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How Workflow Automation Can Improve Maintenance Efficiency

How Workflow Automation Can Improve Maintenance Efficiency
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Daily workflows within an organization can be tedious, leaving workers dissatisfied. A supporting statistic shows that almost 58% of workers are unhappy with their daily workflows. 

The main reasons behind their dissatisfaction originate from monotonous manual tasks, obsolete technologies, and limited chances for professional growth. Interestingly, another study discovered that most employees are open to the concept of workflow automation. 

They believe automated workflows make them “smarter, more efficient, and happier at work.” Without unnecessary and repetitive steps, employees can pay more attention to more engaging, challenging, and beneficial tasks. 

According to a McKinsey report, about 30% of the tasks across 60% of the global occupations can be automated. Another study revealed that up to a third of the tasks in 60% of jobs are susceptible to automation. 

A report from MarketWatch proved the demand for workflow automation. According to the report, the value of the workflow automation market on a global level is estimated to be $7 billion in 2021 and is projected to reach more than $16 billion by 2028.

These relevant statistics prove how beneficial workflow automation can be for organizations across various industries. Workflow automation can increase efficiency by reducing the need for human intervention; thereby, automating activities and processes within an organization. 

In this blog post, we will explore workflow automation in detail, covering its significance, benefits, examples, and how organizations can automate their workflows using CMMS software

What is workflow automation

“Workflow automation” refers to using software or web-based applications to perform a set of tasks and processes automatically, eliminating the need for human intervention. Through software, workflow automation helps identify, standardize, and automate routine tasks to enhance productivity within an organization. 

Businesses can save money and time by removing repetitive manual tasks through the adoption of workflow automation. This will result in streamlined operations and increased productivity as workers will have more time to focus on tasks that add value. Also, it plays a significant role in process orchestration. 

Workflow automation makes it easier for organizations to transition operations from manual to digital processes. 

Enterprise workflow automation 

Workflow management systems use rule-based logic to automate manual processes. Within the business workflows, pre-defined rules are set to trigger automated actions. This not only helps organizations improve productivity but also helps them save time and minimize human errors. 

Enterprises have complex business workflows and this is where automated workflows come in handy. Any repetitive task containing several steps can be automated. However, some workflows are easier to automate than others. 

For example, an organization can automate workflows for the most accessible places, starting from maintenance, human resources, and customer lead-generation departments. 

What is a maintenance workflow?

A maintenance workflow is defined as a step-by-step process, outlining how maintenance tasks should be completed. Usually, it starts with a certain trigger. Below, the illustration shows the steps of a standard maintenance workflow. 

maintenance workflow

Why do we need workflow automation 

Regardless of the size, organizations depend on processes to meet their objectives. Also known as standard operating procedures (SOPs), a workflow is a sequence of actions needed to complete a process. It ensures that employees perform the tasks as per the set standards. 

Sometimes, employees find themselves completing several tasks that are outside the main objectives. This includes collaborating with colleagues, documenting their work, and traveling both onsite and offsite. 

Organizations can use workflow automation to eliminate such “low-value” activities from their operations. Streamlined workflows can save time, reduce mistakes, and enhance quality control.  

Similarly, maintenance managers can benefit from workflow automation by streamlining work order management. They can use work order software to relieve themselves from time-consuming administrative tasks and pay more attention to their core responsibilities, i.e., fixing things.

Benefits of workflow automation

As discussed earlier, workflow automation can benefit maintenance departments and many sectors. Let’s examine some of the benefits of workflow automation. 

Enhanced productivity

Regardless of the size of your team, each team member can only contribute a limited number of hours to work. Excessive reliance on manual tasks reduces the number of hours that can be dedicated to productive maintenance tasks. 

By automating administrative workflows, you can enable your team to pay more attention to “high-level” tasks such as work order generation. This enhances team productivity, leading to improved overall efficiency across all departments. 

Increased accountability

Without proper accountability, no organization or department can achieve its goals. Increasing accountability among team members can improve performance, uplift morale, and solidify a commitment to excellent work. 

Enabling workflow automation can help maintenance managers easily assign tasks to particular technicians and track their performance in real-time. When all team members have complete visibility on who is accountable for what job, they feel motivated to fulfill their responsibilities. As a result, it becomes easier for managers to hold team members accountable for their work. 

Improved quality control 

Workflow automation enables company leaders to enhance the consistency of output. Effective workflow systems within an organization act as clear guides for technicians, simplifying the onboarding process for new team members who can easily refer to already established workflows. With this standardization, each team member always understands the expectations placed on them. 

Reduce human errors 

According to the Plant Engineering 2020 maintenance survey, operator errors lead to 11% unplanned downtime in facilities. 

Sometimes, human errors can be inevitable. For example, a technician may fail to notice the signs of malfunctioning equipment during an inspection for various reasons. 

They may even forget to forward a customer’s work request to the manager for immediate approval. When workflows are automated using specialized software, such human errors can be prevented or even eliminated. 

Increase work satisfaction

Work satisfaction is key to employee satisfaction. When workers feel their skills are not being utilized to a full capacity, are paid less, or feel bored with their work, they are more likely to find jobs somewhere else. This situation could be better for businesses, given the high cost of finding new employees. 

Automating routine manual tasks can enable team members to focus more on meaningful, productive tasks, resulting in increased work satisfaction. Other benefits of workflow automation include improved safety in the workplace, better communication within teams, increased asset availability, improved asset maintenance, and more scalable operations. 

As a result, these benefits leave a positive impact on the bottom line of the organization.

benefits of workflow automation

Transforming key processes with workflow automation

Some common maintenance processes that can be handled by workflow automation software are as follows: 

  • All service requests are handled through emails and online forms
  • Invitations for events are sent once they are scheduled
  • Tasks are assigned based on criteria like time, quantity, and other factors
  • Tasks are assigned to the right people to perform them
  • Notifications are sent to relevant individuals when the status of a task changes
  • Alerts are generated when tasks become overdue or about to miss the deadline 
  • WhatsApp, Slack, SMS, and other communication apps are used to send the notifications
  • Sales contracts and other important paperwork are drafted and sent for sign-off
  • Notifications are sent to the right people when permissions or reviews are required
  • Data sync takes place every time an email is received or a form is submitted
  • Processed data is used to generate reports and dashboards

Workflow automation examples 

The benefits of workflow automation are not limited to the maintenance department within an organization. Implementing workflow automation benefits other departments like marketing, finance, and IT. Let’s explore some examples of workflow automation in other departments.  

Talent acquisition

It can become challenging to meet business objectives without recruiting top-tier talent. The ability of an organization to attract and retain employees plays a key role in meeting short-term and long-term objectives. 

Nevertheless, 46% of US companies are struggling to recruit the right talent. To address this challenge, employers are now using workflow automation to expand the reach of their job postings. Apart from that, they are using recruitment software to automatically assess candidates’ skills, abilities, and educational backgrounds. 

Employee onboarding

According to Inc.’s report, 16% of new hires quit the company within their first week, and 14% leave within the first six months of their employment. What could be the significant factor here? Poor and ineffective onboarding processes. 

Ineffective employee onboarding processes can make new hires feel underqualified, overlooked, and undervalued, increasing their chances of quitting their jobs. 

More often than not, most onboarding processes focus on merely completing paperwork and asking the new hires to start working without offering enough support. Most organizations are now using workflow automation for onboarding processes to ensure extensive training experiences. 

Work requests 

It is critical for maintenance teams, especially those involved in manufacturing and residential facilities, to resolve work requests promptly. 

The loss of paper slips has become a common issue, which often leaves requesters wondering why the resolution is taking so long. On the other hand, when work requests do reach the right personnel, they may go through a review process by several team members before it is approved as a work order. 

With no automated workflow in place, work requests can be overlooked. Automated workflows enable both employees and customers to submit maintenance requests online. Robust CMMS software allows users to receive automated notifications upon work request submissions. Once approved, the work request automatically converts into a digitally assigned work order. 

Workflow automation in different industries

Workflow automation is now being implemented across different industries. It revolutionizes several sectors, helping organizations reduce errors, simplify operations, and increase overall efficiency. 

Let’s see how workflow automation can be implemented in different industries: 

Facilities Management 

Here are the key workflows that can be automated in facilities management:

  • Maintenance Requests: Automate creating, submitting, assigning, and tracking maintenance requests. 
  • Work Order Management: Automate assigning tasks to the technicians based on availability and location. 
  • Inventory Management: Automate notifications or alerts whenever stock levels reach the predefined thresholds so you can replenish stock to avoid shortages. 

Manufacturing 

Here are the key workflows that can be automated in manufacturing concerns: 

  • Production Planning & Scheduling: Automate forecasts of demand and availability of resources like raw materials. 
  • Quality Control: Automate sending trigger notifications/alerts when quality inspection results differ from predefined standards and reporting for defective materials. 
  • Inventory Management: Automate reordering/replenishing inventory for raw materials when the inventory levels fall below a certain threshold. 
  • Safety Compliance: Automate by setting reminders for scheduling safety drills and ensure the manufacturing facility complies with regulatory requirements. 

Construction

Let’s go through the key works that can be automated in the construction industry: 

  • Project Management: Automate the process of project progress tracking, assigning tasks, and maintenance scheduling so it becomes easier to update project timelines and share updates with key stakeholders when tasks are completed. 
  • Equipment Maintenance: Automate scheduling of frequent inspections for construction equipment to reduce downtime and increase efficiency. 
  • Invoice Management: Automate document workflows and streamline the process of invoice approvals and payments for third parties like vendors and contractors. 

Education

Here are the key workflows that can be automated for the education sector: 

  • Student Enrollment: Automate the enrollment process, such as processing applications, verifying documents, and sending acceptance letters. 
  • Grades Management: Automate the process of calculating grades and generating reports for the students. 
  • School Maintenance: Automate scheduling for cleaning, repairing, and maintaining the school facility, including classrooms, based on usage data. 
  • Utilize LMS: Use learning management systems (LMS) to automate the issuing of courses, assignments, and assessments to the students. 

Property Management 

Let’s look at some workflows that can be automated for the property management sector: 

  • Lease Management: Automate issuing reminders for lease renewals, collecting rent, and sending notices for late payments. 
  • Maintenance Requests: Automate submitting, assigning, and tracking all tenant-based maintenance requests. 
  • Screening Tenant: Automating screening of the tenants, including conducting background checks and evaluating credit reports. 
  • Utility Billing: Automate generating bills for utilities like electricity, gas, and water based on the usage data. 

Hospitality

Here are some workflows that can be automated for the hospitality industry:

  • Guest Check-in/Check-out: Automate the process of checking in and checking out, including assigning rooms and invoicing, to improve the guest experience and enhance guest satisfaction. 
  • Room Maintenance: Automate the process of sending triggers for cleaning and maintenance tasks that are based on the occupancy of rooms. 
  • Reservation Management: Automate the process of reservations and reminders based on booking confirmations and cancellations. 
  • Housekeeping Management: Automate sending alerts and notifications to the hotel staff for room cleaning tasks. 

Best practices for implementing workflow automation  

Industries can implement automation workflows by using an effective workflow automation solution. For example, a construction company can use an advanced CMMS system to automate its workflows. 

Below, we have discussed some best practices for implementing workflow automation:

To get the most out of workflow automation software, consider these best practices: 

Identify the right workflows 

First, you need to identify the right workflows that need to be automated. Look for tasks that are repetitive, time-consuming, and easily prone to human error, like data entry, giving approvals, etc. Automating these tasks will help you save costs and improve efficiency. 

Define clear objectives 

It is essential to define clear goals and objectives so you know what needs to be achieved. Organizations can set clear goals like improving accuracy, minimizing processing times, and improving customer satisfaction. Ensure that automating your workflows leverages the objectives of your organization like optimizing costs or being compliant with industry standards. 

Opt for the right automation tool

You need to evaluate all the options for automation tools so you can choose the one that best aligns with your business needs and easily integrates with existing systems. Choose the tool that offers scalability, growing as your business grows. Make sure that the tool offers an intuitive interface so it becomes easier for your teams to adopt it quickly. 

Involve key stakeholders in the process 

It is necessary to involve all key stakeholders throughout the automation process. Through their insights, you can determine which key workflows need to be automated, understand the potential challenges of automating workflows, and ensure automated workflows are implemented smoothly. You also need to explain to your employees how workflow automation will help them solve issues quickly. 

Test out automation workflows thoroughly 

Once workflows are identified and the automation tool is finalized, it is time to run a pilot program, testing the tools thoroughly to check whether they effectively identify potential issues. You can gather feedback from users involved in the process to evaluate the tool’s effectiveness and then refine the process. You can also monitor the results of automated workflows to determine whether they are performing as expected. 

Provide training to your team

Once automated workflows are tested and implemented successfully, it is important to provide extensive training to your employees so they understand how to use them effectively. Make sure you offer them support and address concerns they may have during the transition period. You need to allow your employees to share feedback or suggestions about the new automated workflows. 

Monitor and optimize 

After implementing automated workflows, you need to use analytics to measure their success against your goals. For example, you need to monitor whether the automated workflows are helping to optimize your costs and reduce errors. You also need to constantly review the workflows as your business expands and update them regularly to meet your business’s needs over time. 

Expand gradually 

Once you are satisfied with the results of automated workflows, you can consider gradually automating other workflows to reduce disruptions and errors. You must also ensure the new automated workflows can easily accommodate business expansion and adapt to evolving business needs. 

Organizations need to adopt a strategic approach to implement automated workflows. Identify the right workflows for your organization, opt for the suitable automation tool, involve key stakeholders, and conduct thorough testing and training to implement workflow automation efficiently. This is the only way to achieve long-term success and increased ROI.  s

Automate business workflows with CMMS 

In case you’re still doubtful about whether or not workflow automation is for your business, you need to think again. Numerous business workflows can and indeed should be automated to achieve operational efficiency. 

Workflow automation can enable your teams to be more effective, creative, and productive at work. Furthermore, it helps reduce inefficiencies, eliminates bottlenecks, and cuts down on manual tasks – all of which are crucial for managing business operations. 

Most CMMS software comes with a robust workflow automation engine that can be customized to meet the needs of any facility. When automated workflows are integrated with CMMS software, they can significantly improve facility maintenance operations. 

When automated workflows are used effectively, they can serve as a powerful tool to improve efficiency, save time, and reduce errors within an organization. Facility management and real estate companies can streamline their operations and focus more on strategic initiatives by automating routine tasks and business processes. 

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Frequently Asked Questions

  • What is the role of predictive maintenance in workflow automation?

    Predictive maintenance improved workflow automation by utilizing data to forecast equipment failures and trigger automated workflows like scheduling equipment maintenance, alerting technicians, and managing stock and inventory. As a result, downtime is reduced, resource allocation is improved, and equipment repairs are done promptly and cost-effectively.
  • What industries benefit the most from automated maintenance workflows?

    Facilities management, manufacturing, construction, healthcare, hospitality, property management, and education are some industries that benefit the most from automated maintenance workflows.
  • How does workflow automation improve equipment reliability?

    Automated workflows can help organizations perform routine maintenance tasks quickly and efficiently, reducing the time needed for inspections, repairs, and adjustments. Consequently, this increases overall equipment effectiveness (OEE), thus improving equipment reliability.
  • How can small businesses implement workflow automation in maintenance?

    Small businesses can implement automated maintenance workflows by using budget-friendly CMMS solutions to schedule routine tasks, monitor equipment performance, and set automated alerts/notifications for repairs and inspections. They can start implementing simple automated workflows for recurring tasks and then slowly integrate advanced workflows like IoT sensors or predictive maintenance to make data-driven decisions.
  • What are common challenges in automating maintenance workflows?

    Some common challenges in automating maintenance workflows include finding the right automated tool, overcoming the high initial setup investment, integrating with existing systems, facing resistance from employees while adopting automated workflows, ensuring the accuracy of data, and managing the complexity of workflows for multiple assets and processes.

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