Keeping business processes relevant and up to date can feel like a futile battle.
Sure, your technology, product, or idea may be brilliant, but relying on manual production scheduling (we see those whiteboards!), order tracking via emails and paper forms, and other traditional, labor-intensive workflows is not merely time-consuming—it puts your company at risk for:
All these hazards culminate in exasperated and burned-out employees.
Tyler, the Operations Director at a fictional mid-size manufacturing company, was experiencing these same struggles as the company grew.
Despite increasing demand for their products, the company struggled to meet production schedules, taking a toll on customer satisfaction and team morale.
After researching Business Process Management Best Practices, Tyler discovered that automating their business processes could increase efficiency, consistency, and accuracy and help them be more strategically focused.
In this blog, we explain the concept of business process management (BPM) and how companies can leverage BPM and automation for improved customer experience for repeat business and enhanced strategic planning and alignment.
Business process management (BPM) involves analyzing, improving, and automating an organization's workflows. BPM’s core principles revolve around:
For example, consider manual sales order processing. In legacy systems, orders may come in paper forms, email attachments, or even in the body of the email.
Without automation, these require manual entries into the sales system.
This is a straightforward example of a time-consuming process that’s prone to errors, which can result in order fulfillment delays, customer miscommunications, and, ultimately, lost sales opportunities.
BPM analysis can transform this clunky and error-prone process into one that runs smoothly and efficiently.
Business Process Management enables companies to achieve a holistic view of all the individual tasks within an organization and arrange them in the best order and sequence for efficient and optimized workflows.
This restructuring eliminates redundancies and wasted efforts - so nothing falls through the cracks.
BPM also helps companies achieve a clearer focus on the roles and responsibilities within the organization and ensures everyone is in alignment with expectations. The stage is now set for continuous improvement.
BPM can pave the way for improved compliance, thanks to the virtual roadmap of documented processes to meet regulations.
Of course, as with any new organizational initiative, implementing effective BPM can present challenges. Resistance to change is a common issue, often because people may fear additional work or even job displacement.
Other problems may include communication issues due to:
But working through these challenges is well worth the effort, and intelligent automation in BPM (known as business process automation or BPA) is proving to be transformative in helping companies of all types create and implement a successful BPM strategy through automation.
In a survey by Bain & Co. on AI and automation, 70% of executives deemed AI-driven automation either “very important” or “critical” for the future of their industries, while 45% said the integration of automation and AI would transform their industry.
This data highlights the critical role Business Process Automation will play in the strategy and success of forward-looking organizations.
BPA uses artificial intelligence (AI) to enable organizations to:
To be clear, BPM is about managing processes, while BPA refers to streamlining processes through automation.
So, how are companies incorporating BPA into their operations? Great question!
Power Automate is Microsoft's BPM Tool that is revolutionizing Business Process Management for Microsoft Dynamics 365 users.
An intuitive, low-code solution, Power Automate streamlines manual workflows by collecting and syncing data from various sources into a common data source. Power Automate offers unrivaled benefits to organizations of all sizes, including:
Power Automate serves as an epicenter for workflows, linking various data sources and applications to automate complex processes.
Improved process efficiency
Repetitive task automation allows employees to focus on higher-value activities, boosting operational efficiency.
Power Automate analyzes historical process data to flag potential bottlenecks and suggest improvements, creating proactive process management.
Improved data gathering and synchronization across multiple sources
Simplified data collection across different platforms ensures accurate and consistent data across all business systems.
Automating repetitive tasks like order confirmations and personalized communications empowers organizations to provide swift, more responsive customer experiences.
Scalability for larger enterprises while remaining accessible for smaller businesses
Power Automate’s scalable and versatile platform adapts to the needs of small businesses as well as large enterprises, making it a cost-effective choice for all.
Benefits suited to both SMBs and Enterprises
Power Automate’s user-friendly interface and ready-to-use templates are perfectly suited to SMBs needing a quick start. At the same time, its advanced features and customization options support more complex enterprise workflows.
Now that you have a sense of the benefits of BPA and Power Automate, here are some guidelines for putting them into practice.
First, it’s essential to brainstorm and outline a clear implementation roadmap for your unique organization. Create and prioritize a list of essential steps to undertake one by one.
This could include the following:
Once you’ve worked through and adjusted your roadmap, consider the following business process management best practices for successful implementation when the time comes:
Automating your business processes can reduce risk, improve efficiency, and keep your business more strategically focused.
Microsoft Power Automate can take your Business Process Management strategy to the next level, empowering your employees and delivering on your organization’s goals.
If Power Automate sounds like something you’d like to explore, TrellisPoint can help. Contact us today for a free consultation.