What is a Business Process?
Nowadays the fast-paced business environment requires the implementation of automated business processes, which has become increasingly important due to its numerous benefits. Automated business processes not only improve efficiency but also take errors to minimum and enhance team productivity. By leveraging new technologies such as machine learning (ML), artificial intelligence (AI), and robotic process automation (RPA), organizations received the ability to streamline their operations and achieve significantly better results.Generally, a Business Process is a set of related, structured activities and steps performed by the people or equipment in an organization in order to achieve the basic organizational goals like Profit maximization and Customer satisfaction.
Business processes may be repeated many times at all organizational levels and may or may not be visible to the customers.
A Business process is often regarded as a flowchart or workflow of logical steps, and it serves as a primary foundation for several related ideas like Business Process Management, Process optimization, Process mapping, Process Simulation, Process Automation, etc.
However, it must be noted that a Business Process can either be Manual or Automated. A Business Process is considered manual when the process is achieved by human i.e without the aid of any assisting technology or automation model. While an Automated Business process is that which is achieved using an automation model or assisting technology. What differentiates the two is that Automated is modern and it is more accurate, standardized or optimized compared to the manual method.
One of the main advantages of automated business processes is the minimization of manual tasks, which are usually time-consuming and error-prone. With automation, repetitive activities can be performed seamlessly and consistently, freeing up valuable time for employees to focus on more strategic and value-added tasks. This leads to increased productivity and employee satisfaction.Moreover, automated business processes let organizations achieve a higher level of accuracy and standardization. As automated processes stick to earlier defined rules and algorithms, they ensure more precision in every step. That’s why the companies see an enhancement in the quality of outputs but also improvement of customer satisfaction as they experience a more reliable and consistent service.said Michael Donaghey, Director of North American Operations at CMW Lab.
Furthermore, automation brings the real-time monitoring and analytics of business processes to enterprises. Teams can easily identify bottlenecks, inefficiencies and eliminate them with the help of data-driven insights. This enables them to make informed decisions, optimize their workload, and drive the culture of improvement throughout the organization.
The importance of Business Processes to small, medium, and large businesses cannot be overemphasized as it helps your business function to be more orderly and streamlined, and thus facilitating Business Process Management as well as improving the organization’s efficiency and productivity. We will discuss more about Business process examples and automation ideas later in this article.
Methods of process improvement
Imagine your working day: noisy repetitive tasks, like data entry, form fillings, logging into applications, billing or other operations handling, management of records, folders, boring reports, etc. Feels like a dull routine.
Implementation of technologies: The role of technologies RPA and BPMN.
And now we have a great aid- RPA technology today allows us to delegate these tasks to software robots or bots. Among routine avoidance, RPA lets people complete tasks faster, cuts down labor costs, escapes human errors, so better results and permits to engage workers to more cognitive, fascinating and creative tasks.
Building automation is a growing trend in a huge range of industries because of wide capabilities to use it indifferent business functional areas and easier ways to implement it into existing systems.
Now, let’s talk about Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN), it’s a graphical instrument for visualization and improving business processes. Simply put, BPMN is the guide on how business activities should be done; it is the guide which provides the methodology on how every single process should be done in the business.
BPMN allows a visual representation of processes, making them easy to understand at a glance. By mapping out processes, inefficiencies and bottlenecks become glaringly. Using universal language makes communication between stakeholders clear. It also serves as a comprehensive documentation tool, essential for process management and compliance. In the dynamic landscape of modern business, staying ahead of the curve requires more than just good intentions—it demands a pedantic approach to evaluating and monitoring processes.
This is where the magic happens, where businesses transform from good to great. The power of monitoring provides continuous, real-time data on your processes.
This is similar to having live coverage of the state of your business, and as such you are able to notice problem causes before they escalate into problems.
Methods of monitoring and evaluating the efficiency of processes.
With constant monitoring, you can make proactive adjustments. If something’s off track, you can course-correct immediately, ensuring that your business stays on the way to success.
Monitoring fosters a culture of transparency and accountability. Everyone knows what’s happening, and there’s no ambiguity.
While monitoring keeps you informed in the moment, it evaluates on a different non-emotional scale, – a long-term perspective. It’s about assessing and evaluating how processes affect the organization and understanding the impact of your processes and informed planning for the future.
Evaluation involves a thorough analysis of your processes. This is some sort of inspection of your business, evaluation of its strengths or weak points and areas that require enhancement. Through evaluation, you gain valuable insights into your strengths and weaknesses. It’s an educational process that helps your business evolve. With results from evaluation, you can make strategic decisions that drive your business towards its objectives.
Key performance indicators (KPI)
Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) play a very important role in this process. They provide countable values that show the effectiveness of companies in achieving goals. By setting and monitoring KPIs, you can observe progress, identify areas for improvement, and make data-driven decisions. KPIs are the benchmarks that direct your journey from good to great, ensuring that every step you take is in accordance with your strategic vision.
Future trends
As our life is ever-evolved, so the business world and business process management is evolving too. Looking into the future, we can confidently say that key business processes will be even more efficient, intelligent and adaptive. So let’s look at two main trends shaping the future of BPM: AI Integration and New Process Management Tools.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it is a today reality transforming various industries, including BPM. The integration of AI into BPM systems is enhancing decision-making processes and automating routine tasks. By leveraging AI, businesses can analyze huge amounts of data in real-time, identify patterns, and make informed decisions swiftly. This not only improves efficiency but also reduces the margin for error.
AI-powered BPM tools can automate repetitive tasks, freeing up human resources to focus on more strategic activities. For instance, AI can handle data entry, extracting data from documents or correspondence, process monitoring, mapping and analysis, and customer service interactions through chatbots or virtual assistants. AI can enrich customer interactions, lowering call or answer wait times, personalizing recommendations, and providing real-time sales assistance. In logistics, for example, AI can continuously update expected delivery times, send alerts in the event of delays and even take action to fix the problem.
Process management tools are another trend defining the future of BPM. Modern BPM tools offer intuitive interfaces that make it easier for citizens to develop, implement, and monitor processes without extensive technical knowledge.
One of the key features of these new tools is their ability to integrate with other business systems. This integration ensures easy data transfer between different departments, eliminating fragmentation and contributing to a more efficient work environment for collaboration. In addition, advanced analytical capabilities allow companies to track KPIs and identify spaces for improvement, contributing to continuous process optimization.
So based on the above, we can distinguish the lifecycle, or Basic Steps of Business Processes Implementation from inception to retirement.
Basic Steps of Business Process Implementation
At this stage, you will first define the basic purpose of the process as well as the reasons for creating it.
Step 2: Plan and Map Your Process
Here you ruminate on effective strategies you can adopt to achieve the set goals and what resources you need for this
Step 3: Set Actions and Assign People that will handle it
Who are the best individuals to handle the tasks? What are the machines they will need to execute the plan? These and more are what you will make decisions about here
Step 4: Test the Process
The goal here is to first scrutinize the process at a low-key level and see how it fared.
Step 5: Implement the Process
If you are convinced with the results you get after testing the process, then it is time to run it on a global level. At this stage, present the process to all those who will be handling the tasks and train them for better results.
Step 6: Monitor the Results
Try reviewing the process and check for any threats it may later bring, and find a way to mitigate the risk.
Step 7: Repeat
If you were able to achieve the set goals with the process, continue to replicate it and always track its effectiveness and progress along the line
Business Process Examples
Business processes occur at all organization levels and it varies from one industry to the other. For instance, the business process used in the mining industry would be quite different from the one in Finance, Health, Aviation, Security, etc. since the nature of their business is not the same. Here are business processes examples of some industries and firms:| INDUSTRY/FIRM | EXAMPLES OF A BUSINESS PROCESS |
| Manufacturing | Order fulfillment process, engineering change control, product assembly, product line process, quality assurance, maintenance |
| Finance | Invoicing process, expense management process, risk management process, the billing process and payment process, CapEx management |
| Health | Medical assessment process, drug approval process, financial process. |
| Banking | Customer onboarding process, credit check process, the risk assessment process, claims management |
| Travel | Agent billing, trip booking, leave management process, business travel management process. |
| Procurement | Purchasing, invoice reconciliation, account receivable |
| Advertising | Cost estimating, project approval, cost reviewing |
| Sales and Marketing | Product delivery process, product development process, the marketing research process, marketing metrics estimation |
In CMW Lab we believe that with the right BPM solution, you can not only streamline your existing processes based on the pre-built frames but also unlock new opportunities for growth and differentiation. It’s all about putting the power of app creation in your hands and enabling you to shape your business operations in a way that drives your success. The right software gives you the unlimited freedom of process creativitysaid Michael Donaghey, Director of North American Operations at CMW Lab.
Specific business redesign topics contain exceptions to other definitions of key methods applied or process improvement they are
- Business Process Reengineering (BPR): This involves fundamentally rethinking and redesigning business processes to achieve dramatic improvements in critical performance measures such as cost, quality, and speed.
- Continuous Improvement: This method focuses on making incremental improvements over time. Techniques like Lean and Six Sigma are commonly used.
There are also some additional methods and techniques, like Kaizen, TQM, PDCA Cycle, TOC, 5S, Kanban and etc.
What are Some of the Terms Related to the Business Process?
A Business Process can be linked with several business concepts and terminologies, which includes Business Process Automation, Business Process Modeling, Business Process Reengineering, Business Process Simulation, Business Process Monitoring, but to mention a few.However, in this context, we shall be laying more emphasis on Business Process Automation so as to help you understand how it works, as well as its importance to your business.
Business Process Automation Explained
Business Process Automation involves the use of assisted technology such as software & apps in performing business processes and activities, with the sole aim of minimizing cost and increasing productivity. When a business has its processes automated, it stands a chance to reap some benefits like greater efficiency, minimal error, reduced labor stress, cost minimization, profit maximization, better customer satisfaction, among others. A great example of common process automation found in businesses is the sales process automation and IT process automation.
Visual workflow builder for non-coding business process automation
Business process automation is not restricted to data management and record keeping alone; it allows you to exercise absolute control over various business issues like facility management, marketing, customer relationships, employee analytics, staff recruitment, standardization, but to mention a few.
Why Automate Your Business Processes?
Do you still doubt the capabilities of Business Process Automation? Consider these:- Business Process Automation brings about Increasing Value Per Work – When you automate your business the workload on the employees will decrease and they will be able to channel their strength and creativity to other essential assignments and tasks. This will, in turn, enhance their focus and productivity.
- Business Process Automation leads to Higher Employee Satisfaction – There are some business processes that are extremely complicated and if you leave them for the employees to handle, it may not only put them in the middle of chaos, but also demotivate them. But on the contrary after implementing automated workflows the employees will concentrate on really business-critical tasks.
- Business Process Automation Minimizes Human Error – As long as humans beings are involved in a process, the error is inevitable, and some errors can be colossal at times. Automating your business will help eliminate every form of human error, and thus giving you a more accurate result.
Other Benefits of Business Process Automation Include:
- Streamlined communication
- Cost minimization
- Improved workflows
- Increased flexibility
- Better customer satisfaction
- Consistent maintenance of a work standard
- Increased product/service quality
- Increased administrative control.
6 Amazing Business Processes and Automation Ideas
Numerous automation experts opine that automating a business brings about higher productivity, while it frees both the employees and the managers from most of the hectic and time-consuming tasks in the firm.Here are examples of how automating your business can help make life easier at work:
- Hiring process
To make the hiring process seamless, you can make use of Automated hiring tools that will read through applications submitted by the employees speedily. These tools are also capable of searching for related keywords in each application so as to easily identify the candidates that best suit the available position in your organization.
Again, when you automate your hiring process, you will be able to reduce the cost and time incurred in the process.
- Employee analytics
- Employee help desk support
- Task or Project Management
- Social Media Management
However, operating social media accounts can be daunting at times, because the handler would need to be posting new updates every hour, which could be consuming much time.
Therefore, to minimize the time spent on Social Media Management, you can use Social Media automation tools that will allow you to schedule your posts for let’s say a day, a week, or a month.
- Auditing
Automated business processes are clear, simple and easy to understand, allowing all team members to know their tasks and responsibilities, and stakeholders are provided with the information they need to monitor and manage the process they have accurate information they need to monitor and manage the process with clearly evaluating performance.
BPA helps to move with the times while adaptability and flexibility to changes in the market.
BPM FAQ
Q1: What is the significance of process management and automation for businesses?
A1: Automation and process management are essential for businesses because they increase effectiveness, production, and customer happiness. Organizations may improve workflows, automate monotonous procedures, and streamline operations while lowering errors and more efficiently allocating resources.
Q2: How can businesses identify which processes to automate?
A2: Processes must first be assessed for volume, complexity, and influence on company objectives. Automation is typically an excellent option for repetitive, rule-based, and time-consuming processes. Processes having a high potential for cost savings or mistake reduction should also be taken into account.
Q3: What are the key benefits of process automation?
A3: Process automation offers several benefits, including increased efficiency, improved accuracy, reduced costs, and faster turnaround times. It also enables real-time monitoring and analytics, allowing businesses to identify bottlenecks and make data-driven decisions for process optimization.
Q4: Are there any challenges or risks associated with process automation?
A4: Process automation has a number of advantages, including higher accuracy, quicker turnaround times, lower costs, and increased productivity. Additionally, it offers real-time monitoring and analytics, enabling companies to locate bottlenecks and take data-driven actions to improve processes.
Q5: How can businesses ensure successful process management and automation?
A5: The management and automation of processes must be approached holistically. Prior to automation, it is crucial to perform a complete analysis and optimization of the processes, involving stakeholders and subject matter experts. Success depends on effective communication, change management, and continual oversight. Utilizing the knowledge of automation consultants or specialists can also assist businesses in overcoming obstacles and maximizing the advantages of automation.
Conclusion
Having shown you some of the Business Process Example and Automation Ideas, we guarantee you of increased productivity and efficiency at your workplace, provided you incorporate them adequately into your business.CMW Platform makes it a snap to model your own business process and get it up and running quickly.
