Business Process Automation

Transcription

1 Business Process Automation 5 THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

2 As technology improves, connectivity increases and budgets shrink or stay flat, more and more businesses large and small, business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) are turning their attention to automating manual tasks in order to better deploy resources. Done thoughtfully and according to a sustainable plan, this kind of business process automation initiative can benefit every department in the organization whether its workflows are directly affected or not. But care must be taken; every business is different, and in business process automation, one size most certainly does not fit all. In this guide, you ll find a blueprint to planning and executing on a business process automation strategy that meets your organization s exact needs and budget. We ll discuss finding the right automation partner, the value of experienced project management, which processes are commonly automated and much more.

3 1 Thinking strategically always pays off. The heart of business process automation is the idea that many non-value-add manual tasks can be accomplished significantly more efficiently through the use of technology. That, however, is an extremely tactical view of things; it s the end goal, not the starting point. If you recognize that there are tasks within your organization that can probably be automated, don t begin by looking at them discretely. Rather, take a holistic view of your enterprise. How do workflows fit together? What are the touchpoints and handoffs between teams and departments? What is done in-house, what is provided by clients and what is done in collaboration with third-party vendors? By stepping back and thinking strategically, you ll be able to multiply the positive effects of any technology initiative. You ll identify more pain points, gain increased visibility into current inefficiencies and realize economies of scale when choosing solutions, vendors and consultants. The holistic, strategic thinking we re describing on this page is a core component of what s often referred to as business process management. Essentially, if business process automation refers to using technology to streamline one task or workflow (accounts payable processing, for instance), business process management speaks to overall process analysis and improvements through automation and by other means.

4 2 Going it alone rarely pays off. There are tons of do-it-yourself business process automation solutions on the market. From scanners and multi-function devices to simple to deploy paperless office software suites, hundreds of companies would be happy to sell you a tool and then never speak to you again. Problem is, as we discussed in the previous section, properly implementing business process automation involves taking a wider view of your workflows, keeping what works and refining what doesn t. Picking an inefficient task or two, buying some equipment and attempting to deploy it yourself on top of your regular work duties won t accomplish the strategic piece of automation. You might gain some slight efficiencies, but you ll be missing out on dozens of opportunities to improve turnaround times, eliminate wasteful work and improve client satisfaction. Your best bet? Talk to a business process automation expert. They ll know the questions to ask, the common pitfalls to avoid and what technology solutions will give you the most bang for your buck. With the right consulting partner in your corner, return on investment (ROI) on the project will increase dramatically and you ll be able to focus on your core competencies, rather than someone else s.

5 3 Paper doesn t have to hold you back. Paper and the non-searchable information locked within it makes business process automation more difficult... but not impossible. With the right approach (and the right partner), you can turn any amount of paper-based data into actionable, usable information. Think, for instance, about a paper invoice and accounts payable processing. Traditionally, handling that paper invoice meant sorting mail, opening an envelope, determining the proper routing path, completing a routing document, physically shipping AP documents around the enterprise with an interoffice courier, sending documents back to accounting after final approval, posting the financial transactions and filing or scanning the original documents. That is, needless to say, an absolute ton of work and with each step comes the possibility of an error or a lost document. Fortunately, with today s technology, invoices in any format (Excel, PDF, , XML or paper) can be automatically processed upon receipt. Data is then automatically extracted and matched to vendor files (with unmatched data cleaned up), and the invoices are routed for electronic approvals according to business rules and parameters. In many cases, all an employee has to do is verify information and deal with rules-based escalations and exceptions turning a job that once cost $25 or more into one that takes only a few minutes of staff time.

6 4 All automation vendors are not the same. When you re looking for a business process automation partner, pay attention to their whole offering. Many vendors in the space are little more than software integrators and resellers; that s a critical part of the automation puzzle, but it s not everything. You want a firm with years of experience helping organizations like yours, the infrastructure to easily scale with shifting demand and a team of in-house developers to customize and configure software to meet your exact needs. In other words, you should be looking for a partner that offers both solutions and services. The technology should be there, but so should project management expertise and the ability help you turn non-value-add areas into revenue drivers. Imagine, for instance, getting an early payment discount on every invoice processed by your AP department. Your vendor should have a proven history of providing positive return on investment and integrating with core systems. And they should offer you the option to hand off tasks that are not core to your organization, empowering you to focus on key areas.

7 5 The possibilities are endless. With the right partner in place, just about any manual task in your business can be automated. Accounts payable processing is common; invoices can be imported in any format (paper, , PDF and more), processed according to business rules and pre-set workflows, and have their data automatically extracted and sent to accounting software or an enterprise resource planning system. Accounts receivable can be automated all the way down to checks being automatically digitized and deposited. When properly designed and imaged, even hand-filled forms can have data digitally extracted and sent to systems of record. This type of automation can slash AR processing costs by as much as 90 percent. Even bills and checks can be customized, printed, stuffed into envelopes and mailed to the correct recipient with almost no manual intervention necessary. If you have a document or workflow-intensive task, there s almost certainly a technology tool out there to automate it. Pick the right partner, make a plan and start reaping the benefits.

8 Meet BerkOne Headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, BerkOne delivers business process automation, IT and security solutions and services that empower organizations of all sizes to focus on what makes them great. BerkOne s document and data solutions are crafted from a variety of related service offerings, including business process consulting; software development, deployment and integration; enterprise-class scanning and data capture; printing and mailing; forms design; accounts receivable automation; secure document storage; IT consulting; and managed IT services. We are authorized resellers, integrators and end users of Kofax Capture products, IBM FileNet, Microsoft SharePoint, FileBound, Medius AP automation products, OnBase AnyDoc software and Formatta forms management. Want to learn why clients have trusted BerkOne to automate business processes since 1936? Visit BerkOne.com, or call today Valley Center Parkway, Bethlehem, PA (866) BerkOne.com