It stands to reason that when a company considers automating a process, the first question that comes to mind is how much it will cost to do so. Like any project, automation requires an investment that must be justified. However, there is another question that is often left out of the analysis: How much does it cost to continue performing that process manually?
Although they are not always explicitly identified, the hours spent on repetitive tasks, errors (which must later be corrected), information that arrives late, or dependence on certain people, for example, are also costs that, moreover, accumulate over the years.
The cost of a manual process goes far beyond just labor hours
Copying data between applications, reviewing documents, entering information into an ERP system, preparing reports, verifying invoices, or sending communications are tasks that may seem insignificant when considered individually. The problem arises when they are repeated hundreds or thousands of times over the course of a year.
For this reason, the cost of a manual process should not be calculated simply by multiplying the time spent by the cost of the person performing it. It is also important to consider what that person could be doing if they did not have to spend their workday on repetitive tasks. Every hour spent entering data or transferring information between systems is an hour not spent on activities that add greater value to the business.
Process automation is precisely what frees up that time. Through RPA, integrations, artificial intelligence, and other technologies, many repetitive tasks can be performed automatically, leaving people to focus on work that truly requires knowledge, judgment, and decision-making skills.
Mistakes are also part of the cost
A manual process not only consumes resources—it can also lead to errors. A figure entered incorrectly, a document that isn’t processed, data that isn’t updated, or a communication sent late can force you to redo part of the work and, in some cases, result in financial consequences or damage your relationship with a customer.
Furthermore, the cost of an error rarely ends the moment it occurs. Detecting it, pinpointing its source, correcting it, and verifying that the information is correct again also takes time. The more complex the process and the more systems involved, the greater the potential impact of these errors.
Automating certain processes allows you to establish rules and controls that are always executed in the same way. Even if automation cannot eliminate 100% of errors (although if the process is well-defined, they should indeed be eliminated entirely), it does reduce the errors associated with certain tasks and makes the process more consistent, traceable, and controllable.
Waiting also comes at a cost
Another cost that often goes unnoticed is the time a process spends waiting for human intervention. A request may remain pending until someone reviews it; an invoice may wait to be processed; a document may remain in an inbox until someone has time to review it.
In these cases, the problem isn’t necessarily that it takes someone a long time to complete the task. It might only take a few minutes. The problem is that those minutes depend on a person’s availability and their current workload.
Process automation can eliminate much of that waiting time when tasks do not require human intervention. The result is not only greater internal productivity; it can also lead to faster responses, more agile processes, and a better experience for customers and suppliers.
When knowledge is in a person’s mind
Many companies have processes that work because certain people know exactly how to carry them out. They know which document to consult, which data to verify, which exceptions to take into account, or what steps to take when something doesn’t add up.
This knowledge is valuable, but it can also lead to dependency. When the operation of a process depends on one or two people, an absence, a vacation, or a staff rotation can disrupt business continuity. And when that person leaves the company, some of that knowledge may disappear along with them.
Automation requires defining and structuring how a process works. Rules, conditions, validations, and interactions with other systems are no longer dependent solely on a person’s memory but become part of a reproducible procedure. In this sense, automation can also be a way to protect a company’s operational knowledge.
What works with 100 trades may not work with 10,000
A manual process can be perfectly manageable when the workload is light. The problem arises when the company grows. More customers, more orders, more invoices, or more paperwork usually mean more administrative work.
The traditional response is usually to increase the resources needed to do the work: more people, more hours, or more departments. But this model causes certain costs to grow at virtually the same rate as the business. If volume doubles, the effort required to manage the associated processes can also increase significantly.
Automation makes it possible to break that direct link between volume and resources. A properly automated process can handle a significant increase in operations without requiring a proportional increase in manual labor.
Data loses its value when it arrives late
Information also has an opportunity cost. If a company’s data is scattered across documents, emails, spreadsheets, and various applications, and someone has to manually collect and review that information before it can be used, decisions are delayed.
This is particularly relevant in a context where artificial intelligence is playing an increasingly important role in businesses. AI can analyze large amounts of data and assist in decision-making, but to do so, it needs access to available, reliable, and contextualized information.
For this reason, automation and data management are becoming increasingly intertwined. Automating the capture, transformation, and distribution of information ensures that data is available when needed and, at the same time, creates a more solid foundation for incorporating artificial intelligence solutions into business processes.
How much does it really cost not to automate?
Calculating the return on investment for automation shouldn’t just involve comparing the cost of the project with the hours of work that can be saved. The analysis should also take into account errors, wait times, reliance on specific individuals, difficulties in scaling, and missed opportunities that arise when resources are tied up performing repetitive tasks.
In other words, the cost of not automating can be summarized as a combination of time, errors, delays, dependency, lack of scalability, and missed opportunities. Not all of these costs appear on an invoice or have a specific line item in the accounting records, but that doesn’t mean they don’t exist.
That’s why, before deciding whether automating a process is worth it, it may be more helpful to reframe the question. Instead of asking ourselves only how much it costs to automate it, we should ask ourselves how much it costs to keep it as it is.
Automation starts with identifying where the cost lies
Not all processes need to be automated. The goal is not to replace every task performed by a person with a robot or an artificial intelligence solution. Automation makes sense when it solves a real problem and generates a tangible benefit for the organization.
The first step is to analyze current work processes: which tasks are repetitive, how much time they take, where errors occur, which systems are involved, what information is exchanged, and which parts of the process actually require human intervention. Based on this analysis, it is possible to identify the automation opportunities with the greatest impact.
At Devol, we help companies analyze their processes and identify where automation can add value, combining technologies such as RPA, systems integration, and artificial intelligence. Because automation shouldn’t just be about implementing technology—it should help the company operate more effectively, become more efficient, and focus its resources on what truly adds value.
