In the past, the term “automation” was primarily associated with robots, assembly lines, and science fiction films. However, today, it has become a crucial part of a more significant paradigm shift in how global enterprises operate. While automation has been a buzzword in recent years, along with artificial intelligence and Bitcoin, it has become an essential aspect of businesses that aspire to digital transformation. A key player in this new transformation is Business Process Automation (BPA), a fresh approach to optimising business operations, enhancing core competencies, and reducing costs.
Business Process Automation, or BPA in short, is a method of streamlining business operations using technology to automate repetitive tasks and workflows. BPA aims to increase efficiency, reduce costs, and improve overall productivity. BPA finds its applications across a broad spectrum of industries and processes, encompassing manufacturing, logistics, marketing, and finance, among others.
As technology advances, the opportunities for automation in businesses will only continue to grow. Companies can become more competitive, agile, and efficient by automating repetitive tasks and allowing employees to focus on other essential activities.
In this article, we will explore what Business Process Automation is, along with various Business Process Automation examples and real-world benefits.
Business Process Automation Benefits
Implementing Business Process Automation has shown a significant correlation with higher business performance. With BPA, businesses can shift their focus from mundane tasks to higher-value activities, empowering them to make informed decisions that drive growth and success. Let’s explore the numerous Business Process Automation benefits that can take your business to the next level.
1. Improved Efficiency
Increasing efficiency stands out as one of the most substantial advantages of BPA. By automating repetitive tasks, employees can focus on more critical business activities, which significantly increases productivity and reduces errors and delays. For example, in a manufacturing plant, BPA can help automate the assembly line, allowing workers to focus on more complex tasks, such as quality control and maintenance.
2. Reduced Expenses
Business Process Automation can help businesses reduce operational costs by streamlining processes and reducing the need for manual labour. Finance departments of companies worldwide are actively using BPA to automate tasks such as data entry, invoice generation etc. Business Process Automation frees employees and allows them to focus on more critical tasks such as financial analysis. BPA can reduce the risk of errors, which could prove costly in terms of time and money.
3. Enhanced Customer Experience
One of the critical Business Process Automation benefits is the improvement in customer experience. Automation can improve the customer experience by providing faster and more efficient service. BPA can help automate the checkout process, reduce wait times, and improve the overall customer experience. BPA can also automate customer service tasks, like answering various business-related FAQs and providing support.
4. Improved Accuracy
After writing the code, the probability of degradation or modification reduces significantly, leading to reliable and steady outcomes through automation. This provides a marked advantage over human counterparts whose deliverables may be inconsistent and reliable. Through automation, businesses can reduce the order processing time by over 90% while eliminating human-made errors.
5. Faster Time-to-Market
By saving even a few hours across various business operations with the help of automation, companies can significantly reduce their time-to-market. For example, the automation of paper-based processes can lead to a 30-40% reduction in the time required to complete them.
Business Process Automation Examples
Given the ability of Business Process Automation to deliver the best results at scale, it is rare for enterprises to automate only a single activity or process. Instead, they usually automate entire workflows and functions to achieve the highest optimisation level.
With this in mind, here are some real-world Business Process Automation examples to help you gain insights into how various business sectors can implement automation to streamline their operations, improve productivity and drive growth.
1. Manufacturing
Business Process Automation can help automate various manufacturing processes, such as assembly, inspection, and packaging. For example, in an automotive manufacturing plant, robots are often used to assemble car parts, reducing the need for manual labour. Also, BPA can help automate quality control processes, such as inspecting claims for defects and ensuring that they meet the required specifications and compliance standards.
2. Finance
In finance departments, BPA can help automate data entry, invoice processing, and financial reporting tasks. Businesses can automatically generate invoices and process payments with the help of BPA, thereby reducing the need for manual intervention. Automating these processes goes a long way toward reducing costs, eliminating errors, and improving vendor relationships.
3. Customer Service
Customer service is an area that is being revolutionised by automation. BPA can help companies automate various customer service tasks, such as answering frequently asked questions and providing support. Furthermore, BPA can automate order processing, guaranteeing swift and precise order fulfilment.
Another Business Process Automation example in customer service is the use of chatbots. These 24×7 virtual assistants can help customers with their queries, handle multiple conversations simultaneously, and provide instant help to customers even during non-working hours.
4. Marketing
BPA can automate multiple marketing tasks, including data analysis, campaign management, and lead nurturing. Automation can also lead to better conversion rates and improved customer engagement. For example, on average, companies can increase their lead-to-opportunity conversion rate by 70% after implementing business process automation for lead generation and nurturing automation.
5. Analytics
In addition to its application in conventional business areas, Business Process Automation benefits extend to newer aspects of organisational management, such as analytics. BPA can streamline the conversion of large quantities of unstructured data into automated reports, which can subsequently assist decision-making in various departments. By leveraging consumer-generated data, BPA can help identify customer preferences and tastes, leading to the development of marketing and sales strategies. Automation can also facilitate the implementation of employee analytics, enabling the capture of data to evaluate the performance of employees, teams, or departments.
Why SharePoint should be on top of your list for Business Process Automation.
SharePoint is a powerful tool for business process automation, providing a centralised platform for storing and managing documents, data, and workflows. One of the key Business Process Automation benefits of SharePoint is the ability to create custom workflows. Workflows automate the flow of tasks, documents, and data, reducing the need for manual intervention and saving time and effort.
SharePoint also offers a wide range of templates for standard business processes, such as document approval, expense reports, and leave requests. Businesses can swiftly and effortlessly implement automated processes using these templates, which are often customisable to meet particular needs and requirements. These templates are often customisable to fit specific needs and requirements and can help businesses quickly and easily implement automated processes.
In addition to workflows and templates, SharePoint offers features such as version control, content approval, and access control, which help ensure data accuracy and security. With SharePoint, businesses can control sensitive data access, keep track of changes and versions, and provide authorised content before sharing or publishing.
The bottom line is that SharePoint is a powerful tool for business process automation. It offers a wide range of features and capabilities to simplify various processes, reduce manual tasks, and increase the efficiency and productivity of any organisation.
Conclusion
The principle of achieving more with less is fundamental to the development of organisations. Considering this, it’s hard to ignore Business Process Automation benefits and how their minimal yet scalable nature can ensure a company’s growth.
While there are many automation solutions available in the market, we think SharePoint should be your go-to choice for Business Process Automation, particularly for those already using SharePoint or Office 365. The platform allows for the creation of automated workflows, stage tracking with the aid of alerts and notifications, and task management functionality. Various successful Business Process Automation examples exist in the world where companies relied on SharePoint to elevate how they operate.
If your company is considering streamlining its processes with the help of automation, then Neologix is here to help. With a team of expert SharePoint developers, we can help you save valuable time and money by avoiding trial-and-error experimentation. That’s not it. We can even help you identify the most effective automation opportunities and custom design workflows and ensure successful implementation, facilitating a seamless transition to an automated business management system.
Reach us at info@neologix.ae to know more.
