How to increase the level of automation

Every document, every receipt and every invoice that is touched in your company generates costs. Costs that every entrepreneur would like to reduce to a minimum. Lean business processes not only mean high efficiency but are also much easier on your nerves.

Many medium-sized and large companies use workflow solutions to automate business processes such as incoming invoices. A digitized office is a 'must have' these days. While on the one hand the paper and files are decreasing, the IT challenges are increasing. Invoices that got stuck in the nirvana of the agent determination, for example, create new, unexpected problems.

The paperless office

Of course, we do not want to and cannot go back to the chaos of paperwork. We are grateful for the OCR possibilities to digitize documents with a simple click of the mouse. And in the age of tablets and smartphones, invoices can also be approved quickly while on the move. And this is where the automation approach comes into play.

We ask ourselves the question: How many manual changes were made to an invoice before it could finally be posted? Based on a solid process analysis we can derive rules and templates, in which existing workflow solutions often provide a comprehensible history in the form of a process log.

For example, invoices that have gone through further process steps without changes except for manual approval can be automated. In line with the best practice approach, the degree of automation for individual vendors and company codes can be determined and increased!

What changes are made repeatedly?

Every change that a user makes manually in the process flow leaves digital traces behind. The collected traces help us to determine probabilities based on number structures, which in turn allow rules and patterns to be derived to reduce future changes to a low level in advance by changing the working method.

For example, the external invoice number of a vendor could repeatedly trigger the manual validation step during OCR capture. Instead of repeating this manual change for each invoice, training or contacting the vendor would end this problem once and for all.

Is our workflow solution the right one?

In addition to analyzing your degree of automation in relation to your company processes, you can also draw conclusions about the workflow solution you are currently using. Many companies shy away from replacing old software solutions. With pi.a analytics we support you to get an objective view of your processes in order to make your decision-making easier. Together with you, process efficiency and a high degree of automation can be achieved.