Competitive Manufacturers Focus on Digitizing SOP and P2P Processes

A recent white paper published by AIIM and sponsored by Artsyl partner DocuWare
discusses the seven key business processes

A recent white paper published by AIIM and sponsored by Artsyl partner DocuWare discusses the seven key business processes that modern manufacturers are focused on digitizing and automating to achieve greater efficiency and control over their operations.

As suggested by AIIM, there is a high degree of manual and ad hoc processes used to manage unstructured information that surrounds key manufacturing processes—information that is commonly embedded in a variety of documents. Making things even more complex is the fact that the macro business processes in Manufacturing are actually clusters of multiple document intensive processes, managing a wide variety of often incompatible document types in each process.

Each process typically has its own information management needs and requirements, and often rests upon with a dedicated process platform (e.g., MRP/ERP Software, Product Lifecycle Management Software, Supply Chain Management Software, Manufacturing Execution Systems, and Production Scheduling and Control Systems).

AIIM explores seven processes typical of any manufacturing operation – 1) Product planning and design; 2) Procurement; 3) Production; 4) Sales and order processing; 5) Distribution and logistics; 6) Customer service and 7) Compliance to highlight how standardizing and automating the most common processes can impact a manufacturer’s bottom line through costs savings and drive top-line growth by making an organization more agile and competitive in a global marketplace.

From Artsyl’s perspective, two of those seven processes—procure-to-pay and sales order processing--represent “gateway” processes that are often the low-hanging fruit when it comes to process automation. Procurement and Sales Order Process Automation are both processes that are common to every organization; digitizing and automating document filing, approval routing and transaction data entry for either process typically results in a quick ROI and provides a framework for automation other processes.

How the Back Office Digital Revolution is Boosting Bottom-line and Top-line Growth

For most organizations, maintaining strong relationships with customers and suppliers and maximizing the efficiency of back-end operations like accounts payable remains an untapped source of innovation and competitive advantage.

In many cases, companies today already have the right systems in place to support the kinds of business models described AIIM. What’s often missing is the ‘connective tissue’ to turn existing enterprise resource systems (ERPs) and Enterprise Content Management Systems (ECMs) into the engines of a business revolution.

Smart Process Automation Platforms, like Artsyl’s docAlpha, integrate with existing back end business systems to transform the unstructured data in documents stored in ECM systems into structured data that can be stored and managed in ERP systems—automatically, with minimal human intervention.

For AP staff members, this translates into the elimination of routine tasks like invoice/order matching, manual approval routing and G/L coding, transaction data entry and document filing.

For executives, it means that data and documents are transformed into information instantly, resulting in greater visibility to critical business KPIs, including cash flow. For customers, this can translate into greater responsiveness and better service at a lower cost.

For explore how Smart Process Applications and Business Process Transformation can help automate and accelerate operations for your organization, contact your Artsyl Technologies representative.

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