Reengineering Excellence: The Digital Transformation of APQC.org

APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center) is a non-profit organization known for its expertise in benchmarking, knowledge management, measurement, and process improvement across various industries. Their primary focus is on enhancing organizational efficiency and effectiveness by providing research, benchmarks, best practices, and process improvement tools. APQC serves a diverse range of industries including healthcare, education, manufacturing, financial services, and energy.

APQC (American Productivity & Quality Center) is a non-profit organization known for its expertise in benchmarking, knowledge management, measurement, and process improvement across various industries. Their primary focus is on enhancing organizational efficiency and effectiveness by providing research, benchmarks, best practices, and process improvement tools. APQC serves a diverse range of industries including healthcare, education, manufacturing, financial services, and energy.

Project Overview

The project entailed a major overhaul of APQC.org’s outdated website. Southleft was brought in by Happy Cog, alongside contract designer Christopher Cashdollar and contract Drupal developer Duran Goodyear, to assist with Drupal theming and front-end development. The project spanned nearly a year, involving complete re-platforming, rewriting, re-engineering the content model, and building out the extensive website.

Challenges

The primary challenge was the sheer size and complexity of the site, driven by APQC’s core business of research and metrics. The project required a sophisticated content model to capture and present a vast array of data in accessible formats. This included implementing robust search functionalities, tags, and taxonomies. Furthermore, the site featured tiered membership subscription services, necessitating intricate access control to ensure members could view content and tools appropriate to their subscription level.

Solution Strategy

Approach & Planning:

The project was approached with meticulous planning and strategy, focusing on the intricate content model required by APQC.org. Southleft, in collaboration with Happy Cog, established detailed development workflows to maintain synchronicity throughout the project. Regular communication was a key element, ensuring that all aspects of the project were aligned and nothing was overlooked.

Design & Development

Dave Deruchie from Happy Cog played a pivotal role in navigating the project to completion. His tireless efforts were instrumental in refining the content model, ensuring seamless integration of all components. Southleft’s development strategy was closely aligned with the project’s goals, focusing on creating a user interface that was both intuitive and capable of handling the complex content and membership features of the site.

Design & Development

Dave Deruchie from Happy Cog played a pivotal role in navigating the project to completion. His tireless efforts were instrumental in refining the content model, ensuring seamless integration of all components. Southleft’s development strategy was closely aligned with the project’s goals, focusing on creating a user interface that was both intuitive and capable of handling the complex content and membership features of the site.

Team Collaboration

The collaboration between Southleft, Happy Cog, and the APQC team was marked by constant communication and teamwork. This synergy was critical in managing the migration of legacy content and acquainting the APQC team with the new editing interface. The combined effort of these teams was central to the successful implementation of the project.

Results & Impact

The project culminated in a highly successful launch, with the new website significantly enhancing the user experience and content accessibility compared to the previous version. The website now serves as a dynamic and effective gateway to APQC.org’s extensive resource library, catering to the complex needs of their business model and diverse user base.

Results & Impact

The project culminated in a highly successful launch, with the new website significantly enhancing the user experience and content accessibility compared to the previous version. The website now serves as a dynamic and effective gateway to APQC.org’s extensive resource library, catering to the complex needs of their business model and diverse user base.

Client Feedback

APQC.org’s response to the completed project was extremely positive. They were overjoyed with the results, showcasing their satisfaction by inviting Duran Goodyear and Southleft’s TJ Pitre to their main headquarters for a launch celebration. This gesture highlighted the strong relationship and mutual respect developed during the project.

Business Impact

The launch of the new website has had a lasting impact on APQC.org’s business operations. The site remains highly active, demonstrating its effectiveness as a central platform for users to access APQC’s vast array of resources and services. The project’s success is evident in the continued engagement and utilization of the website by APQC.org’s members and visitors.