enabling BSA’s customers to fill out electronic forms. Support for offline form completion was key, as the applications require detailed data and need to enable breeders to complete their applications in stages. Once the forms are complete the applicant then has the option to either transmit the application directly to the agency or, in the case of more complex applications, submit it through a legal representative or other third party.

Previously, all request forms were filled out by hand, which took about an hour per form, and then signed and mailed to the agency. Upon arrival, they were manually processed, audited, and archived. Once fully rolled-out, the new system will replace the paper-based process.

Much of BSA’s work has critical timing issues that needed to be addressed in the forms automation process. For example, due to the seasonal nature of certain plant types, registration for these varieties must coincide with established growing cycles and derived deadlines. To verify a new plant type the agency must conduct tests including physical planting, plant growth, analysis, and documentation. Missing the growing season can delay registration and approval potentially causing breeders loss of revenue, loss of competitive advantage, and a delay in the recuperation of new breed investment costs.

Furthermore, because protection is granted on a first applicant basis, it is essential to track the exact date and time that an application is received. With the paper-based system, there was potential conflict around submittal dates, sometimes resulting in an applicant losing application priority and therefore forfeiting granting rights. BSA had much to gain with its efforts to eliminate delay-causing errors, not only in immediate cost savings, but also in terms of goodwill among the agency’s customers.

Fast implementation, improved compliance
Adobe began implementing the solution for BSA in November 2005 and went live with phase one of the pilot within two months. Phase two is scheduled for implementation in autumn of 2006, with a final launch of the project, called the electronic "Protection Forms" project, scheduled for January 2007. The solution includes Adobe LiveCycle solutions with OPENLiMiT’s SignCubes solution.

"During the implementation of the first pilot, we were pleased that Adobe was able to have a fully functioning solution, including electronic signature, up and running within a few days," says Dr. Meyer.

In addition to robust offline support, BSA needed to adhere to legal requirements to support the Common Criteria Certified Electronic Signature guidelines. Common Criteria support ensures that the project provided a strong level of security to protect both breeders and the agency itself.

Certified electronic signature was included in the original FormsForWeb federal implementation, however users needed to install additional hardware and software and pay annual license fees to use it. BSA did not want to place this additional burden on its customers and by adopting an electronic signature solution already certified by the German Federal Security Agency within the Adobe project, applications could now be authorized on-line giving customers a faster, more cost-effective, and simpler process to follow.

The Adobe solution has dramatically simplified the application process and handling of breeder data within BSA. Prior to the project’s roll-out, it took an average of 40 minutes per application for BSA staff to input registration data manually. Based on the results of the pilot, removing the need for manual data entry could save the agency up to 840 hours of staff time on the 1,200 applications submitted annually.

The initial Adobe pilot project reduced data entry requirements at BSA. Once the final phase of the project is complete, data will only need to be entered once by the breeder through one of the following options:

• Fill in forms electronically, use a certified electronic signature, and submit online.
• Fill in forms electronically, print the forms, and sign by hand. The submitted paper forms contain a dynamic 2-D barcode that enables BSA to scan and automatically capture data on the forms once they are received.

For the small number of breeder applicants without access to an Internet linked computer the agency will print the forms and allow the applicant to complete and sign them by hand. These will be the only applications requiring BSA to manually process the information.

Successful pilot hints at substantial future benefits
The pilot project involved the three largest maize breeders in Germany; Pioneer, Limagrain, and KWS Saat AG. Maize was selected as the pilot crop because developing new varieties is both complex and financially rewarding. These breeders all submitted new breed applications using the online solution, but for official registration the paper form was necessary to avoid discrimination against other breeders.

The feedback from the maize crop breeders was extremely positive.

Although the project is still in the pilot phase, the following results are already apparent:

• Substantial time savings for BSA staff and for breeders thanks to automated input; 840 hours of data entry saved and 360 hours of error rework potentially saved.
• Reduced data entry errors by more than 95%.
• Improved management and tracking of registration statistics and trends to support future planning. Easy-to-use, self-explanatory system includes offline and online help.
• Reduced reliance on inefficient, manual paper processes.
• Supports Common Criteria Certified Electronic Signature guidelines to provide legally binding protection for users.
• Scalable pilot solution supports the goal of a fully automated process.

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