What is Workflow Automation?

AKA Business Process Automation, BPA, Business Process Management, BPM
Business Process Automation is the utilization of computer software to design, execute, track, and archive business processes that require manual interaction by employees.

Why is BPA important to my business?
In order to understand why BPA is important, we must first examine common problems with manual business processes:

Undocumented
Occasionally business processes are documented, but more often than not many are passed along via hands-on training and word of mouth. Valuable knowledge can be lost as a result of employee turnover, and processes can unwittingly change over time.

Difficult to Track Progress
If a process involves a series of sequential or even parallel tasks performed by multiple employees over a given period of time, properly tracking the progress of the process can be a daunting task. Often it's a matter of going down the line to figure out who is on the critical path, and discovering that a given task is past due may not happen in a timely manner.

Lost Data
When executing manual processes required data can be lost or unintentionally omitted. Once it is discovered that important information is missing, an employee may have to back-track to find it.

Too Much Paper
Despite the great infusion of increasingly well connected personal computers, there is still a great deal of paper pushed through many offices. It is difficult to manually control and track the flow of paper through a business process.

Difficult to Acquire Correct Files
Even in a reduced paper environment there can be great difficulty in finding needed electronic documents, files, and data. Searching hard drives and network drives can be tedious, and often there are multiple copies of the same document and even multiple versions of the same document, causing confusion.

Unclear Business Rules
Business rules may not be readily available, may change frequently, and employees may find it difficult to keep track of them. This will cause delays and potentially serious problems if business rules are not properly documented and followed.

Difficulty in Scheduling
Manual processes may not account for or be able to adjust to schedule changes. Employees may be sick, on vacation, or leave the company, which may impact scheduling and fail to transfer tasks to an available employee.

Overcoming these problems by automating common business processes can provide a significant improvement to productivity and directly impact your company's bottom line.

HighOrbit's business process automation software will address these common problems and much, much more. With HighOrbit documenting, tracking, and scheduling your manual business processes, you'll be able to improve almost any aspect of your business.