Someone says a task is slow, and the next sentence is "can we automate it?". Often the answer is yes. Sometimes the slow step is only where the problem shows, not where it starts. Five quick questions tell the two apart. Read how they work, then run your own task through them at the end.
A tool copies the way a task is done today, with the data it is given. If the task is too small, the data is wrong, the information lives on paper or nobody does it the same way twice, the tool copies that too. It just does it faster.
So before anyone prices a tool, a task goes through five gates, in order. Each one only makes sense once the one before it has passed.
The five gates
Each gate asks one question. A task either passes and moves on, or stops and shows what to fix first. Many tasks pass straight through.
Worth it?
Does it take enough time to matter, and can it be done by rules?
PassesIt takes hours every week and follows the same logic, like sorting job sheets by due date and courier.
StopsIt takes minutes a week, or needs a judgement call every time, like deciding which late order goes first.
If it stopsLeave it. A saved filter, a template or a checklist will do. Come back if the hours grow.
Data right?
Can you trust the information the task starts from?
PassesThe ERP or the export is right most of the time. A tool can work from it as it is.
StopsStock isn't where the system says, counts never match, or jobs are set up wrong. A tool would give wrong answers faster.
If it stopsFix the process that feeds the data, not the spreadsheet. Trace one wrong value back to where it went wrong.
On screen?
Does the information start on a screen, or on paper?
PassesIt comes from the ERP, a file or an email. Nothing has to be typed in twice.
StopsIt is written on a sheet and typed in later, if at all. Nothing on paper can be automated.
If it stopsDigitalise at the source: the same form, filled in on a tablet or PC where the work happens. That is often the first small tool.
One way?
Is the task done the same way, by everyone?
PassesThe steps could be written as a list anyone could follow. Exceptions are known and rare. One expert is fine: the tool keeps their rules.
StopsEvery shift does it differently, so a tool would copy the confusion.
If it stopsWatch two people do it, agree one way and write it as a short checklist.
Automate
Passed the first four gates: the task is worth a tool.
The tool does the task the agreed way, from the data you already have, every time. People get the hours back and the mistakes stop travelling.
A real one: about 80 job sheets a day, sorted by hand for an hour. The rules were clear and the data came from the ERP. Now it takes about a minute. Watch it run →
Why this order
Each gate only makes sense once the one before it has passed. Check them out of order and you fix something that was never going to pay, or build on a problem that is still there.
When a task passes, it goes straight to a tool. When it stops, the fix comes first, and the tool that follows has something solid to stand on.
That is the theory. The check below runs one of your own tasks through the same five gates, so you don't have to work it out from the page. You get the gate it stops at, what to do first, and a result you can copy into an email or send to whoever decides.
Not sure which task to try? Take the last one someone asked to automate.
Run your own task through the gates
Name one task, nine quick taps. Use it again on every task someone wants automated.
Use it whensomeone asks "can we automate this?" · before a supplier quotes for a tool · a task feels slow and nobody knows why
What we do with it
We work at every gate, not only the last one. Gates 2 to 4 are floor work: tracing data back, getting it on screen, agreeing one way. That is what the one-day process review is for. It costs £600, credited in full against any build.
When a task passes the first four gates, we build the tool for a fixed price agreed in writing. Your first tool is paid for only when it works as agreed.