29 Aug Hyperautomation benefits
By 2024, hyperautomation and optimised processes will have enabled organisations to lower operational costs by 30%. The print industry is just one of many that will benefit greatly from hyperautomation. But what exactly does hyperautomation mean, and what elevates it beyond automation? Furthermore, how might hyperautomation be of use to your organisation?
Hyperautomation is a combination of approaches, processes, and techniques that uses advanced technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotic process automation (RPA). These technologies identify and automate manual work to increase efficiency and improve operational agility. It involves connecting as many processes within an organisation as you can using end-to-end automation. Similar to digital transformation, it’s about supporting the effective use of data through end-to-end workflows and making sure that any human touches are mitigated to ensure maximum efficiency.
Think of each of your processes as a ‘muscle’ in the body of your organisation. You can improve and hone each process (or ‘muscle’) independently. But hyperautomation is the connective tissue that enables the entire network to operate as one, smooth, functionally-optimised unit. This is especially pertinent, considering we’ve identified a huge gap in attitude versus adoption when it comes to automation.
What is the difference between automation and hyperautomation?
Automation can be applied to processes independently, whereas hyperautomation connects and optimises all those processes into one end-to-end solution and keeps the data ‘alive’. For example, let’s say that you print a document to physically mark it up, or stamp it. The moment you do so, you ‘lose’ the data; it has left one digital workflow and entered another, physical workflow. This means the data is no longer ‘alive’ or up to date, and increases the risk of delays, inefficiencies, or human error. Reintroducing this data to the original digital workflow will likely involve using a manual process, such as scanning it back into your online system. Hyperautomation bypasses situations like this via connected solutions, automatically reintroducing data. The more effectively this can happen, and the less data is lost, and the more your organisation can benefit.
What are the business benefits of hyperautomation?
There are many business benefits to hyperautomation and keeping your data alive. For example, a huge factor to consider is visibility and data insight. Hyperautomation creates accountability and a time-stamped custody chain. This enhances compliance and gives you a real-time window into company-wide performance.
Another benefit to consider is what we call data ‘normalisation’, or integrity. This refers to data that is recorded and lives in standardised formats. For example, on different documents, dates may be recorded in different ways; historically, this meant that the workflows in which the documents lived could not ‘speak’ to one another. Hyperautomation fixes this by ‘normalising’ (standardising) and filling in gaps between processes.
Hyperautomation benefits for managers
With hyperautomation, managers have the ability to assign tasks with a standardised approach and format, enabling them to simplify complex work, remove or reduce deficiencies, and improve engagement with customers and employees. Organisations can also integrate applications and bypass disconnected legacy systems, make faster and more informed decisions, and redeploy resources to higher-value work.
On an organisation-wide scale, this helps to close skills gaps, increase innovative thinking, and breakdown internal silos.
What are the customer benefits of hyperautomation?
The benefits of hyperautomation are passed on to your customers. By taking the steps detailed above, you can provide quicker, more efficient service, at a lower cost. This will enhance trust in your organisation, thanks to the security and continuity your business can provide.
Is hyperautomation difficult to achieve?
You might be wondering: will it be costly, time-consuming, or disruptive to introduce hyperautomation into my business?
By partnering with a digital services expert with specialist integration knowledge, you can assess areas for automation, connection, outsourcing, and improvement. You can start today by completing our Digital Services Maturity Indicator, which takes just five minutes of your time. After answering a short series of questions, you’ll immediately receive a customised report with actionable, digital solutions you can begin to implement. Or, if you’d like to learn more about automation and business process management, why not read our handy guide? We understand that print service providers in particular are currently undergoing a lot of acquisition and organisation change, so often inherit lots of disparate applications. The first step to connection is to start where it’s logical — and let us handle the rest.
There is great potential for hyperautomation in the print industry. Those that take the first steps now will create a platform for significant future success.
