SNOHOMISH COUNTY—Snohomish County’s Enterprise Scanning Center team in the Department of Information Technology and the University of Washington (UW) Industrial and Systems Engineering (ISE) Department announce the successful completion of their 2023-2024 Capstone Project. This year’s project, undertaken by a team dubbed “The Snohuskies,” addressed challenges in the county’s document scanning operations. The implemented solutions are projected to save Snohomish County approximately $40,785 per year and significantly improve operational efficiency.
“Our multi-year partnership with the University of Washington continues to deliver innovative solutions that benefit our county operations and, ultimately, our residents,” said Viggo Forde, Director of IT/CIO, Snohomish County. “The Snohuskies team has demonstrated how fresh perspectives and engineering expertise can transform our processes, making them more efficient and cost-effective and improve the workday for our employees.”
The capstone project focused on increasing in-house scanning throughput without compromising document quality or employee satisfaction. Key improvements include a new color-coded system for workflow management, a reorganized “Box Island” for better project tracking, and the implementation of a comprehensive “Living Document” for real-time project status updates.
José Matthews, Enterprise Data Management Division Manager in IT, noted, “The solutions provided by the UW team have already shown remarkable results. We’ve seen a 33% reduction in box retrieval time and a 60% decrease in error rates for certain scanning projects. These improvements not only save time and money but also enhance the quality of our work.”
The Snohuskies team—including Peter Albrecht, Faliha Amjad, Jyunghyun Noh, and Carson Wang—worked closely with county staff to develop and implement their solutions. Team member Faliha Amjad reflected on the experience: “We’re proud that our solutions will have a lasting impact on the county’s operations and ultimately benefit the community.”
Professor Patty Buchanan, faculty advisor for the UW ISE Capstone Program, emphasized the mutual benefits of such partnerships: “These projects provide our students with hands-on experience in solving complex, real-world problems while offering tangible benefits to our community partners. The success of this project with Snohomish County exemplifies the power of academic-government collaboration.”
The UW Industry Capstone Program continues to be a vital link between academic learning and practical application, providing students with opportunities to apply their skills to real challenges faced by government agencies and businesses.
SOURCE: Snohomish County
Author: Lynnwood Times Staff
