An evidence based analytical approach for process automation: Case study in finance and administration process delivery services

Abstract

Process Automation is a critical activity to reduce the need for human work in the production of goods and services to make the processes for uniform and efficient. It is always challenging to make informed decisions on areas for automation which addresses time-to-value to the business. In this paper, we present an evidence based analytics approach to identify top opportunities for process automation, and provide objective assessment of benefit to enable process leaders to take informed decisions. This approach is composed of three major steps. The first step is to identify the top hitters of human intensity in the delivery processes through analyzing evidence gathered from activity time-motion monitoring and onsite process deep dive. The second step is to prioritize the opportunities for automation by analyzing technology choices and estimated business impact. The final step is to assess the benefit through deep analysis on the additional evidence gathered on time-motion data on operational procedures through sampling and extrapolation, and degree of automation can be achieved through technology components. A case study in Finance and Administration Process Delivery Services is used to illustrate the core idea of our analytical approach. © 2011 IEEE.