What is workflow automation?

Workflow automation is software that runs a sequence of business steps automatically. A trigger starts the workflow, conditions decide its path, and actions complete the tasks and record each step.

What are examples of workflow automation?

Common examples include invoice approval, insurance claims intake, loan onboarding, engineering change approvals, and employee onboarding. Each starts with a document and ends with data in a business system.

What is the difference between workflow automation and RPA?

Workflow automation manages an entire process: its steps, rules, people, and documents. Robotic process automation (RPA) mimics clicks and keystrokes in a user interface, so it suits individual tasks inside a workflow when a system has no API.

What is the difference between workflow automation and BPM?

Business process management (BPM) is the discipline of designing, running, and continuously improving business processes. Workflow automation is how BPM gets executed in software: it turns a process model into steps that run on their own, with triggers, rules, approvals, and a full audit trail.

Is input management the same as document capture?

No. Document capture digitizes documents and reads their content, for example by scanning paper and extracting data with OCR. Input management covers the whole intake process around it: collecting documents from every channel, classifying them, extracting and validating their data, and routing each one to the right workflow or file. Document capture is one step within input management.

What is AI workflow automation?

AI workflow automation adds artificial intelligence to a workflow, mainly to read and classify unstructured documents and extract their data. Rules then route the results through approvals and into business systems.

Which processes should you automate first?

Start with high-volume processes that follow clear rules and begin with a document, such as accounts payable, claims intake, or employee onboarding. These deliver measurable time savings quickly and build the case for further automation.

Does workflow automation software work with any ERP?

Enterprise workflow automation software connects to ERP systems through native connectors, REST, and database interfaces. Check that your shortlist supports your specific ERP and your other business systems before you buy.

Authorprofile

Bärbel Heuser-Roth

For many years now, Bärbel Heuser-Roth has been dealing with a wide variety of ECM topics, from information logistics, process management and compliance to the use cases of intelligent processes for automated information management. She has also spent her career researching and writing about the implementation of ECM projects at companies and organizations.

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Bärbel Heuser-Roth

All articles from Bärbel Heuser-Roth

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