Operix01 / CONTEXT
Common challenges
- Procedures and judgment differ by employee, making handover slow and unreliable
- The same information is repeatedly entered into Excel, email, and core systems
- Approval delays and reasons for rework are not recorded, so bottlenecks remain unclear
- Improvement ideas exist, but departments cannot agree on ownership and boundaries
02 / SCOPE
Scope of support
Before selecting a tool, we clarify what starts the work, who makes each decision, how information moves, and how exceptions return to the normal flow. This prevents teams from automating work that should first be removed or standardized.
- An As-Is workflow covering triggers, inputs, decisions, exceptions, and outputs
- Analysis of waiting, duplication, rework, individual judgment, and control points
- Options comparing removal, consolidation, standardization, and automation
- A phased plan with owners, timing, dependencies, and agreed measures
Use cases
- Order-to-invoice handoffs across departments
- Standardizing monthly aggregation, review, approval, and reporting
- Improving intake and routing for customer and internal requests
- Redesigning product and master-data registration
How we work
- Confirm the objective, scope, stakeholders, and data that can be shared
- Build the As-Is process from interviews and actual working files
- Assess frequency, time, exceptions, impact, and controls consistently
- Compare removal, standardization, and automation options
- Pilot within a limited scope and agree the To-Be process and ownership
- Measure the same indicators before and after, then decide what to expand
Who this is for
- Teams whose procedures depend on individual memory
- Organizations preparing for automation or a system implementation
- Companies seeking to reduce cross-department waiting and duplicate entry
03 / HANDOVER
Deliverables
Deliverables are agreed for the project scope.
- 01As-Is and To-Be workflow maps
- 02Issue, exception, risk, and control register
- 03Option comparison and priorities
- 04Implementation roadmap, responsibilities, and measurement definitions
04 / IMPLEMENTATION
Implementation considerations
Define the boundary of the work first
A broad label such as “billing” means different things to different people. We define the starting event, completion condition, input information, final output, and exclusions on one page so everyone discusses the same scope.
Exceptions are recorded alongside the normal flow rather than postponed. Their type, frequency, decision owner, and required evidence show which steps can be automated and which still require human judgment.
Compare improvement candidates with the same criteria
Prioritizing only by task time can hide low-frequency but high-impact risks and short approvals that block many people. Each candidate is assessed for volume, total work and waiting time, rework, impact, rule clarity, data quality, and stakeholder count.
| Criterion | What to confirm | How it informs the decision |
|---|---|---|
| Frequency and volume | Monthly cases, peaks, and trends | Estimate repeatable benefit |
| Work and waiting | Separate active work from approval delay | Locate the bottleneck |
| Quality and impact | Rework, incorrect entry, customer impact | Define necessary controls |
| Rules and exceptions | Decision conditions and exception types | Assess standardization and automation |
| Data and integration | Formats, storage, and access | Identify preparation work |
Consider removal and standardization before automation
Transfers with no clear purpose, duplicate approvals that check the same thing, and unused reports should be challenged before they are made faster. Remaining steps receive consistent input formats and decision rules before an automation method is selected.
The plan also covers parallel operation during transition, training, maintenance, and fallback procedures. Completion means the work can be explained and operated after the original project members move on.
05 / FAQ
Frequently asked questions
Can we start with one small process?
Yes. We can begin with one process that has a clear start and finish, validate the improvement and measurement method, and then decide whether to expand.
Can Operix also build the automation or system?
Yes. Depending on the process findings, we compare Excel improvements, workflow automation, integrations, and business-system development.
Do you need to interview operational staff?
Yes. Actual exceptions and decisions are difficult to capture from management assumptions alone, so we confirm the process with the people doing the work.
How is impact measured?
We agree definitions in advance and compare the same periods and measures, such as active time, waiting, rework, errors, and review effort.
06 / REFERENCES
References
Check current official documentation when assessing methods and operating conditions.
- Ministry of Economy, Trade and IndustryDigital transformation (DX) in industry ↗
- Ministry of Economy, Trade and IndustryDX Promotion Indicators, 2026 revision ↗
- Information-technology Promotion Agency, JapanCybersecurity guidelines for SMEs, version 4.0 ↗