Process Automation Basics
With technology running the world, businesses learn to adapt. Every company now uses technology to handle every routine task, process, and more. This is what’s often called as Business Automation. It is also identified as either Business Process Automation, Digital Transformation, Information Technology Process Automation and a few other terms. It is where a technology-enabled system simplifies complex processes. It illustrates entrepreneurial efficiency as it makes companies become more effective in what they can offer to the world.
Often business automation is mistaken for terms like Industrial Automation, Infrastructure Management, Robotic Process Automation or Smart Factories, which shows their own types.
There are four types of business automation, one more complex and advance than the other:
1. Basic Automation. This type of automation focuses on menial tasks, as well as, providing the necessary data of the organization a structured and safe storage.
2. Process Automation. The process automation handles the consistency and transparency of your business processes. It can be operated using applications and software. Also, process automation tends to be more complex than basic automation.
3. Integration Automation. It enables machines to observe how humans execute the process and manage to repeat them. However, it is the humans that have to define the rules on which processes are accepted to be copied.
4. Artificial Intelligence Automation. This type of automation provides a system that analyzes data and decides what to do with them. Combining an artificial intelligence automation and an integration automation software allows decision-making with a more human-like technical support.
Before starting or switching into a digitalized process, learn the advantages and disadvantages of having one. Is it right for all businesses to use automation? Are there limitations?
Starting with the advantages, business automation is convenient, consistent, reliable, and even less costly compared to using manual process utilizing a number of employees.
1. Convenience. With automation, what used to be done in days can be finished in a matter of few hours or even less. Also, innovation offers automated devices such as chatbots whenever assistance is needed, and allows the company a greater chance of responding to the needs and suggestions of customers.
2. Production Costs. The need to recruit new administrative personnel can be reduced by automated processes, which then saves considerable costs.
3. Reliability. No matter how dedicated or skilled an employee is, manual labor in any task can be liable to error. Digitalizing procedures that require significant effort will increase consistency and reduce the risk of error.
However, despite all the benefits you’ll receive, you should also consider some setbacks that comes along with implementing business automation.
1. Quality Assurance. It is a must for new automation to undergo a quality assurance process to ensure that your automation results are the same or better than your current manual efforts. This involves commitment and time.
2. Initial Investment. It is already obvious that turning automatic doesn’t come cheap. The initial investment is going to cost a lot. Often, it could be more expensive than manual labor due to maintenance, repair, supervision and training costs.
3. Job Uncertainty. Business automation can eliminate some positions that involve repetitive and system-based responsibilities.
The core of business automation is simplicity. It simplifies what used to be a complex procedure that takes a long period of time and requires huge amounts of effort. It simplifies what used to need large amounts of resources including employees.
However, before jumping to the deep end, you need to first ask yourself, “does the task really require to be automated?”
The tasks that are ideal for automation are usually those that are repetitive in nature, are risky manual tasks and high-volume. Some of the examples are back office processes, sensor-based tracking and alerts, document management, invoicing, and customer feedback collection and processing.
If you are still deciding whether to switch your business process from manual to automated, we strongly suggest to weigh your pro’s and con’s and whether the task you chose is qualified or not.