Assume you are a systems analyst for a consulting company and have been asked to assist the chief executive officer (CEO) of a regional bank.

The bank recently implemented a plan to reduce the number of staff, including loan officers, as a strategy to maintain profitability. Subsequently, the bank has experienced chronic problems with backlogged loan requests because of the limited number of loan officers who are able to review and approve or disapprove loans. The CEO of the bank is interested in solutions that would allow the approval process to move faster without increasing the number of loan officers and has engaged your company to come up with suggestions.

What is one type of system that you might recommend to the bank?