We can no longer ignore it: Digitization. Digitizing business processes is also a huge trend. And not without reason! Digitizing processes can increase efficiency and make the future of the company look promising. In this blog, we will tell you more about the benefits, pain points, and methods involved in digitizing business processes.
What is the digitization of business processes?
When companies digitize, manual processes are optimized and/or minimized with the help of digital technologies. This is done to make business processes faster, more efficient, and cost-effective. Digitizing business processes includes not only the digitization of information but also of processing methods. For example, invoices are created, sent, and handled digitally. By significantly limiting manual actions, the risk of errors is also reduced. Digitization can be applied both in production and in supporting departments (such as HR). Due to the many benefits of digitizing processes, young companies often do this from the start. Companies that have been around longer will need to undergo a larger change to keep up in the digital age.
Why is digitizing business processes important?
First of all, you always want your company to be future-proof. Digitizing business processes is an important step in the right direction. Sustainability is also a theme to keep in mind. Making companies more sustainable through digitization is easy because of the reduction in paper usage. However, perhaps the most important reason to digitize business processes is to maintain oversight. By managing the vast amounts of data digitally, you always have the necessary information at hand to make informed decisions. This means that digitizing processes helps with the strategic decision-making of a company.
Benefits of digital business processes
Digital business processes offer numerous benefits, including increased efficiency and productivity through the automation of repetitive tasks. Other advantages of digitizing processes are:
- Cost savings: Digitized processes reduce operational costs by minimizing paper usage and thereby achieving a lower environmental impact. There is also a reduced risk of errors because manual actions are limited.
- Data analysis and real-time insights: With qualitative data analysis and complete real-time insight, you can make better decisions as an organization and establish and maintain good strategic planning. These insights are also very useful for organizing audits.
- Higher customer satisfaction: Digitization ensures higher customer satisfaction through faster and more accurate service. Communication is also easily retrievable, giving you a complete picture of each customer at all times.
- Better flexibility and scalability: Digitizing processes increases the flexibility and scalability of companies, allowing them to quickly adapt to market changes.
- Smoother communication: Digitization improves communication and collaboration within the company through centralized and easily accessible digital information. Since all employees have the right information at hand and know which work instructions and checklists to follow, you gradually work towards better process conformance. Want to work towards digital instructions? Read more in our blog: 6 tips for implementing digital work instructions.
What are the pain points in digitizing business processes?
Digitizing business processes involves pain points such as high initial costs for software, hardware, and training, as well as resistance to change among employees. One of the most common problems in the digitization process is that the transition to digital work is delayed due to doubt or reluctance from staff. Cybersecurity is also a major risk, with increased vulnerability to data breaches and cyber-attacks. Moreover, dependence on technology can lead to problems if systems fail. There is also a risk of losing personal interaction and customer relationships. Finally, complying with regulations and privacy laws can be complex and costly when digitizing business processes.
How to approach digitizing business processes?
Digitizing business processes starts with digitizing work instructions and procedures. This way, an employee knows exactly which task needs to be performed and how. Next is the creation of a digital skills matrix to assess knowledge on the work floor. This maps out the skills and competencies of employees against the required digital skills for specific roles. Where there are gaps, training will be necessary. Then it’s time for a thorough analysis of existing workflows to identify inefficiencies. Set clear goals and determine which processes will benefit most from digitization. Choose suitable technologies and software and ensure a reliable IT infrastructure. Engage employees by training and supporting them in the new systems. Gradually scale up, monitor progress, and make adjustments as needed. Focus on cybersecurity and data protection to safeguard information and regularly evaluate effectiveness. Always strive for optimization to pursue continuous improvement.
Digitize your business processes with EZ-GO
The EZ-GO platform helps in digitizing business processes by providing a digital and centralized system that facilitates automation, data analysis, and report generation. This creates more standardization, ensures that all information is always digitally available to the right people, and allows for quick identification and implementation of changes to the rest of the team. With a demo, we regularly show companies how EZ-GO contributes to increased efficiency, time savings, and error reduction in the production process. Want to work towards digitizing processes with the right supporting platform? Let’s sit down to discuss and demonstrate the many possibilities with a demo!