Process automation
Less manual work, more control over what happens
We map the process end to end and automate where time is genuinely recovered and errors genuinely drop: approvals, reconciliations, capture on the plant floor or on the route, document generation and exchange between systems. Built on Microsoft Power Platform and connected to the ERP and Microsoft 365 you already use.
When this service applies
- Repetitive tasks that eat up hours every week
- Copying data between systems, assembling the same report by hand every month, reviewing approvals one at a time and chasing sign-offs by email.
- Processes that live in email and in loose spreadsheets
- Nobody has full visibility of the process because it is scattered across inboxes and personal files. When somebody is out, the process stops.
- Slow approvals that hold up the operation
- A purchase, an advance payment or a credit note waits for days because the workflow depends on the right person opening the right email.
- Capture in the field or on the plant floor arrives late and with errors
- Inventory counts, maintenance, quality inspections or deliveries get written on paper and keyed in later, when they can no longer be corrected in time.
- There is no traceability to audit what happened
- There is no record of who approved what, when, and with what information in front of them. Every audit turns into a manual reconstruction.
Expected outcome
Processes that run on their own and leave a trail
The process stops depending on someone remembering to do it: it is triggered by an event, applies the same rules every time, notifies whoever needs to act and records every step. Your team moves from executing tasks to handling exceptions, data entry errors drop because validation happens at the moment of capture, and any audit is answered by looking at the history instead of reconstructing it.
Scope and deliverables
- Map of the current process with its real exceptions, timings and friction points, not the theoretical version in the manual.
- Design of the automated process: triggers, business rules, approval routes, notifications and exception handling.
- Applications built in Power Apps for capture in the field, on the plant floor or on the route, with validation, offline work and signature where required.
- Power Automate flows for approvals, document generation, notifications and synchronization between systems.
- Integrations with Business Central, Microsoft 365, SharePoint, Teams, Outlook, Dataverse and third-party systems as defined in the scope.
- Power BI dashboards with the metrics of the automated process: volume, cycle times, exceptions and compliance.
- Power Platform governance model: environments by stage, data loss prevention policies and administration roles.
- Process documentation, a role-based manual and a support procedure for your team.
Work stages
Discovery and prioritization
We map the candidate processes, estimate the manual work each one consumes and rank them by impact against effort. We start with a high-impact process of limited scope, not with the most complex one.
Designing the target process
We define how it should work: what triggers it, which rules it applies, who approves what, what happens to exceptions and where the data ends up. Automating a disorderly process only produces disorder faster.
Prototype and validation
We build a working version and test it with real users on real cases. The substantive changes happen here, while they are still cheap.
Build and integration
We develop the complete solution, connected to the systems you already use, with the validation, permissions and audit trail defined. Nothing replaces your ERP: the automation builds on it.
Pilot and rollout
We go live with a limited group, measure real behavior, correct and extend to the rest. We train by role and leave the reference material behind.
Measurement and scale-up
We compare the metrics against the baseline taken before automating and decide, with data in hand, whether to tune it, extend it to other areas or move on to the next process.
Responsibilities
Your company
- Appoint the process owner, with authority to decide rules, approval routes and exceptions.
- Give us access to the users who run the process today, for discovery and for testing.
- Define and approve the business rules, including amount thresholds and the exceptions allowed.
- Provide the access and the Power Platform and Microsoft 365 licenses required.
- Record the baseline of times and volumes before automating, so the result can be measured.
- Communicate the change internally and sustain use of the new process after rollout.
BETABOX
- Map the current process with its real exceptions and document it.
- Propose the design of the target process and flag when the process should be fixed before being automated.
- Build the agreed applications, flows, integrations and dashboards.
- Configure Power Platform governance: environments, data policies and permissions.
- Test the error scenarios and leave the alerting and reprocessing mechanism running.
- Train by role and deliver the documentation and the support procedure.
- Measure the process metrics against the baseline and present the result.
What is included
What is included
- Mapping of the current process and design of the target process.
- Build of the applications, flows and integrations defined in the scope.
- Metric dashboards for the automated process.
- Power Platform governance configuration for the environments included.
- User testing, a supported pilot and rollout.
- Role-based training and process documentation.
- Hands-on support during the agreed stabilization period.
What is not included
- Power Platform and Microsoft 365 licenses and Azure service consumption: purchased separately.
- Organizational redesign, structural changes or changes to internal approval policy.
- Mass digitization of paper records predating the project.
- Automation of processes that depend on third-party systems with no interface available, for as long as the third party does not enable one.
- Ongoing maintenance after handover, unless managed support is contracted.
- Mobile devices, barcode scanners, label printers and plant floor connectivity.
- Processes not included in the agreed scope, even if they come up during discovery.
Success criteria
- A reduction in the cycle time of the automated process, measured against the baseline recorded before the project.
- A reduction in the data entry errors detected in the process, compared with the equivalent prior period.
- The share of requests completed without manual intervention, sustained over time.
- Approvals are recorded with owner, date and the information in view, verifiable in the history.
- No part of the process in scope is still running by email or in parallel spreadsheets.
- Users run the process in the new tool without assistance once stabilization ends.
FAQ
Frequently asked questions
- Which processes can be automated?
- Any process with repeatable steps and rules that can be expressed: approvals for purchases, expenses and discounts; reconciliations; document generation and delivery; capture of inventory counts, maintenance and inspections; onboarding of employees or customers; and the exchange of information between systems. The clearer the rules and the exceptions, the better the result automation delivers.
- Do we have to change our current system?
- No. The automation is built on the systems you already use and connects them. If you run Business Central, the integration uses the standard product APIs; if you keep other systems, we evaluate the integration route available for each one. The goal is to eliminate the manual step that acts as a bridge today, not to replace your ERP.
- What licenses do we need?
- It depends on what gets built and on who uses it. A good share of the scenarios is covered by the capabilities included in Microsoft 365, and others require specific Power Apps, Power Automate or Power BI licenses. During design we tell you the minimum required and the alternatives, so you can decide with the cost in view. Licenses are purchased by your company.
- Who maintains the solution afterward?
- It can stay with your team or with us. We deliver documentation, a role-based manual and the support procedure, and we can train your people to administer and adjust the flows. If you prefer not to depend on internal technical profiles, maintenance is contracted as managed support, including validation of the solution against platform updates.
- Is it better to start with a small process?
- Yes. We recommend starting with a high-impact process of limited scope: it delivers measurable results early, it lets you validate the governance rules, and it generates the learning that makes the next automation cheaper. Trying to automate the whole operation at once usually ends in a long project with no visible results.
- How do you measure whether the automation worked?
- We define the metrics before we start and record the baseline: process cycle time, number of exceptions, data entry errors and the share of cases completed without manual intervention. When the pilot ends we compare against that baseline. If a process shows no improvement, it gets adjusted or the decision to automate it gets revisited.
- What about data security?
- The solution is built inside your own Microsoft 365 environment, with corporate identity through Microsoft Entra ID, role-based permissions and the data loss prevention policies you define. We configure separate environments for development, testing and production, so nobody works directly on real data while building.
How much time does your team spend on repetitive tasks?
Tell us which process is costing you more hours than it should. We map it with you, tell you what can be automated, what should be fixed first and what result you can expect.
Contact
Request a complimentary assessment
Tell us what your company needs and a BETABOX advisor will get in touch to schedule a call at your convenience. The initial assessment is 100% free of charge.
- +1 (754) 209-2071
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