In today’s fast-paced business environment, companies are looking to automation to improve efficiency, reduce costs, and scale operations. NetSuite, a leading cloud ERP platform, offers powerful workflow automation capabilities that can transform business processes.
What are NetSuite Workflows?
NetSuite workflows are automated business processes that connect people, tasks, transactions, and key data points across departments. Workflows in NetSuite allow you to:
- Standardize processes according to best practices
- Reduce manual tasks through automation
- Improve visibility across departments
- Scale operations without adding headcount
Workflows automate rule-based decisions, assignments, and status changes in business processes. For example, you can create workflows for:
- Approving purchase orders or expenses over a certain amount
- Sending discount approval requests to sales managers
- Updating system statuses when cases are opened or closed
Since workflows centralize processes on the NetSuite platform, they break down departmental silos and enable transparency. Employees have more insight into processes that require cross-departmental collaboration.
Key Benefits of Business Process Automation
There are many potential benefits of automating business processes with NetSuite workflows:
1. Increased efficiency
By reducing repetitive, manual tasks, workflows boost productivity across the organization. Employees can focus on value-adding strategic work rather than administrative tasks.
2. Improved data accuracy
Automating manual work with preset business logic minimizes human errors that occur with manual data entry or calculations. This improves reporting accuracy.
3. Enhanced compliance
Workflows that enforce approvals, such as purchase orders going over budget, improve compliance with business policies. They create an audit trail for transactions.
4. Better collaboration
With a centralized process involving various departments, workflows enable transparency over task hand-offs. Relevant stakeholders stay aligned.
5. Scalability
As companies grow, workflows make it easy to scale repetitive processes quickly without growing headcount.
6. Cost reductions
By reducing manual labor needs and errors, automated workflows significantly cut costs in the medium to long term.
Examples of Workflows by Department
Many critical business processes can be automated across departments with NetSuite workflows.
Sales Workflows
- Discount approvals when orders exceed set discounted amounts per customer
- Commissions calculations when orders reach fulfillment status
- Customer renewals for subscriptions or service contracts
Finance Workflows
- Expense report approvals after validation checks
- Invoice generation when revenue recognition criteria are met
- Cash management by automatically applying customer payments
Service Workflows
- Case assignment rules to appropriate reps
- Case escalation when aging milestones are reached
- Satisfaction surveys after case closure
As these examples demonstrate, workflows apply automation to many areas to increase speed, accuracy, and compliance, while providing the flexibility to tailor processes across departments.
Implementing Workflows: Steps and Best Practices
Here is an overview for planning and deploying workflows:
1. Identify processes for automation
Analyze which high-volume, high-touch processes have the most to gain. Look especially at those prone to human errors or affecting multiple departments.
2. Map existing processes
Document the steps, stakeholders, inputs and outputs for processes before optimizing them. Identify automation opportunities.
3. Define business rules
Determine what rules, validations, approvals will be built into automated workflows based on your policies and constraints.
4. Build workflows
Configure workflows by setting triggered events, defined approvals, integration points and automated tasks. Test extensively.
5. Roll out incrementally
Once tested, introduce workflows one by one across impacted teams. Slow rollouts enable change management.
6. Refine regularly
Continuously gather user feedback to identify further automation opportunities or improvement areas.
Fine-tuning workflows is key to maximizing the benefits of automation. It pushes employees to higher strategic responsibilities while managing risks.
Choosing Anchor Group for NetSuite Implementation
Anchor Group is a 5-star ranked systems integrator and NetSuite implementation partner with substantial experience in workflow automation.
Some key reasons to choose Anchor Group as your NetSuite implementation partner:
- Proven NetSuite Expertise: 150+ NetSuite projects with Fortune 500 companies
- Industry-Specific Best Practices: Prebuilt workflows for key processes across sectors
- Technical Capabilities: Develop complete custom workflows with SuiteFlow
- Change Management Focus: Ensure user adoption on newly automated processes
With deep knowledge across NetSuite modules and platforms, Anchor Group strategically crafts workflows tailored to each client’s needs. They enable ongoing enhancements to achieve continuous improvements with automation.
Reengineering business processes requires cross-departmental engagement, user adoption and technical configuration. By aligning people, policies and systems, automation efforts reach their full potential. With experience driving enterprise transformations, Anchor Group helps you navigate this integration journey successfully.
