Automation makes a process faster. If the process is good, that is a gift. If it is unclear, full of exceptions and workarounds, automation produces the same confusion — just faster, and with less chance that anyone notices.
The temptation to automate first
When a process hurts, the obvious move is to automate it. But a painful process is usually painful for a reason: unclear responsibilities, missing data, steps that exist because of a problem that was solved years ago. Automating it locks all of that in.
A typical example from quoting: the workflow copies the quotation into the ERP — including the three manual corrections that were always made by hand, because the price list was never fixed. The automation now has to reproduce errors on purpose.
Four steps, in this order
The second step is the one most often skipped, and the one that saves the most. Every step removed is a step that never has to be automated, tested or maintained.
What this has to do with configurators
The same principle applies to product configurators: a configurator does not fix unclear product rules, it exposes them. That is why the preparation phase takes as long as it does — see How Long Does a Configurator Project Really Take?
Automate a clear process, and you multiply its value. Automate chaos, and you multiply the chaos.
Want to clarify a process before it is automated? We build, run and monitor systems ourselves — and we know where automation pays off and where it becomes a risk.