The process to accommodate expansion in your business.

The generic method helps you with continuity. When you already have some semblance of automation in place, there might be no need to recreate the entire process. What is required in this case is to pick out areas you can extend and automate.

The generic method is a process analysis tool that is not specific to BPA. It usually involves a step-by-step process that assesses and improves upon what you have as your business process.

Here’s what needs to be done to use this method:

• How- To evaluate the current practice within your organization
• Why- For assessing how you can make your existing process better by identifying the gaps
• Fix it- To work on improvements in errors or gaps
• Track it- A follow-up process for monitoring the new process adopted
• More- An open platform that gives room for additional input to ensure continuity

Combining BPA and BPM

A process that cannot be measured is bound to fail, and this is why it is a great approach to apply Lean and Six Sigma in your BPA process.

Assessing your process involves the use of five key tools, which are very similar to what is obtainable in the generic method but with a slight variation.

The five tools involve Defining, Measuring, Analyzing, Improving, and Controlling (DMAIC) all the processes used for your BPA.

Applying Lean and Six Sigma in your BPA process gives you room to improve, expand, and grow. It also helps you streamline your processes and cut downtime which would otherwise be wasted on repetitive tasks.

This will allow you and your team to focus on other productive issues and also ensure that your established processes have a proper flow that can be perfected over time.

The method you can use for your BPA, therefore, depends on where you are in your business. Remember, however, to always document the process irrespective of the method you use. This will help you with continuity and make transitions to bigger roles easier.

It uses technology to not only “automate” business processes, but also optimize the workflows for improved efficiency.

How to Know If Your Business Needs Automation?

Few key elements that can help you find out if your business needs automation. You can think of developing a custom BPA software if your business has processes that are:

• Repetitive
• Involve a series of predictable steps
• Consistent across the organization
• Needs to be error-free 

Business Process Automation facilitates businesses to

• Execute recurring tasks
• Cut costs
• Make processes error-proof and transparent,
• Increase productivity and
• Streamline operations

Is Business Process Automation Suitable for Small and Medium Businesses Too?

Well, it’s a common misconception that Business Process Automation is useful only in cases of complex business tasks. Every business can benefit from Business Process Automation. Business Process Automation is about making every work process better – even simple tasks like mass emailing or sending notifications, for that matter.

Depending on the work process to be optimized, Business Process Automation can either be wholly stand-alone or be part of a larger initiative. 

Let’s take a look at different approaches for Business Process Automation that you can apply:

• Business Process Improvement (BPI) – It’s about automating to improve the lackluster processes.  
• Business Process Re-engineering (BPR) – BPR works just like BPI, with the critical difference being that it focuses on tearing down and rebuilding business processes from scratch. At times re-designing happens because of new technologies.
• Business Process Management (BPM) – BPM is about continuous improvement – unlike BPI or BPR, which are more of one-time initiatives. BPM is something a company does systematically. Accordingly, BPA will streamline and automate outdated processes.

Based on the approach you choose to apply, you can use any of the following types of automation:

• Basic automation – You can create a central server to store all the essential business info. With all the critical data in one place, you’ll be able to improve the speed of work and its system.
• Process automation – it can help your business achieve consistency and build effective task management. This type of BPA is achieved by using custom software or purchasing off-the-shelf business tools.
• Artificial intelligence automation – You can use a bot (a piece of software designed for a specific function), in this case, that is trained using machine learning to perform high-volume, repeatable tasks. They are used for data entry, form checking, or rekeying the interface between a system and the user into something streamlined and easy to use.

Let us now understand why you must invest in a custom Business Process Automation platform. 

What Is Business Process Automation (BPA)?
Business Process Automation is a tech-based process of automating activities run within your organization, with the aim of simplifying, reducing running costs, increasing efficiency, and improving service delivery, just to name a few benefits.

It involves a thorough or comprehensive study of how businesses operate, identifies areas that can be improved, and creates viable solutions that will transform the business in question.

The Elements of BPA

1. Knowing The User – The kind of BPA you choose to adopt must capture the needs of the end-users. All the stakeholders must be comfortable and satisfied with the automated process. There is no point in adopting a method that will totally change the way things are done just because you want to automate. Rather, it should enhance and improve on the set methods in use.
2. Planning – Creating a visual map or blueprint before automating is key. Document and write down the flow of the process in question so that at a glance, you will be able to pinpoint areas where automation would be more beneficial.
3. Keep It Simple – The specific techniques, methods, and tools used to enhance the processes involved in automation should be kept to a minimum. Yes, it can be exciting when you start but don’t get carried away. Automate only processes that really take well to it.
4. Documentation – In the beginning, you will have everything running smoothly and have no issues. But sooner or later, when you run into problems, you will need to troubleshoot, and if you have been documenting with notes and logs, then it becomes easier to address problems in detail as needed.
5. Testing – Before you actually start using or running your automation, you should have it tested in real-time. This will give you the opportunity to detect any bugs or missed steps and put them in order before you begin fully.
6. Training – Getting the users trained is a must. One good way to do this is to use the “Train the trainer” approach. What is required here is to train the team leader and allow them to pass on what they learn to other team members. This leaves everyone involved well-grounded in its usage and they can also refer to team leaders for guidance when challenges arise.
   These six elements are key to the performance of your BPA, but there’s more. There are certain principles that should also be adopted which we’ll look at in the next section.

7 Notable Principles of BPA

Developing a good Business Process automation is based on certain principles, which will ensure that you have a well-laid out blueprint suitable for your business.

1: Training Of Developers

If you plan to outsource the development of your automation software to developers, you need to ensure that the developers understand the different tasks that need to be automated within your organization. This will help them develop the right codes and scripts to capture the processes.

2: Develop A List Of Tasks

Ensure that you make a list of all the tasks that need to be automated. This will help you capture sensitive steps required to develop proper automated processes. Doing this will not only cut down on errors associated with humans but also enhance your progress.

3: Keep It Simple

If something sounds difficult, then it probably is. Do not over-complicate your processes in a bid to automate them. Break down the tasks into manageable bits to make it easier to automate. Analyze your existing process and redesign complex parts to accommodate automation.

4: Be Consistent

It is important to maintain consistency. You cannot start automation and then stop halfway. You need to use the automation process setup regularly and maintain the same procedure.

5: Proper Integration

BPA needs to blend in nicely with the entire system within your organization, especially when it comes to integration via APIs. You can integrate your automation at different levels of the process, as long as you maintain the desired output.

6: Training

As you automate you should carry your staff or team members along by providing the necessary training required to help them transition into the new process. This can be arranged prior to the automation process to streamline moving to a new way of getting things done.

7: Keep Evolving

Setting up your BPA process is not a one-time thing. As your business grows and evolves, you’ll need to revisit existing processes to improve efficiency and maintain a healthy competitive edge. This means that your BPA process should be able to accommodate these new changes in your business.
Following through with these principles will ensure that you stay on track.