Episode 491: Bank CSV Data into Google SpreadSheet

"Are you transcribing the banking logs?"

Every bank in Japan give you a booklet referred to "Passbook". When you insert it into an ATM, all the records of deposit and withdrawal will be printed on it fine and clear. However, as long as the "Passbook" is a paper booklet, people who are accessible to the information in it are limited. Yet, it is cumbersome to enter the data into "Bank book.xis" manually.

The following Business flow is an operation of exporting account activity to Google SpreadSheet.

It is a mechanism that automatically appending to specified SpreadSheet when importing "Account activity" which can be obtained through online service provided by the bank. In this example, a Script has been set to retrieve a tab delimited file in a format referred as "ANSER-API" which is widely used in Japanese Banks.

I would call this as "Online Passbook"... Isn't it convenient?

[Activity Log Registration]

Draw a Court Process in BPMN (flow of Criminal Procedure)

In the previous article, I introduced Japanese "Civil Procedure" and a Process Diagram of it.

The following represents trial process of "Criminal Procedure" in Japan.

This Process Diagram will be helpful for understanding the outline of Criminal Procedure, its "Three-trial system" and the "positioning of the Summary Court". Also, it will help to aware of the "difference between Civil Procedure and Criminal Procedure" by comparing with trial process of Civil Procedure.

For instance, it has not generally been recognized that an appellate against the "first instance in Summary Court" moves to "High Court in a Criminal procedure, whereas it is brought in District Court in Civil Procedure. Or else, recognition by the Flow chart will promote understanding the difference which "submission of Indictment" by prosecutor will trigger a Criminal Procedure, whereas "Filing of Complaint" by plaintiff will do a Civil Procedure.

"Process Diagram" is indispensable in understanding the "rules" whatever it is the law statement or the company regulations.

<Reference>

• OUTLINE OF CIVIL PROCEDURE IN JAPAN
• OUTLINE OF CRIMINAL PROCEDURE IN JAPAN

[Criminal Procedure flow]

Draw a Court Process in BPMN (flow of Civil Litigation)

Most of what is called "rule" are described in "text".

• Law
• Administrative Procedures
• Company regulations
• School regulations

And therein, the "flow of the procedure " is also described.

Needless to say, the costs for "understanding the entire rule" would be significantly reduced if there was a"Process Diagram". The Process Diagram, "Deliberation Process on the Bill" which I have introduced in the last article, is also very useful for understanding the Japanese legislative rules.

The following Process Diagram, which I am going to introduce this time, is "Court Process for Civil Litigation."

The "judicial rules" in Japan has been drawn there, and it can be said that is an effective figure for understanding the "Three-trial system" or "positioning of the summary court". For example, if they have embedded this diagram onto their website, it would surely contribute to the understanding of site visitors.

Incidentally, please be noted that the following business Process Diagram is described as being limited to "ordinary suit" (legal disputes between individuals) within the "Civil Suits". (Not includes Criminal procedure, Administrative litigation, Patent litigation, Domestic Relations Cases or Juvenile Cases)

[Civil Suits flow]

Draw a "Bill Deliberation Process" of the National Diet in a Business Flow Diagrams! (Vol. 2)

'I see, In Japan, Laws are established through the deliberations by both of "the house of Representatives" and "the House of Councillors".'

If you want to let someone to understand this basic framework (only), the Business Process Diagram (Workflow Chart) which I introduced before contains too many information. I can hardly say that it is easy to browse / to understand. That is because it describes a variety of details of Flows that may happen.

Indeed, even though it has been described focusing on "pathways which may realistically chosen", I cannot hardly say that it is easily to understand (e.g.) the notable "Flow of 60 days rule", which is a measure for the conclusion by re-vote in the House of Representatives when deliberations in the House of Councillors were prolonged. Further consideration will be needed if it is used for "Civics textbook" or for "newspaper article".

The following Business Process Diagram is a simplified version of previous Business Process Diagram.

This also can be said that a flow chart for explaining the "backbone" of the Business Process. Although some part of "procedures actually possibly occur" has been omitted, there is no inconvenience in understanding the mechanism or to check the status of deliberations. (Cases that the succeeding House passed the bill with alteration, etc.)

[Bill Deliberation in the National Diet-2]

Draw a "Bill Deliberation Process" of the National Diet in a Business Flow Diagrams!

"The establishment process of the bill is hard to understand."

Japanese laws are created in the Diet of Japan. Anyone knows that. However, when it comes to "How they are created?"(rules and its procedure), it is not easy to explain.

In the first place, there are various tasks for the "business" of the National Diet other than "examination on the bill", those approvals to such as "budget" and "nomination of the Prime Minister" or "conclusion of a treaty", and resolutions including "motion of no confidence". These Business Processes resemble to each other, but there are also differences. For example, steps like "re-passed by the 60-day rule" which is told by the media on a daily basis recently does not exist in the procedure to determine the "budget".

The following is a "Process for examination on bills". The function of "Deemed rejection" (60 day rule) can be understood well.

By the way, in the "process" here, so-called "consensus-building process" of the parliamentary Steering Committee is not included. (Such things are too complex to write...)

[Bill Deliberation in the National Diet]

Centrally Management for the Quotation Data

"I need to sell it, even discounting it!"

As a matter of course it depends on the industry, 'a quotation that is required to be approved' is often needed in the business scene. Sometimes numbers of Quotations which are different in 'Delivery deadline' or 'estimated price' are needed.

However, for the supervisor, he / she cannot approve on so many quotations that look alike so soon.

• Is the 'Delivery Deadline' right?
• Is the 'discounted price' fair?
• Is the 'expiration of quotes' proper?

The job for approver is to make judgements comparing with others. (It is not a job to find a transcription error or typographical error.)

The following Quotation Approval flow is to generate Quotation PDF automatically after the quotation data have been approved. On the Step of approval judgement, the approver can concentrate on the job. For example, it is also easy to make a judgment by comparing with the past quotations that had been approved or rejected.

As a matter of course, quotation data will be accumulated beautifully, if the Quotation approval operation is processed along this Workflow. Along with, approved quotation PDF will also be accumulated. The knowledge of predecessor will be taken over. Isn't it wonderful?

[Quotation Approval flow]

How to 'Start Temporary' Own Application by Email

There is a term of "Business Process Improvement".

A person who speak of it in abbreviation BPI, may be a severe 'Improvement-maniac'. Nevertheless, to keep on delusioning a vision of a 'Business Process' To-Be on the daily basis, is wonderful. After all, After all, Day-to-day operations of all would be a subject that should be improved along with the progress of science and technology. A "Business Process Management System" is merely a tool to help for conceiving the improvement idea. No improvement, no growth!

Well... I have covered the Business Processes that employees to submit their 'Improvement proposals', so far. Those are in the following two articles which explains effective frameworks for an Organization to accumulate improvement ideas.

• The Sample before the last: Framework in which employees themselves can enter their improvement proposals voluntarily at anytime
• The last: Framework for letting the workers to submit improvement proposals forcibly

However, ideas always come up suddenly. Particularly, a good idea that I hit upon, it comes up always on unfavorable occasion... In my bed, in shower, or even in the bathroom... Then, the next moment, it starts to evaporate into the air.

On such a scene, you'd better type it down on the email apps in your Smartphone.

In the following Business Process definition sample, I have added a trick that on receiving an email of 'scribble of an idea', it will be saved as a draft in [My Tasks] of the sender. That is, you will brush up your 'scribbled idea' into a formal 'Improvement proposal' to submit, when next time you are at your desk.

[Improvement Proposal flow (Designation / Email start)]

Sometimes, 'Proposal' must be Forced for Continuous Improvement

The purpose of Business Process Management (BPM) is 'Continuous Business Improvement'.

Indeed, if you create a "Business Process Definition" once, business data will be passed efficiently, and be accumulated with less noises, under the name of Business Standardization. That makes you feel like as if your business has been improved magnificently. However, on the other hand, suppose if you continue using it as it is. The way of proceeding your business will become stale soon, and it will no longer be able to keep up with changes in the market environment.

It is needless to say, but it is desirable that improvement proposal of "Business process Definition" will keep on springing naturally from inside the company, in order to achieve continuous improvement. That is, by their free will, employees should continuously submit improvement proposal, such as;

• What if changing [the Business flow] to ******?
• How about changing [the notes on Operating screen] as ******?

In the last article of "Business Process for Business Process Improvement!?", I have considered about an environment in which all the employees can propose at anytime.

Whereas, it is still difficult to continue pointing out the improvement challenges realistically. So today, we are going to discuss about a mechanism which you can let workers submit improvement proposals forcibly, by expanding the previous sample.

[Improvement Proposal flow (Designation)]

Business Process for Business Process Improvement!?

Want to improve Business Process. Everyone thinks so.

• Want tochange the 'flow'.
• Want tochange the 'data items'
• Want to change the "team formation"

Having said so, there are not many supervisors who understand (a) What is 'to be improved'? Suppose some of them have acknowledged several challenges, there are quite less supervisors who understand (b) which improvement is on high priority now. Furthermore, suppose some of them knew the priority, supervisors who know (c) how to improve the, are very rare...

Even if there is a platform (BPM System) to improve the Business Processes, it is human that actually makes changes in the rules.

Unfortunately, it is a long way to go to the days when a computer would give proposals for improvement to humans, understanding the company policy, personality of the members, and the situation of society, etc... All we can do is to start to recognize the points which should be improved.

• a. Recognition of what to improve.
• b. Consideration over the priority.
• c. Formulation of improvement policy (consensus)

The following Workflow is a Business process which the workers at their work site propose 'what to be improved' to help their supervisor to 'a. Recognize what to improve'. Even if all the employees make their proposal once a week, quite a lot of 'things to be improved' will be accumulated.

Incidentally, this is, "Easier said than done".

It might be taken to devise such as:

• All the proposals will be rewarded with $ 5.
• Monthly commendation of MVP (Most Valuable Proposal)

[Improvement Proposal flow]

Embedding Business Data in Auto-email! (Files, Choices...)

'Embedding data into automated emails, it is helpful!'

Someone Starts an issue, it flows through Business flow diagram, and it passes through a "certain point" in the flow diagram. Then,
sending an email Automatically or
generating a PDF document Automatically, etc....

That's right, Automating of business operations will cut 'business costs' largely, will reduce 'mistakes', and will eliminate 'forgotten to do'. Especially the automatic [e-mail], is a highly versatile for sending a "business alert" to persons concerned with in the company, or sending "Acceptance Completion notice" towards the outside.

The following is a sample (Business Template) that you can experience the data embedding into 'auto-email'.

You can experience how the generated email body seems like when embedding various data such as String type or Date type or File type, etc.. Previously, I had published a sample of "You can experience the [input interface]", it has become popular content surprisingly. So I'm trying to get lucky again. There isn't any "discussion of how to proceed work" as in the usual articles. (I feel emptiness somehow...)

"String type(!), Date type(!!), File type(?!), Discussion type(?!!)" (2014-02-24)

= Official Manuals =
M224 Auto Sending of Email with Business data Inserted

[Auto-email Test]

[Email setting screen]

"Contrivance to Save In-house Ideas" on Workflow

An [Idea] is a seed of a businesses.

1. Without an [idea], no flower of New Product blooms.
2. Without an [idea], no flower of New Process blooms.
3. Without an [idea], no flower of New Market blooms.
4. Without an [idea], no flower of New Source blooms.
5. Without an [idea], no flower of New Organization blooms.5

However, many [Ideas] will be gone dead in immature. That is, even if it pops up in the brain of someone, the 90% of them would evaporate without getting out from the brain, and the rest of 10%, which has luckily escaped from the brain, would extinct without being able to parasitize other brain successfully. The survival rate of [idea] is unbelievably low. (The one who came across to the idea him/herself, would totally forget about it in overnight.)

Imagine if the [Idea] could be cultivated to cherish,,,
Imagine if the [Idea] could be emanated to in-house,,,
a flower garden of innovation would spread...

The following Workflow is for collecting [Ideas] of in-house. It assumes to be used at field of product development. Unlike the "Voice of the Customer", fresh "Voice of inside company" (proposal) come gathering. Of course, "production technique that depends largely on the talent of someone" as film production and literary works, is not to be denied. However, in many organizations, a system in which superior [idea] in the organization to be used effectively should be established.

[Product Idea Development flow]

String type(!), Date type(!!), File type(?!), Discussion type(?!!)

'Input Form, How will it kook?'

'Input Form' is important for a Workflow system. Particularly, for the person in charge of [Process Modeling](*) at the scene, it worries that how the input screen would come along. You need to seriously think about, for example, what and where a precautionary statement should be described to help the colleagues of the organization. (* Object that the people in charge of the "Process Modeling" created -> Process Model)

With that said, the following is an experiencing sample of the input form. String type, Date type, File type... You can experience inputting into various [Data type items] at one time. Even though you can download only a template that can be imported to the cloud-based workflow "Questetra BPM Suite", "data input experience" might be essential In the selection process of the workflow product.

I am going to upload the template in the "Online Demo". However, because it could have been edited, you should better to import it to your "Free SaaS Edition" if you are a user. (Would not hurt.)

By the way, we have been continuing to provide 'samples' for three and a half years in this website "Workflow-Sample", but I think this article is so much not related to the 'business improvement' for the first time.

[Input Test]

Dynamic Choices and Static Choices, Example in Host City Selection Flow

There are two types of Decision Making; 'pros and cons on one proposal' and 'choose from several proposals'.

"RINGI", a traditional unique Japanese business practices, is a Workflow that is to make a decision over 'one proposal', to approve or not. (Collecting signatures (stamps) from a terrible number of people. So the paper almost looks red.)

In the other hand, the following Workflow is a example of a Selecting Workflow to choose from 'multiple choices'.
In this example, "Host City candidates" will be enumerated in the upstream operation together with study on benefits and problems of each them. And in the "Host City" is determined in the downstream operation. You can put it to practical use such as a serious business of "selection of the seminar venues" or 'choosing destination of company outing', an easy one.

As a matter of course, the options for the final decision will differ each time. That means, even if you want to show the options in the selection interface at the downstream operation, they will not be the same depending on each matter in question. In such a case, I use a technique that to display data which was entered in each line of "String type multiple line" in the upstream process, as "options of the downstream process". For example, if texts in three lines;

Tokyo
Madrid
Istanbul

are entered in the [Host City Candidates] at upstream operation, 'Tokyo/Madrid/Istanbul' will be listed in the Selectbox (or Radio button) of [Host City] in the process of downstream.

[Olympic Games Host City Selection flow]

Operations that not be Defined its Processing Procedure Clearly, also on Workflow!

It is difficult to design 'an ad hoc Process'. (Or, it is difficult even to understand what this means.)

"Ad hoc" in other words, 'not decided how and by whom it should be treated'. In terms of the Business Processes, for example it is an operation despite you know there exist three processes, in some cases these processes would be handled in order of [Process A] - [Process B] - [Process C], but in other cases [Process A] and [Process B] would be handled simultaneously after [Process C] has been processed. Originally meaning of the [ad hoc] is "non-repetitive" or "non-permanent".

Even though it may be a little confusing,,,
First of all, BPMN as 'notation of Business Process Diagram' has a mission to well-define 'a Business flow of repetitive and predefined'. But in the other hand, BPMS (BPM System) as a 'Business system', should manage all the business progress (whether repetitive or not). After all, it is very hard for BPMS how to handle 'a Business flow unlikely to pre-defined'.

In Questetra, it is devised to handle such ad hoc processes by 'ganging up'. That is, it is a concept that 'putting multiple Tasks together as one, and handling it with everybody'. Specifically, it is trying to solve it by providing a cooperative work by the following three functions. In fact, this is the point which attracts attention from IT research companies and IT society.

1. [Team Task], which is available for multiple people to discuss. (Tasks on a Team Swimlane)
2. Discussion type data (Special text type datya item which concerning people can continue to append the time-stamped comment)
3. Enterprise Social Networking (Posts that tagged the Process ID will be associated with the Process)

[Investment Decisions flow]

Registry Flow of New Share through Third-party Allotment

Precisely establish "daily work procedures", and rotate it efficiently and with fun.
"Decision-making", "Drafting", "Complaint handling"... through a Workflow system, you can proceed the work efficiently and without missing.

On the other hand, it is also quite important to establish "unusual operating procedure " precisely.
It is good especially that processings of business will be automatically recorded. You can see when and which document it was (is) processed. The operational efficiency of the successor will be improved dramatically, if reusing past data become available.

In the following Workflow definition, administrative procedures of "issuance of new shares to a third party allocation" (fund procurement) have defined.
It occurs frequently in venture businesses. Even it is not bad that you would leave it to the "judicial scrivener" every time, but you can save several tens of thousand JPY the "judicial scrivener fees" of each time, if you can handle it by yourself, including the administrative registration to the Legal Affairs Bureau. Moreover, when you get used to registration itself, you'll be able to do registration of the "Share Option issuance" and"Reappointment of officer" of each year, by yourself!

[Share issuance Procedure flow]