“Work smarter” – Business Process Automation for optimizing processes and increasing operational efficiency (Part 1)
This article is the first in a series of two articles on business process automation (BPA). It provides basic knowledge about the development of BPA, introduces key technologies, and explains the different types of automation. The aim is to give readers a structured basic understanding of the topic and thus create a solid foundation for dealing with modern process automation.
The evolution of business process automation
Over the decades, the automation of business processes has become established and developed in the field of business process management, especially in the 1980s when office automation and workflow systems became increasingly common (Eder and Köpke 2018). Business process reengineering was another milestone, which involves radically redesigning processes to achieve a noticeable increase in performance, quality, and speed (Weske 2019). The aim was not simply to replace manual tasks with IT systems, but above all to achieve measurable efficiency gains, for example by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks. This enables employees to focus their capacities on more creative and strategic activities.
Stages of automation
The application of BPA has evolved over the years and can be divided into different stages, suiting the circumstances of the processes (e.g., the degree of standardization) and the needs of the process participants. According to Rosemann et al. (2024), the development can be divided and described as follows (see Figure 1):
Task Automation. The first and simplest stage involves the automation of simple, repetitive, and rule-based tasks. At this stage, automation solutions are designed to perform specific tasks independently in order to reduce manual effort and errors. An example of this would be the automated sending of payment reminders.
Workflow automation. The next stage refers to the automation of multiple tasks within a business process. This includes, for example, the coordinated transfer of documents, information, or tasks between the people involved in the process (Eder and Köpke 2018), e.g., in an approval process for investment requests. In this context, the automation solution controls the sequence of tasks according to predefined workflows (Aalst and Hee 2002), eliminating the need for human intervention to initiate subsequent tasks. This improves the coordination of tasks and the operational efficiency of a process.
User automation. The third stage, known as user automation, emerged with robotic process automation (RPA) (Rosemann et al. 2024). This involves the use of software bots that mimic human interactions with user interfaces (Syed et al. 2020) and follow defined business rules and workflows, limiting human control to exceptional cases (IEEE Standards Association 2017). A possible use case would be a loan application. Here, an RPA bot could automatically collect creditworthiness data from various internal and external sources (e.g., Schufa, CRM system, Excel files) and transfer it independently to the core banking system.
Process autonomization. Unlike the automation levels described above, process autonomization is not rule-based and predictable. At this stage, machines can make independent decisions by analyzing a variety of process-related data. This progress enables the development of adaptable processes in which systems can dynamically change the control. For example, they are able to identify relevant events based on new inputs during process execution, thereby increasing agility and flexibility in business processes (Rosemann et al. 2024). An example would be a credit decision process that not only analyzes standardized creditworthiness data, but also recognizes additional influencing factors such as current market trends or company news in real time and independently adjusts the review process based on this information.
Comprehensive technologies and types of automation
BPA is a broad concept that cannot be limited to a single technology. There are a variety of technologies that can be used individually or in combination to automate processes. Technologies such as RPA can be used to achieve the user automation described above, while other technologies, such as process mining, can be used to automate monitoring and compliance checks, for example. Inspired by Parasuraman (2000), the aspects to be automated can often be divided into data, analysis, decision, and action automation:
Data automation: Refers to the automation of data collection, storage, and management. This includes, for example, data pipelines that collect and convert transaction data until it is available in a structured form for further use.
Analysis automation: Enables the use of automated tools such as dashboards or predictive analytics to gain insights, monitor processes, and support decisions. It begins the moment the processed data is used for reporting and analysis purposes, for example to perform risk analyses or forecasting.
Decision automation: Refers to the automation of decision-making processes within a business process, e.g., through the granting of a loan. Systems can make decisions ranging from simple, rule-based specifications to more complex scenarios based on artificial intelligence.
Action automation: Automates human activities and workflows, such as contract creation. This is often done in combination with decision automation, whereby actions are triggered by complex decision-making logic, especially at higher levels.
The development of BPA shows that it has long been more than just a cost-cutting tool. It has become a strategic lever for balancing speed, scalability, and quality, provided that companies combine the right technologies and choose the appropriate level of automation for each process. The next article will introduce hyperautomation, a concept derived from BPA that aims to automate everything in a company that can be automated.
References
Aalst, W. M. van der and Hee, K. van. 2002. Workflow Management: Models, Methods, and Systems, The MIT Press.
Eder, J. and Köpke, J. 2018. “Workflow Management and Workflow Management System”, in Encyclopedia of Database Systems, ed. by L. Liu and M. T. Özsu, New York, NY: Springer New York, pp. 4709–4714.
IEEE Standards Association. 2017. “IEEE Guide for Terms and Concepts in Intelligent Process Automation”, in IEEE Std 2755-2017 (), pp. 1–16.
Parasuraman, R. 2000. “Designing automation for human use: empirical studies and quantitative models”, in Ergonomics (43:7), PMID: 10929828, pp. 931–951.
Rosemann, M., Brocke, J. v., Van Looy, A., and Santoro, F. 2024. “Business process management in the age of AI – three essential drifts”, in Information Systems and e-Business Management (22:3), pp. 415–429.
Syed, R., Suriadi, S., Adams, M., Bandara, W., Leemans, S. J., Ouyang, C., ter Hofstede, A. H., van de Weerd, I., Wynn, M. T., and Reijers, H. A. 2020. “Robotic Process Automation: Contemporary themes and challenges”, in Computers in Industry (115), pp. 1–15.
Weske, M. 2019. “Business Process Management Methodology”, in Business Process Management: Concepts, Languages, Architectures, Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Berlin Heidelberg, pp. 385–400.
