Workflow Sample: December 2017

Looking Back 2017

Thank you for reading this "Workflow Sample" through a year.

The year of 2017, which is the eighth year of blogging, as well, I could post 52 articles without missing even for single week. This is also thanks to you readers, for your "Like" and "Share".

For concluding at the end of the year, I made a survey for top 5 most viewed articles. The result is as follows.

Episode 515: Approval on Contract through Workflow! (Improved version) (2016-12-26)
Episode 462: Planning - Approval (Starter Template) (2015-12-21)
Episode 471: I won't Give an Approval to My Own Application! (by a director of a department) (2016-02-22)
Episode 463: Procurement Request (Starter Template) (2015-12-28)
Episode 510: "Post Facto Approval" in Expense Report Flow is Good Enough (2016-11-21)

Uggh... Sad thing is there is no tittle in 2017. (What is the worthwhile what we've been doing for a year?)

Ranking in Narrowed Down to 2017 Articles

Again, I made a survey on top 5 most viewed articles of 2017.

Episode 531: Automatic Search on TV Listings (2017-04-17)
Episode 519: What is Automation of Business Process (Part 2) (2017-01-22)
Episode 520: What is Automation of Business Process (Part 3) (2017-01-30)
Episode 521: What is Automation of Business Process (Part 4) (2017-02-06)
Episode 539: A Step to be Considered as "Received" when the Time Comes (2017-06-12)

Hmmm... As I thought, "Auto-" was the keyword. (Even though the mission of this blog is to provide "concrete work sample"), "topics with high abstraction" was more popular as the result of 2017.

[Generate Random Number on Server-side]

Operation: User's affiliation Information

"Management Department", "Sales Department", "Development Department"...

A Task of "corresponding to request for estimate" that is triggered by inquiry via website, for example. Although it is offered automatically to "someone in the Sales Department", as a matter of course, "users not belonging to the Sales Department" can not undertake permanently.

Again, in the operation of the workflow system, it is extremely important that information of members belonging to "Organization" are maintained in the latest state. If such basic information were not properly maintained, the Process owner's day-to-day business process improvement would be in vain.

Of course, it is also possible to define a Business Process such as "inputting that Supervisor: Jefferson" each time making request. But, it is inefficient. (Even it would likely end up to help violation of rules or fraud to become frequent...)

*Samples of Organizational Tree

Challenge: Group not in Organization tree

Concerning "affiliation information" of members, reservation for addition and deletion has been automatized using API. (Reference: Episode 565: General IT Control Achieved by Automatizing）.

However, how should I handle clusters of Users, such as "people qualified for Information security" or "Employee in training" or even "tennis circle"? I hesitate to call these as Organizations. First of all, hierarchy, I do not know where to put it in the tree structure of the organization... Certainly, a "tennis circle" is not in charge of official company work, so there is no obligation to maintain it. But you might want to take advantage of User groups such as "qualifier of information security" or "employees in training " for designing "allocation rule"...

[Account Issuance-ML Registration-Reservation]

Operation: User Management

When "job transfer of employee" occurs, the affairs of the IT department will increase.

In a case Mr. Ichiro is changed from "Sales department" to "Customer service department", for example... Speaking of Google Group, you have to delete the member "ichiro@example.com" as a member from "sales@example.com" and add members to "cs@example.com".

Note that in such a case, in consideration on "handover", it supposed to be an operation that addition to joining organization as a member will be conducted on April the 1st and deletion from withdrawing organization will be on April 30th.

Challenge: Automatize Change of Affiliation Information

As for the Google Group setting, it has been automatized by a business template in "Episode 544: Easy Management of Mailing List by Cooperating with Google Group (2)"! Since timer processing is also automatized in "API cooperation", mistakes and omission can hardly occur.

However, there is a lot more to do for "change of group setting". (Directory services are not almighty.)

Uhh? I want to automatize changes of organizational assignment also on the Workflow platform... But how do I do?

[Account Issuance-ML Registration-General IT Control]

Operation: Order processing by FAX

To receive orders by FAX, and handle it.

In this cloud era, "things natural for human to do" a decade ago are also objects of labor saving / unmanned.

Actually, since we started using cloud fax service (Internet FAX) "eFax", "paper" ceased to exist. Since the received file is also automatically linked to the cloud-based Workflow "Questetra BPM Suite", human processing such as "Confirmation of order contents" is also recorded properly on-line. (Simple email collaboration)

I won't look for a sheet of "paper" anymore. Business improvement has already been done greatly. But at the same time, I am feeling like I can make even more improvement.

Challenge: List viewing of FAX files

For example, as these "cloud computing" and "digitalization" progressed, I have unexpected trouble in responding to business audits. Of course, I can ask them to log in Workflow system and use its monitoring function and data reference function to see the data, but it takes time to get used to the operation since there are too many "unnecessary functions for them" in the Workflow system. (A lot of explanation is troublesome)

And from their lips, "a word that goes backwards against the time" pops out ..., "Please print the order form on paper and bind it." . . (Oh, my god!)

Can I make "a lot of order FAX files" into a form that makes it easy to see / to search for, somehow?

[Order FAX Handling]