The word process automation has become a catch-all. Some understand it to mean the total replacement of humans by machines, using automation software or RPA tools. Others use it to describe the thoughtful digitization of a business, involving both task automation and the enhancement of “human” tasks through appropriate automation platforms.
For us, the truth lies in this second paradigm. A process represents a company’s know-how, so automating it must put the people who have contributed to it at its heart. This means freeing them from repetitive tasks with no added value, and getting them to interact efficiently, when their skills are most needed. By efficient, we mean without superfluous effort.
If you had only one thing to remember from this article :
When you want to automate a process, you need to consider 2 dimensions: the characteristics of your existing software and whether your ideal processes involve collaborators for value-added tasks. The image above summarizes this point, which we’ll go into in greater detail later in the article.
So be careful not to jump too quickly into a solution like RPA, AI or BPM without knowing your needs and problems.
What is a process?
Defining a business process
All companies, whether they are aware of it or not, have processes.
By carrying out a series of consecutive and sometimes simultaneous steps , a process covers one or more of a company’s business activities.
For information, the ISO 9000:2000 definition of a business process, also known as an “enterprise process” or “business process”, is as follows: “A set of interrelated or interactive activities that transforms inputs into outputs”.
Process types
Business or operational process
Business processes group together all the actions required to respond to a customer’s request for a product or service. They represent a company’s business value chain. Example processes: pre-sales, design, production, logistics, purchasing, invoicing, after-sales service.
Business process support
Support processes group together tasks which do not directly generate added value for a customer, but which are essential to the smooth running of the company. Example processes: Human Resources, Maintenance, Information Systems, Administration, Documentation, Accounting.
Management processes
The purpose of management processes is to plan, organize, coordinate, control and evaluate the resources and actions required to achieve a company’s strategic and operational objectives. Management processes include strategic planning, S&OP, performance management, risk management, change management, internal communication and financial management.
A process can be manual, computerized, partially or fully automated.
As a process is a set of tasks, certain tasks may or may not be carried out using specific software. This software enables you to collect information, monitor progress and streamline interactions.
Certain tasks can be automated, enabling you to automatically carry out manipulations in different software packages, or to interconnect existing software packages within the company.
For example, there’s BPM (Business Process Management), RPA (Robotic Process Automation), IPA (Intelligent Process Management), DPA (Digital Process Automation), BPA and a whole host of other names that don’t really matter at this stage. It’s not important to know the solution to your problems until you know exactly what your problem is and what your needs are.
The benefits of process automation
Without even mentioning the mundane benefits such as time savings, cost reduction, traceability, reliability or productivity gains, you’ll find other advantages above.
Upstream of process automation – Understand current operations
- Identify and examine operational problems, such as bottlenecks, repetitive tasks, inefficiencies, complex sequences and non-value-added tasks.
- Quantify work time and deadlines
- Detect sensitive points and potential risks.
- Ensure alignment of existing processes with organizational and strategic objectives
During automation
Set up a cross-functional organization
- Unambiguous, uniform understanding of future operations for all parties concerned.
- Decompartmentalizing know-how
- Clear identification of the needs to be met in the search for solutions and software.
- Informed decision-making
- A change management tool to persuade and convince.
- Collect key indicators to monitor and evaluate target performance.
Downstream of process automation
Process sustainability
- Streamlining business processes
- Return on investment
- Compliance and quality control at every stage
- Easy duplication of a process for a new site or a merger.
- Improved communication and collaboration between teams. Better understanding of tasks, responsibilities and interactions.
- Easy training for new employees.
- Opportunities for innovation and continuous improvement.
How do you automate your processes?
Step 1: A quick audit before automating processes
In a dedicated a dedicated article in the form of a guidehow to identify problems, weaknesses, risks and opportunities within an organization. The key points are as follows:
- Preparation, which involves drawing up a grid of questions on the main themes of the process.
- Data collection involves meeting relevant employees to obtain qualitative and quantitative information, identify problems and frustrations, and gather documentation.
- Information analysis to identify business process automation opportunities
To make a success of a process audit, it’s important to meet the right people, toavoid directing your questions, to avoid looking for solutions too quickly, and to be kind and attentive to the employees who will be living with future process automation.
Find out more in our article on how to conduct a process audit.
Step 2: Map the process to be automated
There are many different mapping methods, such as BPMN, VSM, SIPOC, UML, simple mapping… The main thing to remember is that there are no precise rules; it all depends on the company’s requirements, the complexity of the project and the skills of the project manager. If you don’t know where to start, we suggest you opt for a simple flow chart in Powerpoint, which is both simple and suitable for most situations.
A picture is worth a thousand words, and below you’ll find an example of business process mapping.
Think of mapping as a roadmap of an internal process, enabling you to identify :
- Events (start, end, intermediate) symbolized by red circles.
- Actors represented by colored dots.
- Activities (tasks, processes) represented by rectangles.
- Decisions and conditions (called gateways) in diamond shapes.
- Sequence flows and message flows linking the various elements.
In parallel with this map, on another document or on another dedicated map, you can track for each process
- Tools and software used
- Actions performed verbally, on paper, on software…
- Its duration
- Duration of each action
- Its recurrence
- Stock levels at each stage
- Employee satisfaction with each action
- Problems and shortcomings at every level
If you’re looking for process mapping software, we’ve also written an article.
How to choose a process automation solution?
When you want to automate a process, you need to consider 2 dimensions:
- Will the target process involve collaborators? For example, for enrichments, validations, controls, annotations, various productions…
- Does the software used in the process have standard or specific technical features?
Depending on the answers to these 2 questions, different solutions are possible:
- Automation and workflow software such as Zapier, Make, n8n.
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tools such as UiPath, Automation Anywhere, SAP’s IRPA.
- Automation and digitalization platforms (otherwise known as BPM Business Process Management) such as Kissflow, Workato, PowerAutomate or Lapala.
Moreover, AI (Artificial Intelligence) is currently a major trend in software publishers’ communications and marketing. To date, the uses of AI coupled with RPA, BPM and other automation platforms are no more than marketing; it’s a long way from being concrete. The AI functionality that will change the face of your business is not yet born.
If the process does not require human intervention, then automation software or RPA
Automation and workflow software such as Zapier, Make, n8n
Automation software connects various applications and online services to automate simple, repetitive tasks. These tools work by creating a sequence of actions based on a single trigger and certain conditions.
These programs use native connectors or APIs to connect to your existing software.
Pricing for these automation software packages generally depends on the number of automations per month per user. Entry-level prices are fairly low, ranging from €9 to €19 per month.
No technical skills are required to use them. They can be used in no-code mode.
There are several process automation software packages available, such as Zapier, Make or n8n. We’ve written an article comparing them.
If the software you want to connect is not available on these platforms, you can use RPA (Robotic Process Automation).
RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
This no-code, low-code automation solution uses robots to automate processes. The added value of these robots is their ability to interact with specific software not covered by automation software.
These robots have the particularity of reproducing human intervention on software thanks to different software settings (attended, unattended). Robots reproduce human navigation and clicks to perform tasks.
Types of RPP
RPA attended (assisted RPA). These robots act as virtual assistants, collaborating with the workstation user.
- User clicks button to launch robot
- The RPA robot runs and reproduces human navigation (your mouse pointer moves by itself).
- The user can then go and make a coffee.
Nevertheless, this example shows its main drawback when the software used is a fat client: until the robot has completed its task, the employee cannot use his or her computer.
RPA unattended. It operates in complete autonomy, following parameter settings. Similarly, the use of fat clients by the robot can block the use of the workstation.
Why choose or not choose RPP
RPA is generally the last chance to automate processes if other solutions don’t cover a specific piece of software. This is particularly the case for software that doesn’t respect Internet standards in terms of data communication and architecture.
What’s more, even if RPA editors’ marketing emphasizes the words no-code and low-code… these remain tools requiring a certain level of expertise. Implementing them may therefore requirecalling in RPA service providers.
RPA subscription costs are generally expensive, and the cost grids are not very easy to read. Some invoices are per robot used, others per workstation used… the bill can get very high very quickly (not to mention the cost of the service provider).
Last but not least, maintenance and upgrade costs will be incurred.
Numerous RPA software packages are available, including UiPath, SAP IRPA and Automation Anywhere.
If the process involves collaborators, then automation platform or BPM
Business Process Management (BPM) platforms such as Kissflow, Power Automate, Lapala or Workato are comprehensive, robust solutions designed to digitize, automate and optimize business operations.
These platforms act as control towers that centralize processes and data, connecting them with other tools. Their functionalities aim to improve operational efficiency by modeling, implementing and monitoring a company’s various processes.
Process automation platforms enable, for example:
- Connect all existing software, spreadsheets and databases within a company, thanks to native APIs and connectors.
- Digitizing all business processes
- Theintegration of human intervention around automated tasks
- Automate non-value-added tasks, workflows and workflows
- Process modeling and mapping.
- Access to customizable dashboards to track your activities.
Examples of process automation
Sales administration
- Create, send, follow-up and sign quotations
- Ditto for invoices
- Ditto for contracts
- Automated sales reports
Accounting
- Payment management
- Payment reminders
- Monitoring cash receipts
- Importing invoices into accounting software
- Expense management
Marketing / Sales
- Automatic opportunity identification
- Qualifying requests in CRM
- Information gathering
- Making an appointment
Customer service
- Qualifying requests
- Handling certain customer requests
- Sending out questionnaires
- Reporting
- Monitoring quality indicators
Production management
- Alert and boost
- Collecting data
- Automated data entry
- Tidying up notes
- Planning
Purchasing
- Inventory tracking
- Alerting and notification
- Order entry
- Controlling the validation circuit
HR
- Notifications related to the recruitment process
- Leave request process management
- Onboarding management
Information systems
- Qualification of support requests
- Processing certain tickets
- Computer security alerts
Now you know all about process automation. Now it’s your turn! See you soon for more content!
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