Unlocking Efficiency: An Introduction to Process Automation

In today's fast-paced business world, staying competitive means constantly seeking ways to improve efficiency and reduce costs. This is where automation, generally, and process automation, specifically, come in. Process automation is a game-changing approach that's revolutionizing how businesses operate. It is imperative for business leaders to invest in automation to keep up with competition.

Investments in automation however need to be directed, and the benefits need to be well studied to justify the investment. But what exactly is process automation, and why should your business care?

What is Process Automation

Process automation refers to the use of technology to execute series of recurring tasks in a business where manual effort can be replaced. It's about letting machines handle the repetitive tasks, allowing humans to focus on what they do best – innovation, human interactions and complex problem-solving. Processes can be automated fully or partially, depending on the complexity of the process. Partial automation of processes is sometimes referred to as task automation.

Process automations comprise two main components, technology tools and automated tasks. The tools can be as simple and ubiquitous as an Excel macro or a python script, but can grow in complexity, and cost, with scale and functionality.

Types of Process Automation

As process automation evolves, it takes on different forms. These can be as expensive and complex as upgraded business management systems such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Client Relationship Management (CRM) and Supply Chain Management (SCM) systems with software integrations. On the other hand, it can be as simple as bespoke scripts for task automation, developed in Power Automate, Python or VBA. The spectrum of process automation is as follows:

1. Basic Automation: Simple rule-based automation, like email autoresponders.

2. Business Process Automation (BPA): End-to-end automation of complex business processes. This include re-engineering of business processes to increase efficiencies and integrate software for automation purposes.

3. Robotic Process Automation (RPA): Software robots or "bots" that mimic human actions.

4. Cognitive/Intelligent Automation: AI-driven automation that can handle unstructured data and make decisions.

There are other Software-as-a-Service platforms that offer businesses some degree of cross-platform integration and flexibility to automate tasks. But it should be noted that benefits of automation are best realised with top-down changes to standard operating procedures and company-wide processes.

Key Benefits of Process Automation

Needless to say, process automation requires some level of investment and commitment from management for top-down change to reap the benefits. In fact, Bain, in their automation scorecard, show a strong correlation between level of investment in automation and consequent cost savings. In addition to cost savings, quality and employee satisfaction improvements are observed as suggested in the literature.

Additionally, the analysis performed by Bain clearly shows that companies that invest in automation are leading their industries in speed. This means that organisations that are not actively investing in automation risk falling behind their competitors. However, hope is not lost, with intentional and deliberate investments in automating high-value processes, organisations can catch up and reap the benefits.

In a MIT Sloan Management Review paper by Lacity and Willcocks on RPA, cost savings due implementation of RPA can be as high as 30%. Of course, this magnitude of cost savings can lead to disproportionate increase in profit margins. The knock-on effect can become more pronounced if cash freed up from such cost savings is reinvested in product development, further automation and company personnel.

Common Areas for Process Automation

Almost all business functions can benefit from automation, but to varying levels of effectiveness. Some common examples include the following:

The list above is far from exhaustive. In fact, AutomateIO automates complex engineering workflows. The challenge with any automation initiative is not complexity or implementation, but rather identification and commitment.

The Challenges

1. Commitment

   
   

Automation efforts are usually substantial enough to qualify as change projects, so in the absence of effective change management and committed managers, it will be a waste of money. Sometimes, the biggest challenge is convincing the right people that this change is necessary or worth the investment. Therefore, without a champion and a small group of influential stakeholders, automation projects may never see the light.

Kotter's 8-step change model, illustrated below, is an effective framework to implementing change. In the context of automation, the model remains relevant and most steps can be considered critical success factors.

2. Identification

Identifying the highest-value processes is another challenge facing organisations. Sometimes, these processes are low hanging fruits, but more often that not, low-value processes that are easy to automate are mistaken for low hanging fruits. Investing in the automation of such processes misdirects the initiative and can easily be counter-productive; leaders who thought these efforts are a waste of time and money will be reaffirmed and will bring up the failure when automation is brought up again.

The Solution

At AutomateIO, we analyse processes thoroughly, mapping inputs, outputs, value and durations using flow charts, time-function mapping and value-stream mapping. This allows us to identify inefficiencies in the high-value processes. This is done upfront before automation is even discussed. After performing process analysis, we develop the key inputs to the business case: investment required and expected ROI. Finally, we support with the execution of the project, and we make sure we stick around until the benefits are realised.

Get in touch with us now to discuss how we can help your organisation make the right decisions on automation.