Granada Secondary Glazing
BSPOKE built a bespoke ERP for the window and door manufacturer, covering processes from machinery to customer relations through desktop and mobile applications.
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Service
Workflow automation built around the way your business works
When work moves between spreadsheets, inboxes and separate systems, people become responsible for remembering every next step. We build workflow automation around the rules, checks and handovers your business needs, with a clear route for work that still needs a person's judgement.
Where work slows down between systems
A process can depend on several capable systems and still require someone to keep it moving. Staff copy approved details into another application, chase missing information, allocate the next task and search email for the latest decision.
Start with one of those handovers. Establish what triggers the work, who owns it, what information is required and which decisions must remain with a person. That gives the automation a defined purpose.
Automate repeatable steps and keep people in control
Checks before work moves on
Validate required information and flag incomplete records before the next stage starts. Agree which checks can run automatically and which require review.
Approvals and ownership
Route work to the appropriate person or team, make the required decision clear and record the outcome. Escalation and delegation rules are defined around your operation.
Tasks, status and handovers
Create the next action when an agreed event occurs, make its status visible and connect relevant information to the systems your team already uses.
Exceptions and recovery
Give failed transfers, conflicting information and unusual cases a clear route for review. The design should make it possible to understand what happened and what needs attention.
One example: from request to approved work
Illustrative workflow. The steps depend on your process and systems.
- A request arrives with the information needed to assess it.
- Required fields and agreed rules are checked.
- A person reviews anything requiring judgement or approval.
- Approved work creates the next task or operational record.
- Relevant information passes to the downstream system through a supported interface.
- Missing data or a failed transfer appears in a review queue for a named owner.
The purpose is a process people can follow and support. An automatic step should have a defined input, outcome and failure route, rather than relying on someone noticing that work has stopped.
Choose the smallest useful change
Sometimes an existing platform can handle the workflow through configuration. Sometimes the main problem is exchanging data, in which case systems integration may be enough. Bespoke workflow software is worth assessing when the business rules or handovers need something more specific.
AI can help with selected tasks, such as interpreting a document, but it is not required for a defined approval or routing rule. Any AI step needs its own assessment of accuracy, data handling and human oversight.
Start with a practical first phase
Map one process with the people responsible for it. Agree where it starts and ends, which systems it touches and how success will be checked. That might mean fewer repeated entries, clearer ownership or a shorter wait between steps; the measure needs to fit the work.
Build and test the first phase against normal cases and exceptions. Agree how people will use it, who will respond to failures and how later changes will be prioritised. The scope, timescale and cost depend on the process and its dependencies.
Related experience
Experience building operational software
These projects show our experience with specialist business systems. The automation rules for your process would be assessed and designed separately.
Leicester City Council
BSPOKE replaced a Microsoft Access application with a desktop Job Costing system for the Highways Department, covering work orders, labour hours, costs and income.
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Common questions
Questions about workflow automation
No. Many workflows use defined rules, required information and human approvals. AI is assessed only where a particular task benefits from it, with the accuracy, data handling and oversight considered separately.
We first assess the systems involved, their versions and the interfaces or exports they provide. The available access determines what can be connected and whether configuration, integration or bespoke development is appropriate.
The workflow can route the task to an agreed person or role and record the decision before work continues. Approval, delegation and escalation rules are defined as part of the design.
Yes. A defined workflow can be assessed as a first phase, including its dependencies on other systems and teams. Its boundaries and acceptance checks are agreed before building it.
The design should identify the cases that need review, provide useful status and logs, and define who responds. Retries, duplicate prevention and recovery are considered where relevant to the connected systems.
Not necessarily. Existing platforms may remain in place, with configuration or a connection handling the handover. Replacement is considered when the underlying system can no longer support the process reliably or maintainably.