Four ways automation is helping revolutionise business today

No doubt about it, the most successful businesses in this fast-paced, digital era are the ones who embrace automation. Jason Toshack, VP and GM at Oracle NetSuite ANZ, shares four ways business process automation will help take your business to the next level.

We live in a world where people seek faster and more effortless ways to perform tasks. Businesses have moved from manually logging orders, creating invoices, and keeping records to automating repeatable and monotonous processes.

Disjointed processes can lead to errors such as missing steps in workflows, overlooked details, or the double handling of records. To avoid this, businesses need standardised processes to ensure operations’ compliance, efficiency and conformity. With these demands becoming a significant drain on time and resources, leaders are looking to automate processes to help achieve goals.

Where to start with automation

Automation uses software, applications, or other technology to create an automatic process for tasks. It can streamline many day-to-day operations by implementing a fully (or partially) automated workflow.

To start, it is important to know which processes can and should be automated. Business process automation can manage essentials such as projects, portfolios, knowledge assets, self-service portals, workflows and data flows. Nearly all processes can be automated to some degree.

Research from industry analyst firm Gartner indicates that 80 per cent of executives think automation can be applied to business decisions. Meanwhile, according to separate Gartner research, finance leaders consider 89 per cent of accounting activities to be highly automatable.

Automating processes across different areas creates the basis for seamless and more efficient workflows across the entire business.

Here are four ways business process automation helps you take your business to the next level.

1. Working with a full view of the business for profitability

A business can work more efficiently when efforts are made to collaborate across the company. This single view can help add value by sharing critical information and data that can assist in various areas such as finance and inventory.

Some ways in which collaboration can be achieved through business process automation include tracking project processes, regularly updating the team, sending reminders, and performing other functions to assist with keeping all the parts moving seamlessly together.

Furthermore, business process automation can help ease employee frustrations by relieving staff of repetitive, manual tasks and freeing up time for teams to collaborate. This can help speed up workflows, increase problem-solving and spur innovations.

2. Improving insights to grow the business

Having holistic insight and real-time visibility across the business is a crucial component of intelligent decision-making. Improved insights can increase the ability to track the completion of processes across the company, while helping leaders understand the steps in the process. This makes it easier to refine processes for faster and better outcomes that help grow the business.

These insights are easier to obtain when all business areas are seamlessly integrated and automated. This includes finance, order management, inventory, customer relationship management and eCommerce functions.

This streamlines critical processes such as quote-to-cash, provides a 360-degree view of the customer, and enables everyone in the team to work from a single source of truth across the business.

3. Allocating the workforce for efficiency

When completing tasks manually, it is possible for teams to waste great amounts of time on completing and reviewing low-value tasks. These tasks may include reconciling receivables, payables and available cash across multiple spreadsheets. When done manually, this can also result in human error.

Automation eliminates the need for manual completion of such tasks. This frees up teams to focus on more strategic functions that provide greater value to the business. Employees can be reassigned to work better, matched to specific talents and interests, creating a heightened sense of employee engagement and satisfaction. Therefore, employers can gain the greatest benefit from each individual’s talent.

4. Boosting employee morale

Automating repetitive tasks relieves monotony and improves the overall employee experience. When employees spend more time on the more rewarding aspects of the jobs, productivity and satisfaction tend to rise, resulting in employee retention.

Businesses with positive morale can also improve the customer experience, with customers receiving higher quality, more personalised service from happier staff.

Automation improves overall business performance

The benefits of implementing automation across the business are clear, as it not only helps to mitigate human error but also improves seamless operations, better-informed decisions and optimal use of resources.

In today’s economic climate, embracing technology like automation is critical for any business to be as efficient as possible – from its employees to its bottom line – to stay one step ahead of the competition.

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