Workflow automation: What it is and how it can make your job easier

This text was contributed by Sergio Suarez Jr., founder and CEO of TackleAI.

Workflow automation, additionally known as information automation, is the brand new buzzword within the tech business, however what’s it, actually? To place it merely, workflow automation means getting data right into a system, launching duties to course of the info, and routing it to the proper individuals. This course of is finished utilizing rule-based logic, and ideally with little to no human intervention crucial. 

For some individuals, a world of automation and synthetic intelligence could be overwhelming and even result in job safety considerations. In actuality, automation and synthetic intelligence could be complementary work companions to most jobs, serving to people do their jobs extra effectively and successfully. 

One instance of workflow automation is in the way in which most invoices are processed. The everyday guide course of is tedious, time-consuming and vulnerable to errors. This course of normally consists of receiving an e-mail, forwarding it to the billing division, and assigning it to somebody who then sorts out the necessary data right into a payable bill. That data then will get despatched to somebody to take line gadgets and do a listing to verify the knowledge is right. Every time this course of entails one other particular person, there’s a larger likelihood of human error and positively extra time added to the method.

This is the reason automation, particularly associated to paperwork like invoices, could be massively advantageous for organizations by way of finance, effectivity and accuracy. Nonetheless, there are totally different approaches to workflow automation that pose different advantages to totally different organizations, and an knowledgeable choice between the 2 is vital.

There are two varieties of workflow automations – Clever and RPA (Robotic Process Automation). The information that these two automation sorts course of could also be structured or unstructured. RPA can solely course of structured information, that means information that has labels or headers, and is staying in the identical a part of the web page each time. Clever Workflow Automation, which is true synthetic intelligence, can course of, extract and classify unstructured information with out ever having seen the doc earlier than.

Within the instance of the invoices: with RPA, an organization will obtain an e-mail, scan it, and prepare the software program for that exact bill. This works properly when the doc accommodates structured information, with the identical data in the identical spot, and has neat labeling or headers, and the quantity of house in line gadgets doesn’t change. 

With Clever Workflow Automation (IWA), as soon as it has realized one kind of bill, it now can learn any kind of bill, and extract and classify data, such because the payer and payee’s account data, and know which one is which. With every new doc, it not solely processes the info and is smart of it, however learns and trains itself to know the following doc sooner and with extra accuracy, every time. That is very important for a corporation to save lots of time and cut back error charges, as 85% of knowledge is unstructured.

Each RPA and IWA supply benefits to organizations. When it comes to functionality, Clever Workflow Automation wins out, however by way of startup value and upkeep, RPA can present a powerful resolution. 

There are a number of steps to implementing automation into your corporation infrastructure, and so they differ barely relying on particular person aims, industries and technological capabilities.

First, determine the duty at hand: whereas a small gross sales agency may look to automate a normal, structured bill, a hospital may have to course of quite a lot of dynamic paperwork and EHR information. Relying on the complexity of the info, the sensitivity of the transferred data and the steps concerned in every job, one can choose both RPA or IWA as the popular automation choice. With complicated duties, IWA can go so far as finishing redaction, or information extraction and validation, that are crucial in drugs, authorities and legislation. 

Second, choose your “supplier”: Will you rent a full-time developer? Will you have interaction with a agency? Will you implement a pre-developed resolution? These are all robust choices that differ in worth between funds, and once more, the complexity of the duty at hand. 

Then, launch: getting automation proper requires plenty of fine-tuning, so when the ball is rolling, ensure to concentrate. The fantastic thing about the know-how is its means to repeatedly study and optimize itself, however a lot of this studying means will depend on the human workforce’s means to feed it clever data. 

A selected use case of implementing workflow automation occurred with a big healthcare information aggregator. Hospital programs despatched the info aggregator a whole lot of 1000’s of dynamically unstructured healthcare paperwork every day, which then wanted to be categorized, and have the info extracted and populated into every consumer’s digital well being file system. The workflow concerned sending the paperwork abroad, to be manually learn, categorized and typed out into an Excel spreadsheet. This course of took as much as 48 hours to finish every time, and had a mean error fee of 10-30%, together with potential safety dangers and HIPAA violations. 

The a whole lot of 1000’s of paperwork despatched have been all dynamically unstructured, so the healthcare information aggregator went with IWA as an alternative of RPA for its automated workflow. The IWA was now finishing the identical workflow in lower than a second. Information factors have been now extracted from all varieties of unstructured paperwork, comparable to prescriptions, MRIs, and oncology stories. The IWA is 70% inexpensive than sending the identical paperwork abroad for guide classification, and saved 50% of the operational funds. Now 73% of the paperwork are processed with IWA and want no human intervention in any respect. The error fee was lowered to solely 0.03%, and the IWA can course of paperwork it has by no means seen earlier than. 

Briefly, automation is greater than a buzzword. It’s a chance to spice up income, optimize efficiency and accuracy, and use immense technological energy to permit human employees to maximise their potential exterior repetitive and time-consuming information duties. In 2022, automation is inside attain for companies and organizations of all sizes, unlocking alternatives for effectivity and income that weren’t beforehand accessible. A enterprise with automation is a enterprise with a bonus – and it’s by no means too late to get began. 

Sergio Suarez Jr. is the founder and CEO of TackleAI.