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Category: IT Automation

What Is Business Consulting and What Advantages Does It Provide?

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Consulting is notorious for being one of those jobs your friends don’t understand. If you’ve ever been interested in consulting but too afraid to ask what it entails, we’ve got you.

What Is a Business Consultant?

‌A business consultant is an individual who works closely with business owners and managers who want to improve operations and efficiency, grow their businesses or maintain existing positive trends.

Business consultants act as partners in identifying and overcoming the obstacles that arise along a company’s path to meet its goals.

What Does a Business Consultant Do?

There are consultants who specialize in specific industries, while others take a more general approach. Specific services vary by consulting firm, but here are some of the most common responsibilities of a consultant:

  • Identify obstacles preventing growth or efficiency
  • ‌Pinpoint opportunities for change and help implement changes
  • Provide training and resources to staff and management
  • Bring out-of-the-box ideas to refresh processes or establish workflows
  • Assist in business planning and creating new businesses
  • Assess, hire and fire staff as necessary
  • Implement new programs
  • Analyze a company’s budget, suggest adjustments and implement suggestions
  • Locate vendors and partners

What Kinds of Businesses Need a Consultant?

Nearly any business can benefit from hiring a business consultant. Here are a few examples of scenarios in which a consultant might assist in various stages of growth or facing a range of challenges.

  • Startups can complete the planning phase and get a strong initial boost using third-party data analysis.
  • Growth-stage businesses can access a fresh perspective as they advance and try out new strategies.
  • ‌Organizations that are not meeting their financial goals can dig deeply into their accounting history and practices.
  • ‌Companies adding a new department can get support with setup and staffing.

What Are the Advantages of Business Consultants?

Having gathered insights and expertise from many clients and industries, consultants often have more and different resources than internal employees. Their “bird’s eye view” can complement the experience of seasoned business managers and owners. An outsider is often better at pinpointing strengths or weaknesses than someone entrenched in a business.

There are some cases in which consultants can also make processes much faster. Especially when a team is building a new campaign or business plan, a consultant can come in with clear steps and assignments right away. Many also have a strong network of service providers and external resources.

Whether the focus is a budget adjustment, a sales revamp or a marketing initiative, business consultants tend to generate a wealth of creative solutions.

What Tools Do Business Consultants Use?

‌Being a business consultant requires a lot of planning, researching and organizing. The right tools can help consultants perform at their best. Below are five of the most important categories of tech in consulting.

1. CRM Software

‌CRM software is for more than keeping track of client information and interactions, sharing files and tracking lead progress. With accurate data attached to a client record, it should ultimately help develop strong relationships and support accurate internal and external communication.

2. Proposal Software

‌Consultants send business proposals regularly, so using a platform that provides templates can save hours. Proposal software also maintains consistency in branding and style.

3. Project Management Tools

‌Most business consultants manage several different clients at a time — and multiple projects for each client. Ideally, they need project management tools built to support client-based businesses. ‌

4. Time-Tracking Tool

‌A business consultant typically charges by the hour, so keeping up with billable hours is a foundational aspect of consulting. Moreover, these hours need to be tracked per client and per project.

5. Cloud Automation Software

‌Automated work management software like Accelo can streamline your workflow and simplify your days. By integrating current apps into a single platform, business consultants can easily manage sales, projects and more — no matter where they are.

If you think you can benefit from hiring a business consultant, give Epic IT Automations a call! We’ll help you identify obstacles preventing your business growth or efficiency and help you pinpoint opportunities for change and help implement changes.

Source: Accelo

7 Reasons to Invest in Your Employees Learning Automation

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

In today’s increasingly competitive market, businesses should be looking at ways to keep employees engaged as well as maximize profit. One way of achieving both these goals is by investing in your employees learning automation. Not only does it upskill your staff but introducing automated processes makes the business more efficient, saves money, and increases profits.  It’s a win-win!

According to a recent McKinsey report, “over the next ten to 15 years, the adoption of automation and AI technologies will transform the workplace…”. They also say that “these technologies will bring numerous benefits in the form of higher productivity, GDP growth, improved corporate performance and new prosperity…”. And finally, “to harness the new technologies to their full effect, companies will need to retool their corporate structures and their approaches to work. That change will require redesigned business processes and a new focus on the talent they have – and the talent they need…”.

So here are our top seven reasons why you should invest in your employees learning automation:

1. You don’t need a highly skilled IT team for automation

The first reason to invest in your employees learning automation is that it will save money as you won’t need to hire an expensive development team. Modern digital tools like Zapier are no-code applications that don’t require highly-skilled programmers to deliver streamlined, integrated systems. The employees who are doing the day-to-day tasks are the ones who are best placed to automate them. They will know better than anyone where efficiencies can be made, which systems are being used, and how to optimize their processes.

2. Increased productivity

If you invest in your employees learning automation then they will achieve higher productivity. Removing manual effort means they have more time to focus on being creative and supporting your business goals. This has many benefits, from lower costs and happier customers to increased profits.

3. Better data

If employees are fluent in automation then they will be able to spot opportunities for tracking data, and it won’t take any extra time to capture it once it has been set up. With Zapier it’s easy to configure triggers to count activities, sales, visitors, transactions, expenses, just about anything! Once you have the data then you can also use Zapier to help with analysis by triggering information to be sent to spreadsheets and databases, or even retrieving data from Google Analytics. Reports can be delivered seamlessly to the right people and monitored on an ongoing basis.

4. Scale your business

If employees are bogged down with manual tasks then it’s hard to scale without increasing the size of the team. Recruiting extra people is expensive and is not a great long-term strategy for growing a business unless the tasks can only be done by a human. A better idea is to invest in automation training, then systematize repetitive manual tasks so that staff can concentrate on business growth.

5. Improve efficiency

If your employees are confident automating processes then it makes everything run more smoothly, more efficiently.  If you have invested in automation training then it will open their minds about new opportunities for streamlining the business. Things like work allocation, approvals, reviews, managing project tasks and marketing activities are just some of the day-to-day tasks which could benefit from automation. Zapier is so flexible and connects over 6,000 apps which are used in businesses every day, so the chances are there are many of the systems in your own business included. Automation will help you compete in a global marketplace and will help achieve an improvement in overall corporate performance.

6. Better culture

Investing in any training has the benefit of improving your overall business culture. Having an ongoing learning program improves overall employee performance and job satisfaction as well as making staff more competent and confident.

Continuous training increases loyalty too as people can see that you’re investing in them, and also improves agility. Having a multiskilled, agile team will create a more flexible workforce.

7. Improve communication

Investing in your employees learning automation improves communication, both internal and external. Tools like Zapier integrate with many email, messaging, and other communication platforms that it is simple to automate notifications to anybody.

Internal apps such as Slack can be used to notify members of staff when key business milestones have been reached, when sales are made when a customer has contacted you – almost anything you can think of. If employees are aware of the power of Zapier then they will think of new ways of keeping everyone in the loop. External marketing activities can be automated, you can create a sales cadence for new business prospects, you can thank customers for paying invoices, and manage calendars and appointment setting.

If you are ready to introduce automation to your employees and daily business processes but don’t know where to start or what technology is best, give us a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants. We’re happy to get you on the right track!

Source: Solvaa

Not sure when to automate a task? Start here.

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Chances are you’ve automated something without even realizing it.

Do you get an automatic email before calendar events start? That’s automation. Do you get a text alert when it’s almost time to renew a prescription or to remind you about an upcoming appointment? Automation again!

But if you aren’t used to building automated workflows on your own, it can be daunting to think about how you might use automation to save time for yourself, either for your personal life or your business processes. How do you decide what to automate? What can you do better by not doing it yourself? Where do you even start?

We asked Zapier superusers and employees about how they know when to automate a task. Here’s what they had to say:

What is task automation?

Before we tell you when you should automate a task, it might be helpful to explain exactly what we mean when we talk about task automation. Task automation (also called workflow automation) is the act of streamlining and automating a series of tasks within the apps you use.

Automation boils down to a simple command: WHEN and DO. “When this happens, do that.” With a task automation tool like Zapier, even the most complex automation can be broken down into this simple command.

For example, if you want to automate some of your lead management tasks, you might set up a Zap—Zapier’s automated workflows—that follows this command: When you get a new email from a lead, then notify my sales team via a text. That’s task automation!

It’s a task you have to do frequently or on a schedule

When you’re trying to decide which aspects of your work you should automate, a great first question to ask is: What tasks do you perform the most frequently?

Tasks that need to be done often or on a set schedule are perfect for automation because the benefits are immediate. You’ll spend less time every day on repetitive tasks, which can quickly become burdensome or annoying.

“If it’s something I have to do three times, the odds are that I’ll have to do it a fourth and a fifth,” says Kristie Wirth, who works at Zapier as a data scientist. “When I’m tempted to add something as a recurring task in my to-do app, I know it’s probably a good fit for automation. Even if it’s just an annual thing, I’ll still take a stab at automating it.”

Similarly, front-end engineer Caleb Peterson says that he tries to identify the parts of his daily work that are repetitive but also frustrating to do manually.

“I’ll look at automating a task when it’s a part of my daily workflow that’s repetitive or obnoxious,” he says. “A great example is digging the meeting link or location out of my Google Calendar. I’ve got a Zap that drops the location of Google Calendar events into Slack, so I can just grab it right there—instead of having to hunt for it for every meeting I have in a day.”

It involves moving information between apps

Let’s be honest: copy-and-pasting is time-consuming and dreadfully dull. So are other manual ways of moving data, like exporting CSV files from one app and then importing them into another. And if you have to repeat the process multiple times over the course of a day or week, it quickly becomes unmanageable.

“When I’m deciding whether a task is a good fit for automation, I ask: Does it use software/SaaS products from start to finish?” explains Bryan Golkhajeh, a Zapier expert with Workload.

Tasks that involve moving data between apps are perfect for automation. For example, you can create new leads in your CRM whenever someone fills out a form on your website or subscribes to an email marketing campaign.

It’s boring and doesn’t require higher-order thinking

Another key thing to consider is whether a task truly needs a distinctly human touch. Does it require creativity, problem-solving skills, or emotional intelligence? If so, you might not want to automate it. But if it’s a boring, simple task that doesn’t require complex thinking, it could be easily handled by an automation tool like Zapier.

Andrew Davison, a Zapier expert at Luhhu, suggests identifying the tasks that you wish you didn’t have to do.

“Simply put, I ask:

  • Is this a task I do more than once per month?

  • Does it involve the same steps every time?

  • Do I wish I could be doing anything but this?”

It takes you away from what you really want to be doing

And that, ultimately, is the answer for most people: They automate tasks that keep them away from what they wish they would be doing.

Sometimes, those tradeoffs are business-critical functions.

“I consider how much time a task is taking away from core business functions, such as sales or talking to customers,” Golkhajeh says. “If the answer is more than 15 to 20 minutes a day, and it’s a rules-based process that uses software from start to finish, I’m already thinking of automating the heck out of it.”

He explains that, for him, automation isn’t just about saving a few minutes here and there. It’s about how that time adds up over the long term.

“All those little time blocks add up over the course of a year,” he says. “Just do that math: 15 minutes saved per workday, over 252 average workdays in a year, equals about 3,000 minutes saved. That’s more than 60 hours.”

If you are ready to start adding automation to your daily business processes but don’t know where to start or what technology is best, give us a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants. We’re happy to get you on the right track!

Source: Zapier

7 ways to automate spreadsheets

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Spreadsheets are way more versatile than we like to think they are. They can be used to store data, of course, but also used as to-do lists, a browser homepage, and even for games. They’re also a great way to more efficiently analyze data or share information across teams, especially if not everyone has access to the same apps.

Spreadsheets can be central hubs of information connecting your business-critical apps. But manually moving information from app to spreadsheet to app doesn’t allow you to scale your processes and increase the impact of your team and company’s work.

With Zaps—our word for Zapier’s automated, no-code workflows—your spreadsheets can do a lot more than help you keep track of data. They can update themselves, send information to your team or customers, and help you scale your workflows.

Add leads to a spreadsheet

While you likely use a CRM to collect lead information, not everyone in your department or your company may have access to the apps you use every day—seats may be limited, too expensive to share widely, or include sensitive customer data you don’t want to share with everyone.

Large amounts of lead data can also be difficult to parse in a CRM, especially if you’re collecting info from multiple sources. You might also send lead data to other tools for more in-depth analysis. Spreadsheets can make it easier to analyze and share data across teams, helping you improve the performance of your lead campaigns.

Create tasks from your spreadsheet

Whether it’s keeping yourself on track or organizing your team for the week, to-do lists are an essential part of getting things done. Using these Zaps, you can take advantage of the organizational power of spreadsheets, and turn rows into tasks in apps like Trello, Asana, and Notion. Easily create cross-functional tasks for team members across your company or keep your day organized without the extra effort.

Keep your spreadsheets in sync

Do you love Google Sheets, but Marsha in Accounting insists on using Excel? End the spreadsheet debate once and for all by linking everything together with these Zaps.

You can also use Zapier to send information from one sheet to another, if you keep one sheet for personal or team use and then need to send specific information to a shared sheet for wider use.

Add form responses to a spreadsheet

When you’re collecting customer feedback, selling a product, or just trying to get everyone’s lunch orders, using a form is a great way to make sure everyone gives you the information you need. But collecting information is usually just the first step.

By connecting your form app to a spreadsheet, you can automatically create a backup of your form responses so your important data is never lost, easily share your form data with other teams or apps, and more. Use the following Zaps to send form responses to a spreadsheet automatically, so it can be sorted, organized, and acted on efficiently.

Get notifications from your spreadsheets

One major benefit to collaborative office platforms like OneDrive or Google Suite is that you can collaborate on spreadsheets and documents with your team. If you need to know when changes happen or if it’s important to share updates with others at—or outside—your company, adding custom notifications with Zapier helps you keep an eye on what’s happening without sitting in the file all day.

You might also have one team collect data and others act on it. Sending instant notifications for new or updated info will ensure you’re acting on the latest data—which can often mean the difference between a sale or a churned customer.

These Zaps keep you posted on new and updated rows, so you’re never out of the loop.

Create calendar events from a spreadsheet

If you’re putting on a big event or scheduling shifts for your team, looking at everything in a calendar can get confusing pretty quickly. And if you’re manually adding events one by one, scaling your efforts will be next to impossible.

Using these Zaps, you can add each event’s information to a nice clean spreadsheet, and let Zapier fill out the calendar for you. More easily scale your work by adding events in bulk without the manual effort so you can focus on more important tasks—like planning your event or appointments.

Use webhooks with your spreadsheets

Zapier connects with thousands of apps, but depending on which app or workflow you need to achieve your goals, there might not be a Zapier integration that does exactly what you need. That’s where webhooks come in.

Webhooks allow you to collect data from or push data to an app. With these Zaps, you can use webhooks to send information to or from your spreadsheets.

Easy spreadsheet automation

Spreadsheets are powerful tools that help you organize and analyze information. Add automation to make it easier to collect the data that matters for your business and keep you and your team informed about changes.

Give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants and learn how to Zapier can bring automation to your spreadsheets.

Source: Zapier

How to automate ChatGPT

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Add the power of ChatGPT to your Zapier workflows.

ChatGPT is many things. A conversationalist. A writing assistant. A summarizer. Even a translator. And while you can use it to do all of these things inside ChatGPT’s interface, Zapier’s ChatGPT integration lets you pull the power of AI into your workflows.

For example, want ChatGPT to automatically read your incoming emails—then write a draft response in Gmail? Or perhaps you want to build your own ChatGPT bot inside a workspace like Slack, so your whole team can ask questions and get responses without context-switching.

Whatever your use case, we’ll show you different ways to pull in the power of ChatGPT into your automated workflows—what we call Zaps.

What’s the difference between Zapier’s ChatGPT and OpenAI integrations?

There are a ton of different ways to use our ChatGPT integration, and some of them are quite similar to our OpenAI integration. But there are a couple of differences to keep in mind.

What’s pretty neat about that is the ChatGPT integration can remember conversations, so in certain instances you can build workflows with a memory. Say, for example, you’re building a Zap that has ChatGPT answer questions that are posted in a specific Slack Channel. You can set up the rules or basic knowledge (whatever company info or guidelines you want ChatGPT to abide by) within the Zap’s instructions field. Then, you just add a word to the memory key field (like RULES-THREAD_ID).

Now, every time the user asks a follow-up question in the same Slack Thread, ChatGPT will remember the user’s previous conversation history. If you build other Zaps with ChatGPT and want them to have the same context, all you need to do is add RULES-THREAD_ID into your memory key field and ChatGPT will remember those specific instructions for your new Zap.

For any workflow you set up with the ChatGPT integration, you can provide it with more tailored training instructions and incorporate important company information like FAQs, writing guidelines, or other rules you want ChatGPT to incorporate into its answers. It’s a pretty handy way to instruct ChatGPT to have better conversations versus just one-time prompts.

On the other hand, the OpenAI integration (which uses GPT-3) enables you to generate text but does not have built-in conversation memory. You might use the OpenAI integration to summarize meeting notes, create email and Slack responses, or draft up articles.

It also has multiple actions (in contrast to ChatGPT), which are broader and incorporate more of OpenAI’s features like DALL.E or Whisper. That means you can send prompts to generate text, create images with DALL.E, create transcriptions with Whisper, and more within your workflows.

To help you decide which integration is right for you, we’ve outlined 6 ways to use the ChatGPT integration. Let’s dive in:

Build a chat experience in other apps

Like we mentioned, one of the best things about Zapier’s ChatGPT integration is its ability to have conversations. This is particularly relevant to bringing the ChatGPT experience into shared workspaces like Slack.

You and your team can ask ChatGPT questions and get responses directly inside a specific channel in Slack—so your employees don’t have to log in to ChatGPT individually.

For example, say you’re asking your ChatGPT Slackbot to help you come up with something together, like a prompt. You might ask it to come up with a prompt for error messages and give it the requirements for understanding an error (like possible root causes, details, etc.).

Once ChatGPT provides a prompt that fits your requirements, you might want to see how this all comes together. So you give it a specific error and ask ChatGPT to provide that information back in the same format it just came up with. Its ability to remember the prompt it gave you previously helps you break out your conversation step by step versus just a one-time command.

Generate and share content

As a writing tool, ChatGPT is a pretty decent time-saver when it comes to generating first drafts. But with the ChatGPT integration, you can take that a step further by incorporating the creation of blog outlines, emails, and articles into your automated workflows.

Or, if you need to draft customer stories based on submitted interview questions (or other key information), you can pull in the customer details from an app like Airtable or Google Forms, get the AI to write the content, then add the text to a Google Doc.

Summarize business information

You can also use AI to generate summaries of important information that is fed into your company. Because who has the time to process it all?

For example, you could generate summaries of every new job applicant that applies through your company’s recruitment page (replete with each applicant’s qualifications) to save your HR team time. Or, you could do the same thing for prospects stored in your sales CRM.

Alternatively, you can even extract key information from short PDFs, articles, and other business information.

Streamline customer communication

By integrating ChatGPT into your chatbot and form workflows, you can generate dynamic responses to incoming messages from leads and customers and store them for future reference.

For example, say a prospect fills out a question form. You can use AI to generate a response based on company information you’ve given it inside your prompt. Or, if a customer reaches out to you through your chatbot, you can use AI to generate a response and send it immediately to a Slack channel or email the customer with a broader and more helpful response.

By creating personalized chat experiences, you can enhance user experiences, improve customer support, and ultimately get valuable insights into your business.

Build product features and websites

Whether you collect feature requests in a tool like Jira or use Zendesk to process support tickets, AI can help you do the heavy lifting when it comes to adding context. For example, you can use these Zaps to add acceptance criteria to your tickets, product requirements, or even snippets of code you might need to carry out these requests.

Or, maybe you routinely create websites or landing pages. Even if you’re using a no- or low-code website builder, ChatGPT can help you by giving you those code snippets to add in custom elements like CTA buttons or embedded content.

Manage projects and tasks

We’ve all been there: Someone asks you to do something in Slack or via email, but you forget to add it to your project management tool.

While automation can send these requests straight to an app, AI can do things like provide more context on the request, add titles and descriptions, and format each request in an easily digestible way, so your to-do list never slips through the cracks.

Alternatively, you can flip this workflow on its head so that whenever someone adds a project to your task management tool, AI can write a digestible summary and bullet points of to-dos for each person, then send it to your entire team in Slack.

Get event reminders and prioritize your workload

Keeping track of important events throughout the day while your to-dos pile up is no joke. Whether you’d like it to help you prioritize your workload based on your to-do lists or projects outlined in your project management tool, ChatGPT is excellent at breaking down your day into manageable chunks.

You can even build workflows that will pull information from Google Calendar events and create a reminder of what you need to do (or read) before the meeting happens.

Make ChatGPT work for you

Whatever you’re already using ChatGPT for, you can harness its power and deliver more value to your business with the ChatGPT integration.

Whether you want to build ChatGPT Slack bots to introduce the value of AI to your team or you just want ChatGPT to take care of the tedious parts of content creation, this integration is key to maximizing your productivity and efficiency.

And remember: Zapier supports thousands of apps, so you can automate almost any task at work.

Give Epic IT Automations a call at 608-496-8660 to talk with one of our experienced consultants and learn how we bring ChatGPT to your Zapier workflows.

Source: Zapier

Build Custom Notification Bots For New Leads

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Hooray! Leads are flooding in from your website form, chatbox, and a new ad campaign. *Cue the dance music.* Take a moment to celebrate because having multiple lead channels is critical for business growth. But if those leads end up in different places, it can make it nearly impossible to nurture those potential customers effectively.

To make the most of new leads, your team needs to know when a new lead enters your lead funnel—so you can reach out and send them to the right place immediately. Instead of checking multiple inboxes, downloading spreadsheets, or manually alerting team members when new leads are ready. Epic IT Automations can help create custom notification bots, so your whole company gets info where they want it and when they need it.

Custom Notification Bots

  • Get notifications for new form responses.

  • Get notifications for new email leads.

  • Get notifications for new leads in your CRM.

  • Customize your notification bot.

Get Notifications For New Form Responses

Forms are the bread and butter of collecting new leads. And it’s essential to know when a new lead fills out your forms so you can respond and cultivate them immediately. But manually checking for new form submissions can slow down your response time. Instead, set up customized notifications that get sent to the right place at the right time.

Send notifications in your team chat app—where everyone hangs out anyway—so the right team member can take the necessary next steps. Or use SMS to send yourself (or the right team member) an automated SMS message with every detail you need. If you use your email as a to-do list, you can also set up an automatic email for every new form submission. Whatever tool you use, send notifications where you and your team will actually see them.

Get Notifications For New Email Leads

A busy inbox is a sign that business is booming! But it can also be overwhelming and messy—especially when a new lead emails you out of the blue. To stay on top of it all, send notifications about new email leads to where you’ll see them right away, like your team chat app or your phone.

Automatically forward lead emails to a specific channel in your team chat app. That way, the information you need is in the communication tool you use most often. Or set up to get an SMS alert for only the most important emails, filtering out the emails that aren’t urgent.

Get Notifications For New Leads In Your CRM

A new lead just entered your CRM. But that’s just one step (of many) in turning that lead into a customer.

Streamline your lead lifecycle by automatically notifying yourself or your team about a new lead added to your CRM. Use your team chat app if you want transparency across your team, your email if you spend time in your inbox anyway, and an SMS message if you want to give a lead a call instantly. This will make sure all new leads get the proper outreach right away.

Customize Your Notification Bot

Want to get a notification for a new lead sent to your chat app, email, and phone? You can! Epic IT Automations can help create a multi-step process that sends a customized message to multiple communication channels at one time.

Here are a few other ways you can take your notification bot to the next level:

  • Use a path step to send the notification to different places based on your lead data.

  • Add an item to your task management tool at the same time you send the notification.

  • Use a format step so your notification shows the info correctly, like splitting up the first and last name.

The Right Notifications Mean Easier Lead Outreach

Efficient communication is key to making sure your new leads are nurtured and turn into customers. Automation gives you the ability to control how you get notified—allowing you to make the most of every new lead as quickly as possible.

Ready To Create New Leads?

Turn to us at Epic IT Automations to assist in generating new leads and improving workplace process efficiencies. Our team works to provide the perfect strategy tailored to your goals through the use of technology solutions. Talk with any of our knowledgeable advisors to learn more on how we can assist with producing and implementing the right strategy fit to your business and goals. Give us a call at 608-496-8660 or schedule your consultation.

Source: Zapier

Automation Isn’t Just For The Shop Floor

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Picture an autonomous mobile robot (AMR) moving through a factory. Quietly and efficiently, it moves materials, components, subassemblies, and finished products between warehouse, production lines, packaging, and shipping. There’s no human involvement, no accidents, and no mistakes; the movement just happens in a dependable and predictable manner.

Why can’t administrative processes happen the same way? Well, the simple answer is that they can. For a long time, manufacturers have focused on automating what happens on the shop floor. They’ve sought to eliminate manual labor, and this effort has yielded immense benefits. Now it’s time to apply the same thinking to office workflows.

Manufacturing Productivity And Efficiency

Recent years have seen many factories become highly automated. Not only do the machines themselves run without human involvement, but so too do the handling systems. These deliver products, load and unload, and take processed material or items to the next step in the process.

In high-volume manufacturing – consumer goods and automotive production spring to mind – conveyors of various types have provided the movement. Robots take the strain when parts need loading and unloading from machines, saving people from the heavy lifting. Today manufacturers are starting to deploy AMRs that move material, components, and even tools to where they are needed.

Factory automation is known for removing people from dull, dirty, and dangerous work, but there’s another, often overlooked, benefit: automation increases consistency. When a task is automated, it’s performed exactly the same way every time. That’s something human workers can’t manage, no matter how hard they try.

An inspection provides a good example. Tired and distracted human inspectors miss defects that should be caught before they reach the customer. At the same time, as humans are inherently subjective, a good product is sometimes scrapped unnecessarily. By being repeatable and consistent, automated inspection solves these problems.

Human variability is a problem when processes are supposed to be standardized. It leads to omissions and errors, and tasks can take longer than they should. That disrupts downstream operations and hits productivity and efficiency. Conversely, once automated, they are repeatable, consistent, and reliable.

Key Elements Of Factory Automation

Industrial manufacturing is currently going through a fourth revolution. The history looks like this:

  • Steam power takes over from human and animal energy sources – the First Industrial Revolution
  • The Second Industrial Revolution involved a switch to electricity, oil, and gas, accompanied by the development of the telephone and telegraph
  • Computers and PLCs brought about the Third Industrial Revolution and gave us the automation seen today in most factories.
  • Inexpensive sensors, coupled with internet communication, advanced analytics, and even AI, are bringing about a digital transformation, a Fourth Industrial Revolution sometimes referred to as “Industry 4.0.”

As we see it in factories today, automation is characterized primarily by PLCs and computers running programs that control motions and actions. Motors power slideways, spindles and conveyors, with encoders reporting speed and position. Solenoids open and close valves and gates in response to signals from the controllers while sensors report back so that processes can continue.

The digital transformation will reduce waste while increasing utilization measures like OEE and boosting efficiency. Breakdowns will go away as machines become able to report their condition to a maintenance system that schedules overhauls and repairs. Quality will rise as machines become able to adapt to changing conditions, environmental or material-related, and people will move from repetitive tasks to more creative, forward-thinking, problem-solving roles.

Office Workflows And Automation

Now and increasingly in the future, factory automation is essentially about moving data. The same is true of the processes used to run every business. In some cases, these are codified as procedures (usually when required for the Quality Management System (QMS)), and in others, there are informal or loosely defined ways of doing things.

Examples of well-defined work processes (in most organizations) include:

  • Paying bills
  • Documenting training
  • Calibrating measurement devices

Processes that are often poorly proceduralized, (or not at all) include:

  • Near-miss reporting
  • Supplier selection
  • Monitoring indirect material consumption

These, and the many others that exist, are characterized by paper forms, folders, spreadsheets, and the occasional template. For each, the workflow involves people creating or initiating documents, adding information, and passing them along to other people. In many cases – most types of requests, for example – need feedback from the originator that tells them what to do next. Many also need storage to provide an audit trail or a (somewhat) searchable history. In manufacturing terms, automation of office and administrative tasks is somewhere between the second and third revolutions.

What Is Workflow Automation?

For certification to a Quality Management Standard like ISO 9001, the way in which tasks are done is documented as a series of steps. This is the workflow. Most organizations used descriptive documentation, but flow charts work just as well. (Some will argue they are less ambiguous and therefore better.)

Workflow automation refers to using software that implements those flow charts. It doesn’t take away human involvement or decision-making but automates data movement. In a sense, it’s analogous to a factory conveyor or AMR: it moves the data from one step in a process to the next. Moreover, because it prevents shortcuts and non-standard ways of doing things, it could even be thought of as a poka-yoke for paperwork!

Taking the analogy further, in an automated workflow, the software notifies the “machine” that a new job or batch has arrived and is awaiting processing. This is like having sensors on a conveyor. We could even imagine monitoring the length of the queue and raising a flag if it becomes too long.

As is quality control, storage and analytics are integral to an automated workflow. Metrics are readily implemented. Errors and omissions are detected immediately they occur, or better still, prevented by poka-yoke type “mechanisms”.

Examples Of Workflows That Can Be Automated

Any sequence of tasks that needs performing regularly is a candidate. Examples can be seen in:

  • Document approval processes
  • Safety reporting
  • Raising purchase orders
  • Travel expense approval
  • Product lifecycle development

The Benefits Of Workflow Automation

Automating workflows in office and administrative processes yields very similar results to automating manufacturing processes. They include:

  • Higher quality – in an automated workflow process, the software can check for errors and notify those responsible immediately. Not passing incomplete or incorrect data through the system saves a lot of time and improves record accuracy. Workflow management also stops people from taking shortcuts and prevents promises of “following up with the paperwork later.”
  • Less manual work – completing the repetitive, predictable activities integral to so many office processes saves time, freeing up people for more productive work.
  • Faster processing – automation reduces the variable delays that clog bottlenecks and slow progress everywhere to a crawl.
  • Quicker new product development – documentation and approvals often cause delays while working on the next generation. By accelerating processing, automation helps get new products to market faster.
  • Lower costs – as with manufacturing automation, faster processing, higher accuracy, and less need for human input- lead to lower costs.

Process Automation In The Office

In manufacturing, using automation to cut costs, lead time, and improve quality has long been a way of life. It’s past time that the same thinking was applied to workflows in the office. Today it’s both feasible and practical to save time and money by automating many office processes.

Connect with Epic IT Automations today and learn how we can help you work more efficiently by automating repetitive, high-volume workflows. Call us at 608-496-8660 or schedule a consultation to get started.

What CFOs Need to Know About Workflow Automation

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Any CFO looking to maximize the effectiveness of their finance team needs to be open to workflow automation. Automation can open up a world of possibilities by shifting finance processes away from manual, spreadsheet-based methods. Nevertheless, implementing automation is not always a simple process. CFOs first need to understand some basics of workflow automation and how it would fit their situations.

Where does a CFO begin with introducing automation? What benefits can she expect? Are there any downsides to automation? And why should automation be implemented now? We explore these questions below.

Which Finance Functions are Ripe for Automation?

The automation-minded CFO first needs to decide how and where automation can best do its work. In other words, which finance functions would benefit the most from automation?

The answer lies in looking where manual processes are slowing down finance operations and creating bottlenecks. Many working in finance today already understand that paper-based documents, phone, and fax are outdated methods of workflow management. But they may not understand that even Excel spreadsheets and email while improving over paper and fax, are still overly cumbersome methods prone to errors and inefficiencies.

When considering where to start with automation, look first to finance functions that require a great deal of time manually entering data. Also, examine any processes where a lot of errors are made or an inordinate amount of time is spent checking for errors or correcting them. Finally, any workflow with an intricate request-and-approval process could be greatly streamlined with automation.

Accordingly, consider the intensive data entry of accounts payable and receivable. Think about how one error in a spreadsheet of vendor and contract approvals could carry over to other areas, compounding the mistake. Or think of a complicated request-and-approval process for capital expenditures (CapEx), where requests above a certain threshold need to be elevated to higher levels for approval — perhaps even to you as CFO. Automation can make a substantial difference in these and other areas of finance operations.

Workflow Automation Benefits

The CFO considering workflow automation must also weigh the costs and benefits of implementation. After all, this will require having your finance team become familiar with a new piece of software or platform. So what benefits can she expect from automation?

Increased Efficiency

Arguably the most obvious benefit of automated workflows in finance operations is greater efficiency. An automated platform can eliminate a great deal of manual data entry, which cuts down on the potential for human error. The system can make calculations and auto-populate fields. For a request-and-approval process, the automated workflow can automatically direct different types of requests to the correct approver. All these features increase speed and accuracy.

Better Transparency And Reporting

Other immediate benefits of automation are improvements in transparency and reporting. A customized dashboard can provide lightning-fast insights. If your invoice or CapEx approvals are hitting snags, you can identify the bottlenecks right away. And the automated system can provide accounting on a continuing basis, so you do not have to wait until the financial close to view insights from a report.

Free Up Your Finance Team For Higher Level Thinking

Various reports have shown that finance teams spend a large proportion of their time processing transactions. Much of this work tends to be a low-value activity that is inordinately time-consuming. By speeding up transaction processing, automation can free up your finance team to focus on more strategic and insightful work.

By allowing your finance team to focus on higher-level thinking, you are more than likely to improve team morale as well. Less manual effort and mistakes will bring peace of mind. The ability to focus on strategic efforts will likely increase job satisfaction among team members. The payoff here will be more motivated and decreased turnover.

Potential Challenges Of Implementing Automation

It is tempting to believe that automation will immediately bring on days of wine and roses with a new trouble-free finance department. But you must be prepared for some initial resistance to new technology and processes. It may be advisable to start small by automating only certain types of finance workflows, then build on that success over time by expanding automation to additional workflows.

Also, be aware that some amount of training will be required for the new automated system. Retraining may be necessary down the road. To minimize this training burden, seek out automation tools that are relatively intuitive and easy to learn.

What Are The Costs of Delaying Automation?

While automation might be a clear net positive for your finance team, any CFO has a lot of items on his plate competing for attention. It might appear easier to simply delay introducing automation into your finance workflows. If so, you should be aware of the costs of the delay.

Ongoing Inefficiencies

Without automation in place, all the inefficiencies and bottlenecks of your current manual workflows will remain. If your company is growing, these problems will tend to get worse over the long run. The current snags in the process could result in missed deadlines, additional mistakes, and possibly even hits to your bottom line.

Increased Risk

Since manual routines and spreadsheets are error-prone, any finance team using them will be subject to increased risk. Manual processes make it more difficult to follow internal controls, which are put in place for the precise reason of decreasing risk. Furthermore, manual processes make it more difficult to trust financial reporting.

Failing To Keep Up With Competition

The simple fact is that automation is becoming ever more prevalent for finance departments everywhere. If you are not implementing automation for your company’s finance functions, you can be assured many of your competitors are. Not only will these competitors reap the benefits of automation, they are more likely to attract top talent for their finance teams — possibly from your team.

Interested In Workflow Automation?

Connect with Epic IT Automations today and learn how automation fits into your organization and the possible benefits. Call us at 608-496-8660 or schedule a consultation!

Source: Integrify

5 Ways to Automate Microsoft Excel

Posted on by Epic IT Automations

Microsoft Excel is used by millions of users worldwide. And for good reason. Excel is a powerful spreadsheet database that does a lot more than just help you store data. From financial analysis to customer information, Excel can be an essential tool for any business managing cross-functional departments.

But if Excel is a big part of your day-to-day, you may be looking to streamline certain processes involved, particularly when it comes to internal data management and team updates. By pairing Excel with Zapier, you can create powerful workflows—called Zaps—to automatically log form submissions, send team updates, sync databases, and create projects.

Log Forms and Survey Submissions

Whether you’ve just asked your customers to rate your business or you’re collecting responses from team members to host an event, forms apps—like Jotform and Typeform—are undeniably handy.

But if you’re using Excel to store and analyze those responses, you’ve probably experienced the dread that comes with transferring data between your two apps. You don’t want to export hundreds of responses or waste time manually copying and pasting them into Excel. You have better things to do. (Who could blame you?)

Save time by using Zapier to automate this entire process. Your responses will get added straight to your Excel sheet from your forms app any time a new one is submitted.

Send Notifications for Important Updates

The hard part is done: You’ve added vital customer information to an Excel sheet, and it’s ready for sales. Maybe a customer has changed their email address, and you need to update your email list. Or perhaps you’ve logged important company information that you need to hand over to your stakeholders.

The question is: How do you keep everybody in the loop whenever there’s a new update or a new row? You can’t be expected to check Excel 10 times a day, then send your team an email or Slack notification every time something changes. It would take over your life.

Fortunately, you can use Zapier to set up automated alerts whenever new rows are added or updated in Excel. You can choose how to present each message so everybody receives the details they need to know at a glance—without logging in and out of Excel constantly.

Update Data Across Multiple Spreadsheets

Do you store data across multiple spreadsheets? You’re not the only one. Having multiple databases across different teams is pretty common, but it can make it difficult to keep information up to date, particularly when someone updates or edits a row.

This is exactly how mistakes and missed updates can happen, as manual updates take time, precision, and an eagle eye for detail. To keep your spreadsheet data consistent across all sources, you can automatically update your data across spreadsheets whenever a change happens, no matter how small.

Create Tasks and Projects

Do you use Excel to plan out projects and workflows? It’s also very likely that your team uses a project management app to track and manage tasks once you kick off work. But you don’t have to refer back to Excel every time you set up a project manually—you can get Zapier to do the heavy lifting for you.

This means that whenever you add a new row to your Excel spreadsheet, Zapier will automatically create a task or project for you in your project management app with that specific information. This lets you and your team tackle every new item that comes in straight away.

You can forget the tedious admin that goes with setting up projects, ensuring no task slips through the cracks. Instead, you and your team can get straight to the bulk of your work.

Use Webhooks to Connect Excel to Almost Any App

Have data in one app that you need to send to Excel, but Zapier doesn’t support the app? Don’t panic because you can use webhooks to achieve the impossible.

In simple terms, webhooks let your apps speak with each other—sending detailed information back and forth whenever new items occur in the first app.

This Zap, for example, will catch payloads inside your app, which Zapier’s webhooks will catch. Zapier then automatically enters that data into a new Excel spreadsheet row for you.

Do more in less time

No matter how you use Excel, pairing it with Zapier ultimately helps you save time and focus on your most important work.

But using automation to log form submissions, send team notifications, update multiple spreadsheets, and create projects can streamline your IT processes, serving you with better ways to move your work forward at growth speed.

And this is only the beginning: You can easily develop tailored solutions to how you and your team get work done with Excel.

Ready to increase your workflow with the use of Zapier? Give  a call at 608-496-8660 or schedule a consultation to learn more.

Source: Zapier

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