The New Normal: Cooking is a Business Process Too!

Kiara Walker • June 25, 2020

In spending the last few months working from home and adjusting to the new normal, this newfound time has granted us the ability to pick up on projects and fine-tune skills more than ever. As someone who usually reaches for her phone to order out lunch or dinner, I decided to challenge myself to do the exact opposite and invest time and effort into home cooked meals. But, as our ‘chief everything officer,' Nicole Laurier phrased in it in her original version of this blog post nearly a decade ago- cooking is a business process too!


One of the first things needed to carry out this process is to set down a plan your attack. I’d often look toward online recipes and cooking shows for ideas that best suit what myself or my guest are craving or just aim to try something new altogether. 



After compiling my grocery list, it’s time to head to my favorite store and pick out all the ingredients I’ll need. As a Florida native, Publix will always be my go-to spot and thankfully I know the store like the back of my hand, so this process doesn’t take too long. Whatever Publix doesn’t have I can stop at Bravo or Sedano’s to substitute.


Upon returning home, I lay out all the ingredients I plan on using to prepare my desired dish as well as get out all the pots and utensils needed too. Unless it’s a dish I’ve made before, I usually have the recipe and directions pulled up on my phone or tablet nearby for quick reference and then - I begin cooking.

Once the food is finished and the table is set, the only thing left to do is enjoy the meal I’ve made with family and friends.


So how exactly does the process of cooking play into the intricacies of business? Well, our CEO Nicole explained it best in four simple steps:


  • Well the first step of cooking was deciding what to cook or in business what process you wish to automate.


  • The second step was gathering all the ingredients needed through visiting various stores for different items. Many businesses have disparate systems, Enterprise Resource Planning, Customer Relationship Management, Marketing and Email Automation systems, Websites, etc., so in many cases all of these disparate systems need to be connected together to completely automate your business process forcing you to go to more than one place to get the information to build the process.


  • The third cooking step was preparation, for business process management that would be using the tools to build the process which you have defined in the earlier steps, just like in cooking using the ingredients to create the meal.


  • The final step of cooking is sitting back and waiting for your guests to arrive. With an automated business process, your task is built, tested, and put into production so that you can forget about what is happening in the background. The automated process will be doing the heavy lifting for you!


Do you know what process you want to automate? Do you know how to define that process? Do you know once you have defined your process how to find the information in your systems? Do you know what you want to automate? If you answered ‘yes’ to any of these questions, then Fisher Technology has the tools available to resolve the problem. All that’s left to ask yourself is- what do you want to automate?

Software is supposed to make tasks more efficient, but far too often businesses are burdened by the inefficiencies of systems that do not talk to each other. Schedule a consultation today with the Fisher Technology Team!

By Nicole Laurier January 28, 2025
From managing inventory to processing sales data, repetitive manual tasks can drain employee time and increase the risk of costly errors. Whether you operate a brick-and-mortar store or an eCommerce platform, these challenges can impact productivity and profitability long before your product reaches the shelves. Business Process Automation (BPA) offers a game-changing solution by eliminating the need for manual data processing. BPA Platform automates essential retail tasks such as updating product information, generating sales reports, and handling returns, allowing employees to focus on more strategic responsibilities. By reducing operational costs, minimizing human error, and streamlining workflows, automation empowers retail businesses to process sales and manage critical data more efficiently—all without employee intervention. Keep on reading for more details! What is a Business Process? Business processes refer to a series of interrelated tasks or activities performed within an organization to achieve a specific goal or deliver a desired outcome. They represent the systematic way in which work is organized, executed, and monitored to ensure smooth operations and efficient resource utilization. Business processes can encompass various functional areas such as sales, marketing, finance, human resources, operations, customer service, and much more. These processes often involve the flow of information, materials, or services across different departments or individuals, following predefined rules or guidelines. They can range from simple tasks to complex workflows, and their optimization is crucial for enhancing productivity, quality, and overall organizational performance. Automated Business Process Examples So what types of business processes can be automated? Well, the list is endless and is dependent on the type of business or company structure that it is going to be applied to, and the specific needs, goals and challenges of the organization. Business process automation provides the ability to carry out and fulfill business processes without human intervention. These processes can cover a wide variety of business activities, tasks or workflows, ranging from order management and financial reporting, to data monitoring and critical notifications. Likewise, automated workflows can be used across a variety of industries and functions, from customer service and marketing, to finance and HR. Here are some common examples of business processes that can be automated: Invoice processing: Automating the invoice processing workflow involves capturing invoice data, validating it against predefined rules, routing it for approvals, and generating payment notifications. This automation can streamline the accounts payable process, reduce manual data entry, and improve accuracy. Order fulfillment: Automating order fulfillment involves integrating systems for order capture, inventory management, order processing and shipping. Automated workflows can help track orders, update inventory levels, generate shipping labels and send order status notifications to customers. Customer Relationship Management (CRM): Automating CRM processes involves capturing and managing customer data, tracking interactions and automating communication workflows. This automation can help in lead generation, sales pipeline management, customer segmentation and personalized marketing campaigns. Performance reporting: Automating performance reporting involves collecting data from various sources, aggregating it, and generating reports for analysis. Automated reporting can save time, provide real-time insights and enable data-driven decision-making. Expense management: Automated systems can capture expense data, validate it against policies, route it for approval and streamline reimbursement processes, saving time and reducing errors. Why BPA Platform is the Right Choice BPA Platform provides the tools needed to quickly and easily build automated processes that are unique to the way a business works. It allows for changing business environments by providing the flexibility for automated processes to be adapted or completely re-written to meet new conditions. BPA Platform also provides a powerful and flexible workflow automation solution for managing and monitoring the flow of work within an organization, ensuring that business rules are adhered to and administration is removed. It permits users to receive and authorize multi-level workflow jobs, regardless of the device and business system the workflow starts or ends within, and creates an audit trail for complete peace of mind. Additionally, BPA Platform makes it extremely easy to automate any number of data management alerts and notifications for a host of different scenarios. They can be sent automatically in response to predefined conditions or events and be used to notify customers, partners or administrators of important, informative or critical system events. BPA Platform can monitor business systems for key data changes (to business rules) and automatically send email or SMS business alerts to both internal and external recipients when needed. They can be generated based on specific business events, such as stock level notifications, sales notifications, delivery alerts, service alerts, credit control notifications, support team updates or warehouse alerts. Ready to Automate your Business? Business Process Automation (BPA) is transforming the retail industry by streamlining operations, reducing costs, and minimizing errors. By automating essential workflows—from inventory management to performance reporting—retail businesses can save time, improve accuracy, and focus on delivering exceptional customer experiences. With the flexibility and robust functionality of BPA Platform, your business can adapt to changing demands and achieve greater efficiency. Ready to unlock the potential of automation for your retail operations? Contact Fisher Technology today to learn how BPA can elevate your business processes and drive lasting success.
December 17, 2024
Digital transformation is a broad and complex process, and navigating it successfully requires the right tools and strategies. That’s where BPA Platform comes in. This powerful platform is designed to help businesses drive digital change efficiently, from automating processes to streamlining workflows and improving decision-making. In this blog, we’ll explore how you can leverage BPA Platform to accelerate your digital transformation and achieve measurable success. Why Digital Transformation Matters Digital transformation isn’t just about adopting new technologies; it’s about reshaping your business processes, culture, and customer experiences to thrive in the digital age. The right strategy can improve efficiency, enhance customer satisfaction, and foster innovation. However, getting there requires a clear roadmap—and the right tools. Key Components of Digital Transformation Establishing very clear business transformation objectives Identifying where current business processes do and do not align with these objectives Validating that the business transformation objectives and proposed transformation changes will deliver the desired business benefits Executing a controlled rollout program Monitoring and reporting on digital innovation achieved against the expectations set out during the validation stage Benefits of Digital Transformation Automating processes in daily operations such as order management, fulfillment, invoicing, cash collection, and expense approvals enables businesses to eliminate manual data inputting and each system can utilize real-time data. This will boost the capacity of a business, as staff and business processes become quicker and more efficient. It will also enable businesses to redeploy staff to higher-value tasks to help the business grow. With full integration between systems, every department will have access to the most up-to-date information, which will enable them to perform their jobs better as well as explore new growth opportunities and improvements to procedures. This is particularly relevant for the marketing department which will be able to analyse all the data available to deliver effective campaigns and content that customers are looking for. Much of this can also be automated, thus improving response times and making sure that the message is timely and relevant. Digital Transformation Challenges Knowledge Most businesses–regardless of size–struggle with the strategic planning aspect of business transformation. In too many instances, businesses rush out and purchase business systems badged with ‘digital transformation’ with no clear objective, process-aligned plans, validation, or rollout, monitoring, and reporting plans. Existing Systems It’s important to understand that business transformation does not necessarily mean new systems. In many instances, software integration, process automation, or portal creation will enable you to leverage your greatest assets: your existing processes, data, people, and systems. Available Budget The availability of a budget is often the number one challenge you could face, but it really shouldn’t be. If you have planned your automation and digital transformation initiative correctly, this should remove any budget objections you may face. If the business benefits exceed the initial investment there really cannot be a case for not pursuing a business transformation strategy. Using BPA Platform to Transform Your Business BPA Platform offers a comprehensive solution for organizations looking to automate and optimize their operations. Here’s how it can support each stage of your digital transformation: Identify and Validate Your Goals Before diving into any transformation effort, it’s important to understand your objectives and validate your approach. The platform provides real-time data and insights to help you align your transformation goals with tangible outcomes. Create and Execute Your Plan Once you've identified your priorities, BPA Platform empowers you to design and automate workflows that integrate seamlessly across your organization. Whether you’re automating repetitive tasks, enhancing customer interactions, or improving back-office operations, the platform ensures that execution is streamlined and scalable, making the entire transformation process more efficient. Measure and Report on Success A key part of any transformation journey is tracking progress and measuring success. BPA Platform allows you to define and monitor critical KPIs, so you can assess how well your digital transformation is progressing. With built-in reporting tools, you can easily track performance, identify areas for improvement, and ensure that your transformation is delivering the expected results. Getting Started with BPA Platform Embrace the power of automation, optimize your workflows, and unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation. BPA Platform is your partner in driving sustainable digital transformation across every aspect of your business. By leveraging BPA Platform’s capabilities, you can not only survive the digital revolution but thrive in it. So, what are you waiting for? Start transforming your business today!
By Nicole Laurier November 20, 2024
Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems are deployed to consolidate diverse business processes, such as finance, human resources and supply chain into a unified platform. However, many businesses install and use multiple third-party applications and business systems to perform certain tasks or operations. ERP integration is therefore essential to facilitate real-time communication and data sharing between these systems and across departments, breaking down silos and enhancing collaboration. In this article, we delve into the core concepts of ERP integration, exploring its significance in optimizing resource utilization, improving communication across departments, and providing real-time insights for informed decision-making. What is an ERP System? At its core, an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system functions as a unified database that facilitates seamless communication and collaboration between different departments. This integrated approach eliminates data silos, where information is isolated within individual departments, leading to a more holistic view of organizational data. ERP systems are designed to break down traditional barriers, fostering collaboration and enhancing decision-making processes. The architecture of an ERP system typically consists of modules, each catering to a specific business function. These modules can include finance and accounting, human resources, procurement, manufacturing, and some of them incorporate sales, and customer relationship management. The modules work in harmony, sharing a common database and ensuring consistency and accuracy of information across the organization. One of the key features of an ERP system is its ability to automate and standardize business processes. By defining standardized processes within the system, organizations can ensure that operations are carried out consistently and in accordance with best practices. This standardization not only reduces the risk of errors but also enhances operational efficiency by minimizing manual intervention. ERP systems often include reporting and analytics tools, allowing organizations to gain valuable insights into their performance. These tools enable the generation of real-time reports and dashboards, providing management with the information needed to make informed decisions. The ability to access up-to-date data empowers organizations to respond promptly to changing market conditions and make strategic adjustments as needed. Using BPA Platform for ERP integration One of the primary benefits of using BPA Platform for ERP integration is its ability to overcome the challenges posed by diverse IT landscapes. In many organizations, different departments may operate on specialized systems, each with its own data formats, protocols, and communication methods. BPA Platform acts as a unifying force, providing a common language and framework for these systems to interact seamlessly. BPA Platform also enhances the agility of ERP systems by making it easier to adapt to evolving business requirements. As organizations grow or change their operational processes, it simplifies the integration of new applications. This flexibility is particularly valuable in dynamic business environments where the ability to quickly incorporate new technologies or respond to market trends is essential. Unlock the Full Potential of Your ERP System with BPA Platform! As organizations continue to embrace digital transformation, integration platforms remain a key enabler for successful ERP integration, promoting collaboration, efficiency and innovation across the enterprise. If you’re ready to take your ERP system integration to the next level, Fisher Technology is here to help. Reach out to us today to learn how we can assist in optimizing your ERP integration with BPA Platform for maximum efficiency and business success.
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