Shifting Your Company to Business Automation

Countless companies worldwide have already embraced business automation in their workflows, reaping remarkable benefits. Business automation is like having a digital assistant that follows specific rules and performs tasks to achieve important business goals.

Imagine it as a helpful tool that can handle anything from simple tasks like employee vacation requests to complex endeavours such as developing new products. The best part is that all these activities are closely monitored and analysed to ensure efficiency.

Why is this implementation crucial? Well, the answer is simple. Humans are fantastic innovators, but let's face it, we can make mistakes too.

Now, you might be curious about how to actually implement this transformative system in your business.

In this article, we'll walk you through the process and demystify any complexities. You might be thinking, "Do I need expensive IT professionals for this?" We will address these concerns head-on. We will also show you how businesses worldwide have successfully embraced automation without breaking the bank.

An Overview of Business Process Automation (BPA)

Business Process Automation (BPA) refers to the utilisation of software and technology to automate specific business processes.

Imagine having software and technology at your disposal that automates various processes, allowing your organisation to run smoother, save costs, and perform with greater efficiency. This approach empowers organisations to streamline their operations, reduce costs, and enhance overall efficiency.

One of the remarkable things about business process automation is its versatility. It can be employed in almost any industry, whether you're in retail, finance, healthcare, or beyond.

Companies that automate their processes, gain a competitive edge and enhance their efficiency significantly. For instance, a retail company can automate order processing and inventory management, while a financial institution can streamline accounts payable and receivable processes.

No wonder that the BPA market is rapidly growing worldwide. In fact, it's projected to reach a staggering 19.6 billion USD by 2026!

And there's a good reason for that. BPA can be applied to a wide range of tasks, such as order processing, customer relationship management, marketing, finance, payroll, and more. It's a versatile tool that can revolutionise the way you do business.

The Value of Automating Business Tasks

In essence, business process automation empowers your organisation to do more with less effort, allowing you to focus on growth and success.

Engaging your valuable workforce in repetitive tasks hampers their potential to drive business growth. The manual approach not only introduces errors that demand extra time to rectify but also brings little benefit.

By freeing your employees from repetitive tasks, you open up their minds to focus on ideas and strategies that can drive your business forward. This means less risk of errors that take up valuable time to fix, and more time and energy for your team to invest in growing your business.

At its core, business process automation is about streamlining your company's operations. By automating specific tasks, you can supercharge your efficiency and gain access to valuable insights from the data generated.

This empowers your organisation to make informed decisions, allocate resources effectively, identify areas for improvement, and respond swiftly to customer demands.

The Core Components of Business Automation Software

1. Intelligent Rules-Driven Business Automation

Business automation software incorporates a powerful workflow engine, often referred to as a "business rules engine."

Imagine having a brilliant decision-maker who always follows your company's rules to ensure tasks are completed efficiently. That's precisely what an intelligent workflow engine does within your business automation system.

This engine autonomously makes decisions based on predefined rules. These decisions guide the workflow down specific paths, tasks, or actions.

For example, it can assign tasks to the right people or neatly store documents in designated folders within a document management system. This intelligent automation streamlines your processes and keeps everything running smoothly.

2. Just-in-Time Analytics

In the modern business environment, real-time insights are indispensable. Automated processes generate valuable business metrics, which are stored in a relational database.

Whenever you need them, reports and information are readily available, offering a comprehensive view of your organisation's performance.

Visual reports and dashboards present comprehensive insights, which can be effortlessly shared across the organisation.

With this real-time data, you can keep a close eye on team progress against Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and use business scoreboards to track the overall efficiency of your processes, driving continual improvements.

3. Open Collaboration

While automation is brilliant at handling tasks efficiently, there are moments when human collaboration is essential. Even the most automated processes benefit from human input.

To address this, the business automation software incorporates tools for open collaboration. These tools enable stakeholders to communicate directly, allowing for discussions, questions, and clarifications at various stages of the process.

Imagine someone needing to request an expense and finding that they've provided insufficient information. With open collaboration, they can directly communicate and quickly resolve any issues. It's all about ensuring your team stays connected and in sync, promoting seamless teamwork throughout your automated processes.

Implementing Automation in Your Business

Once you've carefully built and tested your automated processes, it's time to introduce them to the right users. Depending on your specific needs, this could involve your entire employee population, a single department, outside vendors, or even your valuable customers.

To facilitate this smooth transition, users gain access to a convenient Web portal. Through this user-friendly portal, they can effortlessly perform a variety of functions, such as submitting requests, checking the status of ongoing tasks, and completing role-based assignments. Everything you need is housed in this self-service portal, making it a one-stop-shop for all your processes and forms.

Moreover, the automation system will communicate with your employees through email alerts, ensuring that they are always informed and engaged. For instance, when a manager receives an email alert about a new hire requiring approval, they can conveniently click "Approve" right from the email itself.

With this simple action, the business automation system updates the task status and propels it forward to the next step in the process.

By offering a self-service portal and utilising email alerts, businesses can enhance user engagement and efficiency while ensuring a smooth and streamlined process execution. In this way, your business automation system becomes an invaluable ally, helping your organisation move forward efficiently and effectively.

Building an Automated Process

Building an automated process is made simple through a user-friendly drag and drop interface. You have the flexibility to either follow your existing processes or enhance them for even greater efficiency. With modern automation tools, building an automated process has never been easier. Here's a step-by-step guide to build an automated process:

1. Document the Process

First things first, you have to document the process using a process modelling tool. This documentation serves as the foundation and is essential for accuracy. At this stage of the process, you have to gather input from all stakeholders to ensure that everyone is on the same page.

2. Design the Actual Process

Once the static design is approved, you have to get to work on designing the actual process. This involves creating forms, defining tasks, identifying recipients, setting up alerts and notifications, and more.

And don't worry, most systems will have a range of pre-built tasks available, such as completing a form, submitting approvals, or handing off tasks to others. These tasks can be arranged sequentially or in parallel, depending on your unique needs.

3. Insert Business Rules

Business rules play a crucial role in managing task flow within the automated process. Process builders are equipped to insert intelligent business rules between tasks. These rules are like the decision-makers of your automated process.

For instance, you can set up a rule that automatically routes a capital budget request to the CFO if it exceeds R50,000. You will then be able to route a form back to the submitter if the reviewer requires additional information. These rules are essential for managing the flow of tasks in a non-linear workflow, ensuring everything runs smoothly.

4. Utilise Path-Based Architecture

No matter which Business Process Automation (BPA) application your organisation chooses, you should be able to set up workflows based on a simple path-based architecture. This ensures that your automated process aligns perfectly with your business needs and goals.

By following these steps and leveraging BPA tools with user-friendly interfaces and powerful business rule capabilities, your organisation can build efficient and effective automated processes to streamline operations and enhance productivity.

Launching New Processes with Process Automation Tools

Once the automated processes are built and thoroughly tested, it's time to introduce them to the users. Depending on the situation, this could involve the entire employee base, specific departments, external vendors, or even customers.

In most automation applications, users gain access to these processes through a user-friendly Web portal. This self-service portal enables users to submit requests, check the status of ongoing tasks, or complete assignments based on their roles. It's like having a digital command centre at their fingertips.

Additionally, many employees will also interact with the processes through email alerts. We already gave the example of a manager being able to click on an "Approve" button within an email to clear the way for a new hire. With this one click, the BPA system springs into action, updating the task status, and smoothly progressing to the next step in the process.

But what about the employee who submitted the approval request? Well, they can keep a close eye on its journey throughout the process.

This real-time visibility becomes particularly valuable when multiple approval levels and gatekeepers are involved. Say goodbye to tedious phone calls, status updates, and email hunting for answers.

With business automation, the requester can effortlessly track their request's progress, enhancing transparency and communication. By leveraging process automation tools with self-service portals and email alerts, organisations can streamline operations, improve transparency, and reduce communication barriers, leading to more efficient and effective workflows.

BPA Software Examples

Business Process Automation (BPA) is a game-changer that can revolutionise how your organisation operates. It offers remarkable benefits across various departments, from streamlining tasks to enhancing customer service, optimising operations, and ensuring compliance.

No matter which area of your business you focus on, BPA can significantly boost efficiency and productivity.

Let's take a closer look at some specific examples of processes that can benefit from automation solutions:

1. IT/IS

• Security Incidents: Automate the handling of security incidents to ensure swift and effective responses.
• Security Access Requests: Simplify access control processes, making it easy for employees to request the access they need.
• New Project Requests: Streamline project initiation by automating the request and approval process.
• New Account Setup: Speed up the onboarding process for new accounts with automation.
• IS Service Requests: Allow users to request IT services with ease, while ensuring prompt fulfilment.
• Change Requests: Automate change management processes to minimise disruptions and improve efficiency.

2. Finance

• CapEx/AFE Requests: Automate capital expenditure requests for smoother financial management.
• Expense Approvals: Streamline expense approval processes, reducing delays and improving financial control.
• Salary/Wage Changes: Automate salary and wage change requests to ensure accuracy and compliance.
• AP Automation: Enhance accounts payable processes by automating invoice approvals and payments.

3. Marketing

• Campaign Approvals: Speed up the approval process for marketing campaigns, ensuring timely execution.
• Collateral Approvals: Automate the approval of marketing materials, saving time and effort.
• Brand Management: Ensure consistent branding across marketing materials with automated brand management.

4. Facilities

• Resource Scheduling: Automate resource scheduling to optimise facility utilisation.
• Office Relocations: Simplify office relocation processes for a seamless transition.
• Move Requests: Automate move requests to efficiently manage facility logistics.
• Facility Access: Streamline access requests to enhance security and convenience.

5. Sales

• Quote Approvals: Automate quote approval processes for quicker responses to customers.
• Pricing Discounts: Optimise pricing discount approvals for faster deal closures.
• Proposal Approvals: Streamline proposal approval workflows to enhance sales efficiency.
• Product Discounts: Automate product discount approvals for improved sales effectiveness.

6. Legal

• Legal Holds: Automate legal hold processes to ensure compliance with legal requirements.
• Contract Reviews: Speed up contract review and approval processes to expedite business deals.
• Client Intake: Streamline client intake procedures for a smooth onboarding experience.

7. HR

• Benefits Changes: Automate benefits change requests to enhance HR service delivery.
• Timesheets: Simplify timesheet management for accurate and efficient time tracking.
• New Hire Management: Automate new hire onboarding processes for a seamless experience.
• Employee Onboarding: Enhance employee onboarding with automated workflows.
• Employee Offboarding: Streamline employee offboarding procedures to ensure compliance.
• Vacation Requests: Automate vacation request approvals for efficient time-off management.

8. Purchasing

• General Procurement: Optimise general procurement processes with automation.
• Capital Approvals: Automate capital approval workflows to ensure sound financial decisions.
• Vendor Management: Streamline vendor management for improved supplier relationships.
• Invoice Approvals: Automate invoice approval processes to accelerate payment cycles.
• Product Pricing: Enhance product pricing management with automated workflows.

In conclusion, business process automation software opens up a world of opportunities for your organisation.

By adopting the right BPA software and leveraging the appropriate tools, businesses can significantly improve efficiency, reduce manual workloads, and enhance overall process compliance across various departments.

Automated vs. Manual Processing

Automated processing offers numerous advantages over manual methods. While it cannot replace human intelligence and creativity, it significantly reduces the time employees spend on mundane and repetitive tasks, allowing them to focus on more crucial and rewarding work.

Here are some of the key advantages of automated processing:

1. Reduced Manual Handling

Automated systems minimise the need for manual intervention in various processes. This results in streamlined workflows and less time spent on routine tasks.

2. Reduced Errors

Manual processing is susceptible to human errors, such as data entry mistakes or oversight. Automation significantly reduces the risk of errors, leading to higher accuracy and reliability.

3. Reduced Approval Cycles

Automated workflows can expedite approval processes by routing tasks efficiently and providing real-time notifications. This leads to faster decision-making and increased efficiency.

4. Policy Compliance Adherence

Automation ensures that processes adhere to established policies and guidelines consistently. It reduces the risk of non-compliance and supports regulatory requirements.

5. Improved Visibility

Automated systems offer enhanced visibility into processes, providing valuable insights and data for better decision-making and performance analysis.

6. Improved Employee Satisfaction

By automating repetitive tasks, employees can focus on more meaningful and challenging work, leading to increased job satisfaction and motivation.

7. Continual Process Improvement

Automation allows for the systematic monitoring and evaluation of processes, enabling organisations to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement continually.

8. Better Workload Management

Automated processing optimises resource allocation and task assignments, leading to improved workload management and resource utilisation.

Conclusion

Process automation  is a must for any company aiming to grow, enhance efficiency, and reduce costs without compromising work quality.

Today, the automation ecosystem offers various process automation applications catering to diverse industries and business challenges.

The choice of tools will depend on your unique business needs. However, the universal truth is that business automation has the power to unlock new heights of productivity and profitability for your company.

Implementing automation is a strategic move that positions your company for success in an ever-evolving business landscape. Empower your workforce, optimise your processes, and set a course towards a prosperous future.

Countless companies worldwide have successfully implemented business automation into their workflows, reaping significant benefits. And the great news is that your business can achieve the same!

Join the ranks of successful businesses that have harnessed automation to unleash the full potential of their teams and drive unprecedented productivity and profitability. Let's embark on this transformative journey together!