Automating your Business Processes

For companies that seek to remain competitive and improve their bottom lines, increasing productivity and reducing costs is a persistent, given battle. Automation helps firms to become operationally efficient enough to ensure they are able to withstand the extremely harsh corporate operating environment.

Automation is the use of applications and technology to replace redundant steps from their processes and streamline them for simplicity and efficiency. The automation methodology adopted by an entity depends on its current business needs.

Business Process Modelling (BPM) plays a crucial role in automation. It is vital for a business to create a BPM of standard operating procedures and processes in order to understand the systems that are in place and determine what needs to be streamlined. Once you have done so, it is easier to streamline the business workflow and in turn increase the overall productivity of the business. Gradually you start to reap the benefits, some of which include:

1. Saving resources

Manpower, time, paper, money…you name them. For any organization, saving resources is important. Streamlining processes helps to reduce manual labour and as a result, they are redistributed to more crucial areas of the business that really need it.

2. Creation of a sustainable Business Process Model.

We have established that it is important to have a BPM during automation. Once you have this, it is easy to keep track of your processes. You also understand which ones need automation, improvement, re-engineering or phasing out. This promotes your business sustainability and increases your chances of noticing a problem in good time.

3. Quality assurance

By reducing or eliminating manual processes, you are guaranteed quality. Automation drastically reduces the probability of human error or oversight. This means that output produced is of quality and this in turn makes your brand more reliable.

4. Competitive advantage.

The combination of process improvements, communication, quality assurance and cost reductions all greatly contribute to ensuring that you stay afloat and ahead of your competition. It is important to note that success in business does not stop at automation. Rather, technology is simply an enhancer/enabler of success. Ensure that there is constant market research and analysis of new risks and opportunities, and adapt to the environment.   

As highlighted, automation offers greater opportunities to a business for continuous growth, compliance and maximum productivity.  It also makes current processes efficient and effective for businesses and clients alike. All you need to do is to fully understand your processes and then use automation to make things better.