Everywhere you look, businesses are automating a majority of their processes using traditional and AI-powered tools. From streamlining customer service across platforms to optimizing manufacturing processes, AI has been a game-changer for companies in every industry.
Although automation generally increases efficiency, automating every process can have the opposite effect, leading to inefficiencies and problems.
Here’s a breakdown of what kinds of tasks are best suited for automation and which ones require a human touch.
Processes to keep human
While most tasks can be automated, there are a couple of processes that require human action to maintain business integrity and customer satisfaction.
- Inspection services
Smart sensors play a critical role in monitoring systems. They continually collect data, like temperature, pressure, vibration, and flow rates, detecting slight changes that can lead to a breakdown. Installing sensors allows you to fix issues before they cause total failure.
However, sensors have limitations and can’t replace inspections. While it’s true that smart sensors can pick up on changes humans can’t detect, inspections can identify things sensors cannot. Therefore, both are essential.
Consider the high-pressure systems, like a nitrogen generating unit, used in the aerospace, food packaging, and chemical manufacturing industries. Sensors will monitor pressure levels and purity, but they won’t catch physical damage to piping, seals, or insulation. It’s critical for a human to inspect high-pressure systems to identify early signs of wear, leaks, and degradation. This type of visual inspection requires the human touch.
- Phone-based customer support
You can automate customer service to a large degree online. For example, generative AI chatbots provide excellent customer service to people with simple needs. Statistics show that 67% of customers prefer self-service over speaking to a live agent, which makes automation even more successful. However, if you’re going to offer customer support over the phone, you need real people on the other end of the line.
While online self-service is preferred, people don’t like having to push a bunch of buttons and talk to a robot over the phone. Chances are, if someone is calling your business, they have an issue that requires a live agent.
Processes worth automating
AI excels at tasks that require speed, accuracy, consistency, and data. Automation is best suited for routine processes, like generating reports, scheduling, and data entry.
Here are some of the most common processes being automated today.
- Marketing tasks
Automation is ideal for creating email sequences and managing leads, along with a handful of other related processes, like split testing and scheduling social media posts. Where email marketing is concerned, automation makes it possible to drip-feed customers emails over time and nurture leads based on their actions, like clicking links.
- Online customer support
Online customer support can be automated with a chatbot powered by generative AI to answer simple questions and provide self-help resources. With the right app, a customer can chat with your company on Facebook and continue the conversation seamlessly on your website. Automating online customer service gives customers the option to resolve an issue on their own before submitting a ticket.
- Invoicing and billing
Automating your invoicing and billing processes will save your business a considerable amount of time while improving cash flow and customer satisfaction. Once you establish a billing or payment cycle with a customer, you can use automation to generate invoices, bills, and payment reminders on a predetermined schedule. For instance, you can program automatic reminders to be sent out when a customer hasn’t paid their bill by day five.
Automated invoicing software can also calculate additional components, like extra charges, discounts, and apply paid late fees to an account balance. Eliminating manual data entry reduces the potential for human error and keeps invoicing accurate and consistent.
- Payroll processing
No matter how small your company is, implementing automated payroll processing will simplify and enhance accuracy. Automated payroll systems can handle simple and complex calculations, like wages, overtime, and bonuses. It can also handle deductions, like taxes, retirement contributions, disability insurance, and health insurance. When you eliminate the need for manual data entry, errors that can lead to compliance issues or incorrect paychecks are less likely.
Payroll automation also streamlines mundane tasks, like generating pay stubs, managing direct deposits, and filing tax forms. It’s the best way to maintain accurate and timely payroll processes that comply with labor laws and tax regulations.
- Production line work
Industries that use production lines have to manage repetitive tasks, like assembly, sorting, packing, and quality control. All of these tasks can all benefit from automation. For example, if you use a conveyor system, robotic arms can automate the transportation of materials, parts, and finished goods through the various stages on the production line.
- Quality control
Quality control is enhanced when the system is automated with sensors, cameras, and AI to detect defects. For example, cameras on the production line can scan products for defects, incorrect assembly, or other visible errors. Combined with an AI algorithm, the automated system can analyze the data in real-time and remove defective products quickly.
- Inventory management
Real-time inventory tracking powered by automation completely transforms how businesses manage their stock levels. By continuously monitoring inventory levels and sales, an automated system can detect demand fluctuations in real-time to prevent stockouts. This makes it easier to meet customers’ needs and optimizes inventory costs.
Automated inventory systems also provide accurate records that aren’t prone to human error that comes with manual counting, although you’ll still need a human to verify inventory levels periodically. Knowing inventory levels in real-time supports accurate forecasting and better decision-making. It ultimately increases operational efficiency and customer satisfaction.
Automation is a helpful tool when used right
Automation can transform a business by increasing efficiency and decreasing errors and wasted resources. However, it should enhance, not replace, the human touch. If you’re considering automating parts of your business, you’ll reap the benefits of higher productivity and profitability by thoughtfully applying automation to the right tasks.
