Utilizing technology such as machines and AI software to reduce the amount of manual labor taking place in businesses is becoming much more popular today. There are a wide range of different tasks that can be improved with the use of automation but deciding on which sectors of your business should benefit from this new way of working can be difficult. That’s why we’ve put together our top suggestions of automation solutions that you can implement into your company, freeing up time for you and your team to focus on other important tasks.
Spreadsheets And Reports
Many businesses make use of weekly and monthly reports, as well as creating spreadsheets for organizational purposes. Of course, there are ways to automate your spreadsheets using formulae but converting that into a readable and easy to digest report can take time and energy. There is software available that can generate a report based on your current data and manufacturing backlogs, providing information on stock shortages as well as profits and losses. This can also be automatically distributed to the relevant people so that they can make good use of this data.
Manufacturing And Packaging
The manufacturing process is becoming much more automated as time goes on, with machines creating parts and entire products for consumers. If you’re still crafting your products by hand, it might be worth assessing whether or not it could be beneficial to switch to an automated system, or at least a semi-automated one for the overtly complex steps of construction.
Similarly, the production of packaging materials can be fully automated, removing the need for manual laborers on the factory floor. Automated packaging machines like those found at Blueprint Automation can speed up the entire distribution process by creating your packaging to a professional standard. The great thing about these automated systems is that all of these boxes will have the same quality finish, with accurate folds and seals, demonstrating your business’ professionalism.
Communications Services
Ensuring your team is kept in the loop with important information about your business and the marketplace is a great step towards team cohesion. Sending out emails arranging meetings requires a lot of time and planning, writing up and sourcing all of the relevant information. This meeting planning will likely be done by someone with lots of other tasks too, so removing this from their list will help to focus their productivity elsewhere.
Automatic reminders and meeting invites can be added to staff calendars using templates, both reducing the time needed to plan a meeting, and removing the chance for someone to forget to add that meeting to their schedule, double book, or even forget to turn up altogether.
Accounting And Payments
One of the most useful parts of automating your accounting tasks and payments is the removal of human error from the equation. Setting up salary payments and invoices using automated, secure software, is ideal for your peace of mind. Reducing the chance of forgetting a payment whether that’s internally or externally can alleviate a lot of stress and removes the need to sort out these payments manually every month. Of course, it’s important to still keep an eye on these accounts as errors can still occur, especially during the data input stage.
Marketing And Social Media
The main task that requires automation in the marketing sector tends to be the distribution of those marketing materials to potential customers and clients. Whether this is emails containing new deals and offers, social media post to encourage customer engagement, or the running of campaigns, you’ll want to find ways to streamline this process as good as possible. As well as this, some marketing software allows businesses to analyse and track their success, automatically attaining facts and figures to demonstrate which methods have the best reach and reaction from the target audience.
