Automation of business processes
What is business process automation
A business process (BP) is defined as any repetitive sequence of actions that helps a company achieve a given goal: develop a product, make a sale.
Business processes are called automated (ABP) if, when one step of the sequence is completed, the next step is automatically started. In this way, we reduce routine and optimize the use of the company's production resources.
The simplest example of an automated BP is a conveyor belt. A manager does not need to give an order for an employee to start the next stage of product assembly. The results of the previous stage literally arrive at the employees on the belt, the manager controls not people (manual control), but the process: he makes sure that there are no failures.
Today, BP is usually automated in a digital rather than analog way. The actions of people and machines are digitized, and further numerical simulation of virtual processes is performed.
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Why automate business processes
To reduce costs
This is one of the main objectives of the ABP.
With the help of automated BPs, the enterprise:
- reduces the amount of manual labor,
- saves on labor costs,
- reduces costs due to BP inefficiencies,
- speeds up processes by closing more deals.
To speed up the BP
There are several ways to improve your company's speed:
- reduce the duration of each operation,
- set deadlines for execution of BP stages,
- assign instant automatic actions at the occurrence of specified events,
- automate the execution of routine operations.
As a result, the gears of the enterprise turn faster, deals are closed more often, new product development is accelerated, and customers are better served.
To increase business transparency
Automated BPs bring transparency and manufacturability to the company and increase the manageability of the enterprise:
- you track the BP in real time,
- monitor the customer journey through the sales funnel,
- you study the impact of advertising campaigns,
- objectively assess the KPI performance of the company's employees,
- eliminate conflicts between related departments.
To collect and analyze data
Company performance data is a valuable resource. With it, you can increase productivity, analyze the market, strengthen marketing, and make management decisions based on accurate figures.
But collecting information manually is expensive, hard and thankless work. There is a better way to collect data, analyze it in different slices, and make forecasts - automate BP.
To reduce operational chaos
Without automated BPs, the operational management of an enterprise disintegrates into a multitude of tasks with spontaneous communications. It is not easy to manage such a set.
But if processes are performed automatically, operational work is kept in a single system and organized. Operational management, task control and quick error correction become much easier.
To eliminate human error
This is perhaps the most significant advantage of automated BPs.
For example, you'll be able to get rid of:
- from forgetting to enter data into CRM;
- delayed task completion;
- missed customer calls;
- commercial proposals not sent on time;
- procrastination;
- delays in fulfillment of customer requests.
To improve teamwork
Employees work together and use the same IT tools. Their actions become more coordinated, their areas of responsibility become more transparent, and internal conflicts in the enterprise become less frequent.
Cons of automation
The main disadvantage of automated BPs is the loss of flexibility and high degree of formalization. This gives an increase in work productivity, but sometimes becomes a significant disadvantage.
There are situations where it is better not to rush to automate BP, for example:
- Start of a new business or very intensive growth of the enterprise;
- BPs are not well established and not well thought out;
- small turnover of the company;
- resistance of the company's employees;
- the costs of implementing automated BPs are higher than the benefits of the project.
What kind of enterprise needs automated BPs
In short - to almost anyone: from a small online store to a large corporation.
Companies have a wide variety of business processes and management methods, are of different sizes, and operate in different industries. But the benefits derived from automated business processes are universal.
The methods of automation themselves are different.
Small businesses, for example, are characterized by generic solutions. Such companies do not spend on expensive individual projects, but choose cloud or boxed solutions.
Medium-sized enterprises, unlike small enterprises, often integrate different IT systems as part of the ABP. In this case, several applications exchanging data may serve a single PSU.
Corporations do not limit themselves to automating individual processes, but try to build a unified system covering many departments and services. Automation projects are usually individual.
Which companies need automation the most
There are a number of signs that it's time for you to look into PSU automation:
- lots of routine processes;
- large data sets;
- complex communications with customers and between employees;
- BPs noticeably influence each other;
- the business is sensitive to violations of deadlines;
- regulatory requirements and standards need to be strictly adhered to;
- high volume of tasks;
- complex business management with a large share of manual management.
Which processes can be automated
Any process can be automated. But it is desirable that the parameters and logic of the process can be expressed in numbers, encapsulated in a mathematical form. Creative BPs with qualitative parameters are much more difficult to subordinate to algorithms.
It is easiest to automate a BP for typical operations, for example:
- transaction processing,
- working with the sales funnel,
- texting and emailing,
- document management,
- accounting and warehousing.
To automate typical business processes, you can use ready-made cloud-based solutions. They are implemented in-house or with the help of a small integrator team. This is convenient for small and medium-sized enterprises.
Large companies can automate more complex BPs: production management, product quality and personnel management. Such projects require a serious budget and a staff of developers.
Example - sales processes
Cloud CRM, end-to-end analytics, cloud-based communication systems, document management, and out-of-the-box integrations are well suited for automation. These ABP methods are available even to small companies and do not require complex implementation.
Once you have completed the project, you can automatically execute, for example, these chains of actions:
- add information about the calling client to the database,
- create a reminder for the manager to prepare a quotation,
- coordinate the specification with the warehouse and accounting,
- invoice and accept the customer's payment,
- notify the customer of payment receipt via SMS,
- notify the logistics department to start working on the order.
And the collected data will allow the analytics system to identify weaknesses, to determine at what stage of the funnel a potential client is lost.
The result is a sales team where managers are not busy with routine, do not make mistakes when performing template operations and do everything on time. Deals are closed faster, and managers focus on what matters most - communicating with customers.
Tools for BP automation
The industry has gradually built tools for planning and implementing projects to transition to automated BPs.
These are the following applications and low-code platforms:
- analytical systems,
- applications for automating business functions,
- systems for data exchange between applications,
- communication systems.
Data analysis
With analytics, process design begins; then data analysis is triggered in each cycle of process modernization.
An interesting example of an analytical system released by Sber is a business process analysis tool.
With this app you can:
- Analyze BP using statistical analysis and Machine Learning;
- use multiple metrics in the analysis;
- visualize data using BI functions, including online dashboards;
- identify and predict anomalies and failures of automated BPs;
- compare actual process flow with normative process flow;
- identify unfair practices and manipulations.
Your outcome from applying business process analysis:
- optimization of BPs and increasing their efficiency,
- cost reduction,
- increasing the speed and quality of customer service and SLA fulfillment,
- building the sales funnel, increasing lead conversion.
Applications for automating business functions
There are tons of such applications on the market: CRM, HRM, ECM, WMS, ERP, etc.
CRM
Это самый популярный инструмент для автоматизации бизнеса.
Классическая CRM-система автоматизирует только БП продаж и маркетинга. Но для малых предприятий многие современные CRM пошли дальше: они включают функциональность ERP, управление складом, логистикой, коммуникациями.
С помощью CRM вы можете автоматизировать:
- обновление клиентской базы при обращениях покупателей,
- обработку заявок,
- исходящие звонки и СМС клиентам при наступлении заданных событий,
- извещение менеджера, если предполагаемая сумма чека превысит заданный порог,
- другие цепочки действий на разных этапах воронки продаж.
HRM (Human Resource Management)
This system automates human resource management.
Examples of automation with HRM: payroll calculation, personnel search, HR document management, tracking vacations, sick leave, safety briefings.
ECM (Enterprise Content Management)
ECM-системы - это автоматический документооборот компании.
Without ECM you would at best have to send out documents for approval manually by email, wait indefinitely for a response, remind, wait again.
In the worst case - to print out contracts, acts, protocols on paper and manually hand them out for signing.
With ECM everything happens much faster: the system automatically sends out documents according to a set route, and the approval time is regulated.
WMS (Warehouse Management System)
WMS automates warehouse accounting: receiving, issuing, moving, storage, checking the availability of goods and components in the warehouse.
Data exchange between applications
By sharing data between applications, you can build chains of automated actions that span multiple business services.
For example:
- The call center receives a customer's call, identifies the customer's phone number and transfers the call information to CRM.
- CRM finds out in the database which manager works with this customer and returns the data to the call center.
- The call is automatically transferred to the right manager.
- CRM makes a record in the history of communications with the client and includes the call record received from the call center.
Another purpose of information exchange systems is to collect data from multiple applications. And further - analysis, modernization of automated BPs, monetization of accumulated information.
That's exactly how Sber's data sharing service works.
With this app you can:
- securely exchange data with Sberbank and companies in its ecosystem;
- Set scheduled, event-driven or on-demand data delivery;
- exchange data streams or files via OpenAPI;
- get access to data and directories of companies in Sber's ecosystem with the possibility of monetization.
