Document Workflow

16th September 2019 | By Jan Cahill

UK businesses are gradually improving the way data comes into their organisation with departments transitioning towards digital documentation. Document Workflow - Automate your document processes using RPA

Finance teams are slowly moving away from paper to electronic invoices, HR Managers are transforming the way they engage with their employees through pdf or digital forms and legal contracts are now frequently being sent electronically with the help of e-signature tools in the hope to reach that paperless goal.

Although this is a great step forward, many companies tend to overlook the journey, or digital document workflow, that a particular record goes through before it is processed.

The lack of formalised document workflow processes within organisations can result in bad habits such as re-printing digital documents for approval purposes.  This can have implications on increased costs and time spent processing paperwork.

With 2020 not far around the corner, organisations should be considering modern technology such as robotic process automation, commonly known as RPA, to ensure consistency and increase processing speeds.

By identifying and eliminating bad workflow processing habits and utilising a low cost digital workforce to act as an extra pair of hands for skilled workers, your business could massively improve productivity and revenue very quickly. Let’s have a look at a few examples:-

Printing Digital Records For Approval –despite a record arriving in digital format, employees may still be inclined to print off a document or file. This could be due to the lack of internal workflow systems, either to review or send to a document approver. Companies may think they’re working digitally, but in actual fact continue to create paper and additional costs for printing, stationary, storage or even postage.

  • RPA technology can act as the glue between various legacy business systems allowing complete data integration, which would ordinarily be expensive to achieve with traditional programming.
  • Files are sent electronically to the correct member of staff within a specific department for digital authorisation, query or reject.
  • Records renamed and automatically uploaded into the workflow stream or appropriate business system.
  • Data continuously monitored throughout the day and night to spot any errors or issues in line with business rules.
  • Exceptions identified and automatically assigned for further investigation/processing.

Limited Visibility/Compliance – printing records or even emailing files internally between members of staff for approval means that there is limited visibility on the status of the record e.g. invoices, contracts or hr files. This can also cause customer and supplier dissatisfaction, slow down vital processes and prevent you from maintaining a secure audit trail.  Compliance is important, especially with regulations such as GDPR.

  • RPA can enable automatic notifications to be sent back to senders advising on the status of their files.
  • Provide live or scheduled reporting with status visibility for automatic chasing by the appropriate team.
  • Speed up processing times.
  • Allow skilled staff to concentrate on added value tasks.

Document Duplication – the lack of digital document workflow and visibility of records can result in duplication. This is often the case when key staff are on holiday, or off sick.  In their absence documents can be re-requested and processed, which can cause business issues.

  • RPA can monitor data for duplications based on your business rules.
  • Flag up issues for further investigation by your team.
  • Automatically send notifications for follow up by email.
  • Add notes to documents in relevant business systems.

Robocloud is part of Cleardata UK Ltd and provides RPA As A Service to companies throughout the UK. This allows RPA technology to be accessed via a monthly subscription with no upfront software investment, making it accessible to small, medium and large businesses.

If you’re interesed in improving digital document workflow, increasing productivity and saving business costs, contact our Robocloud team for further information. Call 0800 046 8086.