Process Automation - Process Evaluation -
Process Details¶
Creating a new process evaluation¶
A process that is to be automated is first given a name and an evaluation. The evaluation shows whether it is possible and effective to automate the process. For this purpose, different properties of the process are rated.
Evaluation of the process¶
In the evaluation, different properties of the process are rated on a scale from 1 to 5. The properties listed under Qualifiers determine the feasibility, the properties listed under Benefits determine the usefulness of automation. You can also specify the process costs.
Costs¶
The costs of a process can take account of both monetary and time costs.
The automation of a process can reduce costs.
Manual Process Execution Time¶
The Manual process execution time is the time that an employee requires to carry out the Process once. It is specified in hours, minutes and seconds in the format hh:mm:ss.
Time measurement using the REFA method
To enable these specifications to be compared, you should measure this time using the REFA method to determine a default time.
In the list of evaluated processes, the value Manual process execution time is multiplied by the value Frequency per month to give the value Effort/month.
Value transfer to the process datasheet
The Manual process execution time value is transferred automatically to the relevant field Manual process execution time when automation is started.
Costs per process run¶
In the Costs per process run field, you can enter the costs for one-time execution of the process in euros (€). The maximum amount is 999,999,999 €.
In the list of evaluated processes, the value Costs per process Run is multiplied by the value Effort/month to give the Costs/month(€) value.
Frequency per month¶
For Frequency per month, you enter how frequently the process is carried out within a one-month period. This field can only be filled if a value has already been entered in the Manual process execution time field. The Frequency per month is a whole number between 0 and 99999.
In the list of evaluated processes, the value Frequency per month is multiplied by the value Manual process execution time to give the Effort/month value.
Qualifiers¶
Qualifiers are properties of a process that are used to determine whether a process can be automated and how easily this can be done. A figure between 1.0 and 5.0 indicates the automation capacity. The higher the figure, the higher the automation capacity.
Nature of work¶
The better a process can be described using rules, the higher the automation capacity.
If the process is fully rule-based, move the controller fully to the right to Rule based. If the process requires a human decision in every case, move the controller fully to the left to Judgement based. In all other cases, select an appropriate intermediate position.
Part-automation of a process
If a process has both decision-based parts and rule-based parts, it can be partly automated. In this case, only the rule-based process parts are carried out by a robot. The robot begins its work as soon as the human has made his decision.
Input / Output¶
For automation of a process, all involved documents should be present in digital, structured form if possible.
If this is the case, move the controller fully to the right to Structured / digital. If the documents are unstructured and they cannot be structured and digitized, move the controller fully to the left to Unstructured / analogue. In all other cases, select an appropriate intermediate position.
Digitalization of documents
The X1 Design Studio offers tools for easier digitalization of documents.
Stability¶
You can only automate a process if it always runs predictably. We refer to such a process as stable.
If the process is stable, move the controller fully to the right to Stable / min. changes, otherwise fully to the left to Unstable / new release.
Data Type¶
Processes that are based on texts or numbers can be automated easier than processes that require understanding of images or spoken language.
If your process works exclusively with texts and numbers, move the controller fully to the right to Text / numbers. If you exclusively interpret images in the process, move the controller to “Image interpretation”. In all other cases, select an appropriate intermediate position.
Automatic interpretation of images or spoken language
You can use tools to interpret images or spoken language and convert them to digital data, and then automate the process.
Benefits¶
Benefits are properties of a process that you can use to determine how useful the automation of a process is for the company. A figure between 1.0 and 5.0 indicates the usefulness of the automation. The higher the figure, the higher the usefulness.
Output quality¶
The quality of the process result (Output) can be improved if automation helps to prevent errors. Fewer errors will lower process costs on the one hand, and increase the satisfaction of customers on the other. We refer to this property as Output quality. If the quality of the process is already very high and the process is not prone to errors, move the controller fully to the left to No issues. If you wish to urgently improve the quality of the process through automation, move the controller fully to the right to Urgent need for improvements. Otherwise, select an appropriate intermediate position.
Complexity¶
Here you specify how complex the process is. The complexity grows with the number of steps to be carried out, the number of decisions, and the number of systems, applications and data sources to be used. If it is a simple process, move the controller fully to the right to Simple. If it is a complex process, move the controller fully to the left to Complex. Otherwise, move it to an appropriate intermediate position.
Automation of complex processes
You can also automate complex processes. You should first weigh up the usefulness of automation against the effort involved in creation, documentation and testing. It may also be effective to split the process across multiple processes or to only automate a part of it.
Risks¶
Risks include all events and occurrences that can lead to additional costs or losses, such as breaking the law and associated penalties, fraud, loss of customers and sales, the costs of inefficiencies, poor decisions and corrective action, damaging the company’s reputation, illness and the loss of employees. If the process is high-risk in this regard, move the controller fully to the right to High. If the process is low-risk, move the controller fully to the left to Low. Otherwise, select an appropriate intermediate position.
Prioritization¶
The overall result of the evaluation of Qualifiers and Benefits is shown graphically in the heat map Project Prioritization. The greener the region in which the process is located, or the farther toward the top right it is displayed, the easier and more effective it is to automate the process.
Calculation of the Benefits value
To calculate the Benefits value, the three values of Output Quality, Complexity and Risks are used. The values Manual process execution time and Frequency per month are used to calculate the values Effort/month and Costs/month(€) and do not feed into the Benefits value. Therefore, they are not shown graphically.
Prioritization
Provided that a process can be automated after consideration of the Qualifiers, you should begin with simpler processes in order to support the learn curve and to produce quick results. You can tackle more complex processes if they are well documented and experienced designers are available.
The more frequently a process is carried out, the higher the costs and the more effective the automation. For this reason, you should not only consider the position of the process in the heat map Prioritization, but also the costs of the process to determine whether and how early it should be automated.
Saving the evaluation¶
Save the evaluation by clicking on the button Save on the lower right of the screen.
Then the Process List opens automatically in the Process Evaluation view.
Changes to the process evaluation
As long as the process has not yet been approved, or if it has been rejected following approval, you can edit the evaluation of the process. Remember to save your changes.
Clicking on the button Cancel saves the evaluation without the changes that you have made since last opening it.