In business processing, we use the terms upstream to describe “feed” processes for processes that are considered follow-on, or down-stream processes.
For example, sending invoices is downstream of shipping goods. Shipping is downstream of order picking and despatch processing. Order picking / despatch is downstream of order fulfilment and yes, you guessed it. Order fulfilment is downstream of order processing and so on….
By accelerating “feed” processes, we can accelerate downstream processes too. By processing purchase orders faster and more accurately, we can speed up downstream processes which enables the business to achieve their true objectives: to increase customer satisfaction and to get invoices out of the door.
So, how can we accelerate business processes?
- Automate as many manual elements of the process as possible
Processes like Sales Order processing or claims processing are great candidates for automation as these typically require significant inputs of human activity. Traditionally, sorting, reviewing, keying, and filing. These elements are excellent candidates for automation – document understanding, data extraction, data verification and exporting are well served by proven technologies. Review is the “interesting” one as there’s a school of thought that even in cases where 100% automation can be achieved, it’s sensible to include a human review. Automation rarely reaches 100% due to errors, omissions, and ambiguity. The originators of many documents and messages sometimes mess up their submissions or, provide what they believe is sufficient information. - Widen the scope of available input channels
If an organisation requires customers to place ordered via a web portal, you could be missing out on those customers who are geared-up to send machine-generated files (such as PDFs, XML or JSON). - Eradicate errors and re-work that “slip through” from downstream processes
Often, the reason for a stalled process is poor quality information or non-compliance. These cause additional steps that involve delays and frustration. Incorporating intensive data scrutiny and verification at earlier stage, means that downstream processes have greater chance of smooth running. - The right tools and mechanisms for the job
An extreme but all too common example is “cut and pasting” between applications. In contrast, a robust API based interface means that processes run faster and more reliably. - Knowledge Worker capacity
Where upstream or feed processes are over-reliant on human’s tacit knowledge, they become a bottleneck. This is allied to the automation point above – the proposition is that as automation solutions move upwards in terms of being able to handle more complex tasks and problems, the more workers become freed up to perform the tasks that are best suited to them – customer facing, decision making, process overview, and unpredictable, out-of-range tasks that may be out of scope for initial automation projects.
For more information or a discussion on how we can help free the log-jam of stalled upstream processes,
please get in touch!
