What processes can be automated?

There are many different processes in a workplace that can be streamlined by automation. Preferably, you should focus on those that consume the most of your time – this way, you will quickly notice a significant increase in efficiency. And who knows, perhaps even happier employees who, thanks to automation, are spared from spending their time on manual, repetitive (and actually quite boring) tasks?

Here’s some processes you can automate to free up resources, reduce errors, and speed up your internal processes:

Document management

Handling documents such as invoices and purchase orders is something many companies choose to automate. It is a time-consuming task where errors can easily creep in. By automating the handling of these types of documents, all data is automatically extracted and transferred to other systems through integrations between them. You can also add various functions – or triggers – depending on your company-specific processes. When an order is created, it can be automatically entered into your customer portal, confirmation emails can be sent out, and you can also integrate with your inventory system to reorder items when a certain inventory level is reached.

Customer service

Tasks within customer service, such as providing technical support or answering common questions, can be automated by implementing chatbots and automated response systems. This often leads to happier customers as questions can be handled more quickly, and your team gets a reduced workload.

Quality assurance and quality control

By automating data collection and measurement, you can monitor and register parameters in your processes in real-time. This way, data quality is automatically analysed and monitored, and deviations and inaccuracies can be detected immediately. It is also possible to monitor machines by, for example, using sensors that collect data. Collected data can be used to reduce the risk of interruptions in production, continuously improve existing processes, and measure the impact of changes that are made.

Resource management and planning

Using automated systems and analytics for everything from staff allocation to inventory management allows you to make better and more informed decisions. If you have automated inventory management, historical data can be used to make forecasts which will optimize your inventory planning, something that can reduce inventory costs and hours worked.

Company-specific processes

Almost every company has one or several processes that are specific to them – and often, these are the ones you may want to automate. It can range from a product configurator where your customers can customize your product to their own needs to automatic warranty registration and email distribution. We have assisted Hylte Jakt & Lantman with the latter.

Processes related to finance, recruitment, and marketing can also be automated.

As we mentioned earlier in the article, it is best to focus on automating the process or processes that take up a lot of your time. Read more about why it is important for a company to automate its processes.