Table of Contents
Why Administrative Automation Is Essential
If you're like mostmanufacturing companies, you've invested heavily in your production capacitybut put your administrative and support departments on the back burner—orneglected them altogether.
You know your machine uptimedown to the decimal, but do you know how many hours per week are lost to dataentry, invoice processing, or report generation?
The answer is usually unknownor vague, but it can be summed up in two words: way too many.
We're talking about 30 to 40%of work time spent on repetitive administrative tasks. Lost hours that costbetween $50,000 and $150,000 per year in productivity. And the worstpart? These tasks frustrate your best employees who would rather contribute inother ways.
That's where administrativeprocess automation comes in.
Let's look at how Quebecmanufacturers can reclaim this lost time, with measurable results and a provenreturn on investment.
Quebec's Productivity Gap
Let's start with a hard truth:hourly productivity in Quebec sits at $56.40 compared to $59.20for the rest of Canada. A 4.7% gap that compounds year after year.
For manufacturers, thisproductivity lag directly translates into lost competitiveness. And asignificant chunk of this gap comes from inefficient administrative processes.
The manufacturing sectoremploys 441,000 workers in Quebec, representing 11.1% of totalemployment. That's massive. And every hour lost on repetitive tasks is moneygoing down the drain.
The Results Speak for Themselves
Here's a stat that should makeyou think: 81% of Quebec businesses have improved their productivitythrough automation. That number was 66% just a few years ago. The trend isclear.
Even more encouraging: 62%of businesses achieve ROI in under 3 years on their automation projects.
These aren't empty promises.These are concrete results documented by the CFIB and Investissement Québec.
The Top 10 Administrative Tasks to Automate
Not all tasks are created equalwhen it comes to automation. Some deliver quick, significant wins. Othersrequire more effort for fewer results.
Here are the tasks that deserveyour attention first.
1. Accounts Payable Processing
This is often the first processto automate, and for good reason.
A concrete example? Beforeautomation, processing an invoice takes an average of 10 minutes. After?2 minutes. An 80% reduction in time.
What does that mean inpractice? With the same number of employees, you can process 50% more invoices.The cost per invoice drops from $10 to $2. And data entry errors? Reduced by90%.
2. Data Entry and Document Management
Manual data entry is thenightmare of many administrative teams.
A typical case: a manufacturingSME spending 25 hours per week on manual data entry. With documentautomation, that drops to 30 minutes. A 98% reduction in time.
Sounds too good to be true? AQuebec manufacturer achieved exactly this with a document automation solution,reducing their administrative workload by 80%.
3. Invoicing and Payment Tracking
Invoicing is inevitable. But itshouldn't consume so much time.
With automation, invoices aregenerated automatically from your system data. Payment reminders go out ontheir own. Payment tracking happens without manual intervention.
Gone are the days when someonehad to spend hours each week creating invoices and chasing clients.
4. Customer Order Management
A customer sends an order byemail. Someone has to read the email, extract the information, enter it intothe system, and send a confirmation.
With automation, processinghappens automatically. The order comes in, gets integrated directly into yourERP, and the confirmation goes out to the customer. No human interventionrequired.
5. Inventory Tracking and Procurement
Manual inventory tracking leadsto errors and stockouts. Or worse, overstocking that ties up capital.
Automation enables procurementorders to trigger automatically based on your thresholds. Stock levels updatein real time. Alerts go out when needed.
6. Leave and Absence Management
Leave requests circulating byemail or on paper are outdated.
With an automated system, theemployee submits their request, the manager approves with one click, thecalendar updates, and payroll adjusts automatically.
7. Email and Communication Processing
Email sorting is an invisibletask that eats up enormous amounts of time.
Automation can route emailsautomatically to the right people, extract important information, and triggerappropriate actions without someone having to read every message.
8. Report and Dashboard Generation
How much time do your managersspend compiling data for their weekly reports?
With automation, reportsgenerate themselves. Data is up-to-date in real time. No more wasting hourscopying and pasting numbers from one system to another.
9. Quote and Proposal Management
Preparing a quote is often amanual process that requires pulling information from multiple systems.
Automation enables quotegeneration from templates, with pricing and customer information pre-filled.Tracking pending quotes happens automatically.
10. HR Processes (Resumes, Onboarding)
Resume screening, interviewscheduling, new employee onboarding... all of this can be largely automated.
Companies that automate theirHR processes reduce their recruitment time by 40 to 60%.
What Does Administrative Automation Really Cost?
This is THE question everyoneasks. And it's perfectly normal to want to know before diving in.
5 Steps to Start Automating Your Processes
You don't jump into automationwithout a plan. Here's an approach that works.
Step 1: Identify Your Most Costly Processes
Before thinking abouttechnology, you need to know where you're losing the most time.
Take inventory of youradministrative processes. How much time does each one take per week? How manyerrors does it generate? How many people are involved?
Processes that require a lot oftime, generate frequent errors, and involve multiple people are yourpriorities.
Step 2: Prioritize "Quick Wins"
Don't aim for completetransformation right out of the gate.
Start with processes that offerthe best effort-to-result ratio. Invoice processing, report generation, emailsorting... these are often good candidates to start with.
The goal: visible results in 2to 6 weeks to build momentum.
Step 3: Choose the Right Technologies
RPA, OCR, AI, ERP... theoptions are numerous. How do you navigate them?
We'll cover this in detail inthe next section, but the principle is simple: choose the technology thataddresses your specific need, not the most impressive one on paper.
Step 4: Implement Gradually (Agile Approach)
The classic mistake is wantingto change everything at once.
The agile approach worksbetter: deploy in stages, test, adjust, then expand. You minimize risks andlearn along the way.
Step 5: Measure and Optimize
What doesn't get measureddoesn't get improved.
Define your metrics from thestart. Time saved per process, errors avoided, costs reduced... Track themregularly and adjust based on results.
Technologies and Tools for Administrative Automation
RPA (Robotic Process Automation)
RPA is like having a virtualemployee who handles repetitive tasks for you.
It can click through yoursystems, copy data from one software to another, fill out forms... anything ahuman does repetitively, RPA can do faster and without errors.
It's particularly useful fortasks that involve multiple systems that don't naturally communicate with eachother.
OCR and Document Processing
OCR (Optical CharacterRecognition) enables automatic data extraction from your documents.
A vendor invoice arrives as aPDF? OCR reads the document, extracts the amount, invoice number, date, andsends that information to your accounting system. No manual entry required.
According to McKinsey, up to60% of administrative tasks can be automated with these technologies.
ERP and Integrated Systems
A well-configured ERPcentralizes your data and reduces duplicate entry.
But here's the key distinction:an ERP manages your data, while RPA/OCR automation automates the processes thatfeed your ERP. They're complementary, not competing.
Artificial Intelligence for Complex Tasks
AI goes further than RPA fortasks that require judgment.
Document classification, emailanalysis, demand forecasting... AI can make simple decisions that RPA cannot.
For most SMEs, RPA and OCRcover 80% of administrative needs. AI comes in afterward for more complexcases.
Mistakes to Avoid During Automation
Automating Poorly Defined Processes
This is the most commonmistake.
If your process is chaotic inmanual mode, automating it won't make it better. On the contrary, you'll beautomating chaos.
Before automating, take thetime to clarify and optimize the process. Only then should you automate.
Neglecting Team Training
Automation changes how peoplework. Your teams need to understand the new tools and processes.
It's like a gym membership. Youcan have the best equipment, but if nobody knows how to use it properly, youwon't get the expected results.
Plan time and resources fortraining and support.
Aiming Too Big Too Fast
The urge to transformeverything at once is understandable. But it's risky.
Automation projects thatsucceed start small, prove their value quickly, then expand. Those that failoften try to do everything at the same time.
FAQ – Administrative Task Automation
What are the most profitable administrative tasks to automate first?
The "quick wins" toprioritize: accounts payable processing (80% time savings), email management(automatic sorting and routing), and report generation (complete automation).These tasks deliver visible ROI in 2 to 6 weeks.
How much does administrative task automation cost for a manufacturing SME?
For a micro-business: around$20,000. For an average manufacturing SME: $500,000 (median investment). Butyou can start gradually with $20,000 to $50,000 for 2-3 critical processes,then expand based on results.
How quickly can you see a return on investment?
62% of Quebec businessesachieve ROI in under 3 years. For small SMEs with simple projects: 3 to 6months. Productivity gains are visible within the first few weeks (1 to 3 hoursrecovered per day per employee).
Will automation eliminate jobs in my company?
No. The goal is to eliminaterepetitive tasks and redeploy your employees to higher-value positions. 81% ofQuebec manufacturing companies that automate improve their productivity withoutreducing their workforce.
Which technologies should I choose: RPA, OCR, AI, or ERP?
They're complementary. RPAautomates repetitive tasks that follow defined rules, OCR extracts data fromdocuments, AI handles complex decisions or processes requiring flexibility. For80% of administrative needs, start with RPA and OCR.
Take Action
Administrative processautomation is no longer reserved for large corporations. Quebec manufacturingSMEs can achieve concrete results with reasonable investments and fast ROI.
The question is no longerwhether you should automate, but where to start.
We offer an ROI calculator to accurately calculate what your current administrative processes are costing you and identify priority opportunities for improvement.
We have designed it to enable you to quickly assess administrative costs and see the potential for automating your routine tasks.
Try this tool in just a few minutes to start saving right away.
