This is the second of a two-part primer on the business value of automation.

In order to understand the advantages of the automation of business processes we will explain two economical terms and how automation is beneficial for each.   

First, a broad overview of what is meant by "Front Office" and "Back Office" and then a deeper dive into the Back Office.

Front Office processes

The front office is the general name of group of units or processes in companies responsible for working directly with clients and customers.
Typical front-office functions include communication with customers, receive and input for the further processing of orders from customers, providing the customer with clarifying product information; inventory management, order management, financial management, telephone calls and sending informational messages to customers, handling incoming calls etc.
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Back Office processes
Back-end office is responsible for the following processes: verification (consistency, compliance) transactions recorded by the front office, control provision (cash or securities), supplier management, warehouse management, human resources, simplified accounting.

Back-end Automation

Many companies are making a parallel automation of the front-end and back-end processes. No more paper documentation, no more hours of searching for some invoice or bill. The latest software is used to gather data about customers for future ad campaigns. Thanks to the automation employees are able to perform multitasking – taking care of few tasks at the same time. Just like front-end automation, better performance and cost reduction are the main advantages of this automation. The distribution time is significantly better because less time is needed to transfer the goods.

A serious company looking to advance in this highly competitive market should grab the opportunity for automation of the business process as soon as possible! 

This is the first of a two-part primer on the business value of automation.
In order to understand the advantages of the automation of business processes we will explain two economical terms and how automation is beneficial for each.   

First, a broad overview of what is meant by "Front Office" and "Back Office" and then a deeper dive into each.

Front Office processes

The front office is the general name of group of units or processes in companies responsible for working directly with clients and customers.
Typical front-office functions include communication with customers, receive and input for the further processing of orders from customers, providing the customer with clarifying product information; inventory management, order management, financial management, telephone calls and sending informational messages to customers, handling incoming calls etc.
Back Office processes
Back-end office is responsible for the following processes: verification (consistency, compliance) transactions recorded by the front office, control provision (cash or securities), supplier management, warehouse management, human resources, simplified accounting.
Front-end automation
This automation is gradually becoming one of the main focuses of companies that want to invest in their own expansion. As we have mentioned before automation has proven to be the best way to improve your company's performance.

The main benefit of front-end automation is in the field of customer care. For example using loyalty cards for customers is process that requires automation within a minute you can gather info about your customers purchasing habits and create discounts, rewards and similar offers. E-commerce for example allows buyers to shop online whenever they have time without leaving the comfort of their home. Another great thing is that you can improve your order management by reducing the time of delivery. With the simple and automated procedure the orders will be made and delivered more quickly. Some e-commerce sites are able to deliver items within 24 hour period which is a significant improvement in their service. The automation will eventually lead to better financial management and saving money. The main point is that you won't need so many employees – the selling process will be simplified. For example if you are a customer in a regular store you will need a salesman to explain the features of some product, but thanks to the automated e-commerce sites you can read the description, product reviews and order the product without human interaction. 

Our next article will discuss Back Office automation.