Application Selection:
Domain: Office Automation
Process: Procurement Process
Which application domain is your process belonging to?
The process is located in the application domain office automation and deals with simplifying the procurement process. To be more precise, the process is designed for employees that require stationery, but find themselves in a situation where a lot of manual tasks and information gathering have to be done. An interactive chatbot will take over those tasks to minimize the overhead and to raise the efficiency of each employee.
Who is the customer of your process?
Every (internal) employee of the company who needs equipment or software (product).
What is the result (service or product) of your process?
The result is that the employee gets the equipment or software which he/she needs. The final ordered and approved product.
Which resources (humans, information systems, machines) participate in the process?
Mainly Humans and computer system or mobile device that have internet access (Office Employee, Supervisor, Procurement Manager, Warehouse Worker, Controller, etc.)
What are the most important activities in the process?
* identify needs
* create requisitions
* requisition approval
* create a PO
* approve order
* receive products
* rate supplier performance
* approve invoice
* pay vendor
Which technology shall be applied to innovate the process?
Business process management systems, cloud, chatbots, conversationnel AI
Which exception shall be handled in the process?
Product has not been received, product is defective, requisition exceeds budget
Which task is performed by group members with a certain strategy to resolve who is doing the task?
1. Buy via Chatbot
Employee purchases stationery via chatbot
Sends an request for approval
Strategy: experience with chatbots, optional: integration in instant-messaging app telegram
*identify needs
*create requisitions
Resource: Office Employee (Customer), Chatbot
2. Start Approval Workflow- Check and Approve/Decline
Validation of ordered items whether available stationery are in stock
Validation of purchase amount with a defined budget and threshold
If smaller than threshold and within available budget -> automatically approve
Else need approval of manager
If rejected, workflow is done
Else add to collective purchase
Strategy: experience with software engineering and workflow management
* requisition approval
Resource: Supervisor, Task Inbox
3. Create Purchase Order
Aggregation of all orders
Final check / automatic purchase order via cron job ?
If order amount is zero or very small, wait for next order iteration
Send purchase order
Strategy: experience with software engineering and workflow automation
* create purchase order
* approve PO
Resource: Procurement Manager, ERP
4. Goods received
Invoice received per hand
Verification, that received order is complete
If an item is missing, demand for missing item / return order
Verify order
Strategy: experience in logistics
* receive goods
Resource: Warehouse Worker, ERP -> EWM Module
5. Invoice Verification and Payment Approval
Approve invoice and payment
Send invoice to dedicated cost center
Strategy: experience in business administration
* rate supplier
* approve invoice
* vendor payment
Resource: Controller, Payment System (ERP)
Which are the three Key Process Indicators (KPIs) that you will monitor for your process?
Response speed per role
Time to completion / Time to rejection
Approval rate / Rejection rate
How will fellow students access the system?
Via chatbot URL as an "Employee" role.
they will test the system by going through the process of procurement.
How will your customers be identified in your process?
* By unique user ID, i.e. customer ID, employee ID
* By unique work order number
Tests by other participants:
All test participant with internet access can use the chatbot to procure needed items, which triggers a workflow process.
Before creating the purchase requisition name and student id is required.
The best way to test is, to contact the speaker of the other project group arrange a virtual testing session to test each others workflow process.
BPMS
SAP Cloud Platform Workflow
