Overview
The Missile Defense Agency needed its internal workflows to move faster and with fewer errors, under strict security requirements, and without a multi-year replacement of the systems that hold its records. More than 9,000 people use those workflows every day.
How a request used to move
A typical request started as an email. It sat in someone’s inbox until they could check it against their own system, re-enter the relevant details into a second system and forward it to the next approver. Each handoff added about a day. An error anywhere sent the request back to the start. By the time it cleared, five days had gone by and the teams waiting on it were behind.
The underlying problems:
- No shared workflow across systems. Each step lived in a different tool, and people carried the work between them.
- Hours lost to coordination. Staff spent part of every week routing requests, chasing approvals and copying data from one system to another.
- Earlier automation was too rigid. Previous attempts with traditional BPM tools needed significant engineering for every change.
- Errors found late. Mistakes that could have been caught at the start surfaced downstream, where they were expensive to fix.
At 9,000+ users, those delays added up to a real cost in budget and in time.
What MDA built
MDA put Kinetic on top of its existing systems and moved the routing and approval work into it.
- Approval chains run automatically. Multi-step approvals follow business rules instead of someone forwarding an email.
- Data moves between systems through APIs. Nobody re-keys a request into a second system.
- Rules handle the exceptions. Conditional logic decides routing, escalates exceptions and picks the right approval path for each request.
- Changes take days. New workflows and changes to existing ones go live in days, without touching the systems underneath.
Results
- Processes complete 50–65% faster. Work that took 5 days now takes about 2.
- Routing cycles fell from 5 days to 2. Most of the delay had been in sequential handoffs, which are now automatic.
- Analysts save 6–8 hours a week. That time goes back to analysis.
- 40% fewer exceptions. Validation rules catch errors before they spread.
- 45% fewer downstream corrections. Fewer errors early meant much less rework later.
- $1.1M–$1.6M in annual cost impact, from less manual labor, fewer redundant systems and cheaper exception handling.
Why MDA chose to build on top
Replacing the agency’s systems of record was never realistic. Compliance constraints, the investment already made, and the risk to active operations all ruled it out, and a replacement program would have taken years. MDA needed workflows that could change quickly and run inside its security requirements while the systems underneath stayed put.
Before and after
| Before | After | |
|---|---|---|
| How work moves | Email and manual handoffs | Automated routing and approval |
| Routing cycle | Up to 5 days | About 2 days |
| Exception rate | High, with frequent rework | 40% fewer exceptions |
| Analyst time on routing | 6–8 hours a week | Minutes a week |
| Annual cost | Baseline | $1.1M–$1.6M lower |
| Changing a workflow | Months of engineering | Days, with no backend changes |