Your document approval processes with workflow automation
Streamline your document approval processes with workflow automation
A workflow is a succession of tasks where the documents, information, or any other data is involved and handled in a business process, which always requires at least two people. Those workflows are found in all your departments, whatever the industry of your company, and mostly concern approval processes on documents. Discover workflow automation with Open Bee.
Eradicate the biggest workflow challenges
Because your main goal is to reach top efficiency, you need to have quick replies and get validations on time. But approval workflows when they are done manually and rely on paper documents require a lot of effort and time. Thus, it generates significant extra running costs and unnecessary stress. Besides, with no visibility on the overall process and its progress, it becomes a real challenge to find the right person who will be able to give you the approval or do follow-ups on your requests.
Furthermore, with the new hybrid organization structures and co-workers working remotely, you need now more than ever to be able to run smoothly your workflows even when telecommuting. These new models make it then almost impossible to not convert your business processes to digital.
What does a manual supplier invoice approval workflow entail?
- Accountant prints off the supplier invoice to pay it.
- Before releasing the payment, the invoice needs to get approval from 3 different stakeholders. The project manager and department head need to approve the request based on specific criteria. The Financial director also needs to approve it by checking costs and if it does not exceed the dedicated budget.
- Project manager is on the same floor, so can approve it immediately. The request form is stamped and signed; one approval is completed.
- Next, the Department head and Financial Director are on the 6th floor. So, the accountant sends the request to the Department head first. Department head approves 3 days later.
- Accountant receives the form and now sends it by email to the Financial Director. However, he does not get a reply in a week. He then needs to manually do the follow-up to finally get the last approval.
- Payment is released late; the supplier is unsatisfied, and you pay extra costs for the delay.
The workflow management system is key
Therefore, to improve productivity within your company and build up better relationships with your professional contacts, your co-workers need to be able to efficiently work on content: which goes by giving quick access to information and simplifying day-to-day tasks.
A workflow management system is exactly the type of tool that can help you automate your approval processes. Most of the time, Document Management Systems offer this type of solution to get an all-in-one solution.
But what does it concretely mean to digitize workflows? Depending on different engines, you have many possibilities to handle and automate all aspects of your approval processes:
- Select the right persons that you need approval from,
- Set automatic notifications and follow-ups to those persons,
- Create specific rules according to the type of document,
- Keep track of actions all along the process for auditing,
- Centralize process information
- And more…
You should also read:
Make document management security a top priority
Every department and co-worker benefit from workflow automation
Thanks to electronic workflows, you automate your processes quickly and simply, at a small cost. You are finally able to drastically reduce the use of paper, nay turn to a 100% paperless office! In addition, you free up staff from time spent on filing, sourcing, and communicating information so they can wisely dedicate it to more added-value missions.
For managers and workflow supervisors, strong workflow management is also a great asset. They can have enhanced visibility on business processes, to see what is happening at each step of the workflow and be more agile.
Want to know what kind of document management processes can be automated with digital workflows? Discover them in our Datasheet right below!
Do you want to know more about the workflow?
Start today, with Open Bee, to build the digital office of the future – mobile, agile, and secure.