Automation strategy: the art of prioritization

Prioritizing automation projects based on cost and benefit is an effective way to identify the most important and promising projects. Both costs and benefits are considered:

Automation costs

Automation costs include not only one-time investment costs, but also all expenses associated with implementing, maintaining, and adapting the automation.

• Implementation effort
• License costs
• Resource requirements (personnel, technology)
  
• External costs

Benefits of automation

The benefits of automation include the specific advantages that a company has already realized by using automation technologies. These advantages can be both quantitative and qualitative.

Quantitative

• Cost savings
• Productivity increase
• Optimization of resources
• Time savings

Qualitative

• Quality improvement
• Error reduction
• Customer satisfaction
• Higher flexibility

There are various approaches to prioritizing automation projects. Some of the most common are:

• Scoring models: Each project is evaluated based on a number of criteria and given an overall score.
• ROI calculation: The return on investment (ROI) indicates how long it takes to recoup the investment costs through savings. Projects with a shorter expected ROI should typically be prioritized higher.
• Cost-benefit analysis: This compares the costs of a project with the expected benefits. This categorizes projects into four buckets:
  • Fast to implement, high value = highest priority
  • High effort, but also high value
  • Low effort, but also low value
  • High effort, low value = lowest priority

1. Process analysis: Thoroughly examine all affected systems and processes to understand the impact of automation.
2. Data collection: Collect relevant data on the costs, duration and frequency of manual process execution as a basis for ROI analysis.
3. Weighting of criteria: Determine which evaluation criteria are most important for your company and weight them accordingly.
   
4. Project evaluation: Evaluate each potential automation project based on the defined criteria.
5. Visualization: Use tools such as Excel spreadsheets or ADONIS to clearly display the evaluated projects and facilitate prioritization.
6. Decision-making: Make informed decisions about prioritizing automation projects based on the evaluations and visualizations.

Prioritizing automation projects is a complex process that requires careful consideration of various factors. By carefully evaluating costs and benefits, companies can ensure that their investments in automation bring the greatest possible long-term benefits.