In many businesses today, it's not uncommon to encounter situations where a purchase request, a spending contract, or an advance request has to "hibernate" for weeks simply because it's awaiting approval. Whether it's a large or small organization, the internal approval process – from initiation to completion – is often prolonged by reliance on individuals, back-and-forth emails, manual paperwork, and a lack of transparency. As a result, businesses not only waste time but also miss opportunities, experience delays, and cause frustration among their teams. So, the question arises: Is there a way for businesses to both ensure tight control and accelerate and make these approval processes more transparent?
In fact, an efficient approval process not only saves time – it is also a crucial factor in ensuring compliance, controlling risks, and supporting rapid decision-making in an increasingly competitive business environment. And this is precisely where the Workflow Engine within an ERP system unleashes its power.
1. The current state of internal approval processes and their challenges
In many businesses, especially medium-sized and large organizations, internal approval processes are still being carried out in a traditional manner – manually and in a fragmented way. A purchase proposal, an advance request, or a payment request often goes through multiple steps, from the initiating employee, sending emails to managers, printing documents for manual signatures, to forwarding them to relevant departments such as accounting and finance. Each step requires human intervention and involves waiting time.
Common characteristics of traditional approval processes:
- Reliance on paperwork and emails: Sending documents back and forth between departments causes duplication and difficulties in storage and retrieval.
- Multiple levels of manual approval: This easily leads to bottlenecks at a certain level due to absence, overload, or lack of coordination.
- Lack of tracking tools: There is no system to support real-time status checks of the processing progress.
Challenges businesses often face:
- Time-consuming and delays in decision-making
- Prolonged approval processes slow down the company's responsiveness to market demands, especially in situations requiring quick action such as urgent purchases or project implementation.
- Lack of transparency and difficulty in tracing:
- The initiator does not know where the proposal is or who the next person to process it is. Identifying responsibility in case of delays or errors becomes difficult.
- Prone to errors due to manual operations:
- Incorrect data entry, sending to the wrong person, or skipping steps are common mistakes when there is no system to control the approval flow.
- Difficulty in ensuring compliance and internal control:
- Each department may implement different, inconsistent processes – making it difficult for audits, risk management, and protecting company assets.
- Wasted administrative resources and reduced work efficiency:
- Employees spend a lot of time on administrative tasks instead of focusing on their professional work, affecting overall operational efficiency.
2. What is a workflow engine in ERP?
A Workflow Engine is a core component in many modern ERP systems, allowing businesses to design, automate, track, and control the entire internal approval process – from simple to complex – without relying on manual processing or scattered emails.
Some prominent functions of a Workflow Engine in ERP:
- Creating customizable approval processes: Enables businesses to design processes suitable for each type of nghiệp vụ ( nghiệp vụ translates to nghiệp vụ, which encompasses various business operations/transactions), from complex (multiple levels, multiple branching conditions) to simple (1-2 approval levels).
- Setting up intelligent branching conditions: For example: if the proposal value is < 50 million, only the department head's approval is required, while if it's > 50 million, the finance director's approval is also needed.
- Automatic notifications & alerts: The system sends notifications to relevant individuals via email, in-system notifications, or mobile apps – ensuring nothing is missed.
- Real-time status tracking: Everyone involved in the process can view the progress, who is currently processing it, and where it has been approved/not yet approved.
- Storing the entire approval history: Easily trace and review the processing flow when needed for audits or reviews.
The strength of the Workflow Engine lies in the fact that it does not operate independently but is tightly integrated with business modules such as Accounting, Purchasing, Sales, and Human Resources. This helps the approval process be closely linked to real data, reducing the risk of incorrect data entry and increasing accuracy and transparency throughout the entire system.
3. Benefits of optimizing approval processes with a workflow engine
Accelerate Processing Speed and Decision-Making
Workflow automates the entire process of document circulation between approval levels, helping to minimize waiting time. The system automatically sends notifications and reminders when it's someone's turn to process, eliminating the issue of "lost" emails or paperwork. Example: A purchase proposal can be approved within a few hours instead of several days, thanks to a pre-established and automatically running workflow system.
Enhance Transparency and Traceability
Every step in the process is clearly recorded: who approved, at what time, and what changes were made. This helps users easily track the status and avoids "blame-shifting" when problems occur. Real-world scenario: When a payment is delayed, the manager can quickly trace which step is stuck, allowing for timely intervention.
Improve Control and Compliance with Internal Procedures
The Workflow Engine ensures that approval steps always follow regulations – no one can "skip steps" or bypass the process without leaving a trace. This is particularly important in areas requiring audits or strict compliance requirements (e.g., finance, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, etc.).
Minimize Errors and Risks from Manual Processing
When all operations are digitized and controlled by system logic (e.g., only allowing approval when sufficient documents are available, automatic budget checks, etc.), the risk of errors due to oversight, confusion, or incomplete data entry is significantly reduced.
Save Resources and Increase Work Efficiency
Workflow frees employees from repetitive administrative tasks. They can focus on higher-value activities such as analysis, evaluation, and strategic consulting.
Flexible Customization for Each Type of Process
There is no one-size-fits-all process. The Workflow Engine allows businesses to design specific approval flows for each type of request, budget level, department, or project type – making the system truly suitable for their actual operations.
4. Steps to implement a workflow engine for approval process optimization
Implementing a Workflow Engine into the internal approval process is not just about "installing" technology; it requires careful preparation from the business to ensure a smooth transition and achieve optimal efficiency. Here are the basic steps for successful implementation:
Step 1: Identify Current Approval Processes and Needs
Before starting the implementation, the business needs to clearly understand its existing approval processes, identify weaknesses, and pinpoint specific issues. This includes:
- Which types of processes need to be automated? (Purchasing, advances, contract signing, etc.)
- Which steps in the current process are time-consuming or prone to errors?
- What are the requirements for authorization, security, and compliance?
- Result: A detailed process map, from which workflows can be designed for each type of nghiệp vụ (business operation/transaction).
Step 2: Choose an ERP Platform and Integrate the Workflow Engine
Selecting an ERP system that suits the business's needs is a key factor. If the business already has an ERP, the next step is to choose a compatible Workflow Engine and integrate it into the existing system.
- Ensure that the Workflow Engine can be easily integrated with other business modules such as Finance, Purchasing, and Human Resources.
- Check features such as: ease of process configuration, support for complex business rules, automatic notifications, etc.
- Result: A complete integrated platform that facilitates smooth and uninterrupted business operations.
Step 3: Design and Configure Approval Processes
Based on the process map identified in Step 1, the business will proceed to design detailed workflows within the ERP system. The elements to configure include:
- Specific approval steps: Who will approve at each step? How many approval levels are needed?
- Conditions and branching: What decisions will determine the transition to the next step? (For example: if the budget level is > 50 million VND, the Finance Director's approval is required).
- Automatic notifications: Who receives notifications when approval is needed? Which channels will notifications be sent through (email, app)?
- Result: A completely digitized approval process that aligns with the specific characteristics of the business.
Step 4: Train and Guide Users
After designing and configuring, user training is essential for successful implementation. Employees need to clearly understand:
- How to use the system to initiate approval requests.
- The steps in the process and how to track the processing status.
- How to receive notifications and respond when approval is required.
- Result: Employees will become familiar with and use the system effectively, minimizing errors and confusion.
Step 5: Test and Optimize Processes
Before a full-scale rollout, test the processes with a few departments or pilot processes. During this phase, you will:
- Ensure that every step in the process works as expected.
- Identify suboptimal issues, such as unclear notifications, unreasonable approval steps, or inconsistent processes.
- Gather feedback from users to improve and optimize.
- Result: A refined and optimized Workflow Engine system ready for comprehensive deployment.
Step 6: Monitor, Maintain, and Update the System
After the official implementation, regular monitoring is necessary to ensure the system operates effectively. Issues that may arise include:
- Process changes based on new business requirements.
- Feedback from users requesting additional features or process adjustments.
- Result: The system is consistently maintained and updated according to the actual needs of the business.
Step 7: Evaluate Effectiveness and Expand
After a period of operation, the business should evaluate the effectiveness of the Workflow Engine implementation. Evaluation criteria may include:
- How much has process handling time been reduced?
- How much has transparency and traceability improved?
- User satisfaction and compatibility with other departments within the company.
If the system achieves its goals, the business can expand the application of the Workflow Engine to other processes or even apply it to systems outside the ERP, such as CRM and project management systems.
5. Sota Solutions - a reputable ERP system provider
Sota Solutions is a reputable ERP system provider, specializing in providing comprehensive software solutions that help businesses optimize their management and operational processes. With a Workflow Engine integrated into its ERP system, Sota Solutions helps automate internal approval processes, minimize manual intervention, and enhance work efficiency. The system helps accelerate the processing speed of approval requests while ensuring transparency and tight control.
By providing flexible and easily customizable solutions, Sota Solutions supports businesses in building approval processes that suit their actual needs, thereby improving operational efficiency and minimizing risks.
6. Conclusion
Optimizing internal approval processes is an important factor for businesses to maintain their development speed and sustainable growth. Traditional approval processes, while effective in some situations, pose challenges in terms of time, accuracy, and transparency. Therefore, the Workflow Engine in an ERP system has become an indispensable solution for modern businesses.
By automating approval processes, the Workflow Engine helps enhance work efficiency, minimize errors, and improve monitoring capabilities. At the same time, businesses can easily adjust processes to suit their actual needs, ensuring flexibility in operations. As a result, every approval step is carried out quickly, accurately, and with clear traceability. Contact us for consultation and receive free materials on the latest technology solutions.