Automation, so repeated work runs itself.
Workflow and process automation hands the steps people repeat every day to the system: raising documents, moving approvals, sending reminders and escalating what is stuck. Helmsman builds that automation around your own rules, inside the software you already run or a new system, so work moves on time without someone chasing it.
From $3,000Typically $3,000 to $80,000See pricing
Last updated
Who needs workflow automation?
You probably need it if…
- Approvals sit in someone's inbox until a person remembers to ask.
- Routine documents are typed by hand from information the system already holds.
- Reminders to customers, vendors and staff depend on who is in the office that day.
- Nobody can say where a request is stuck, or who has it.
- Your best people spend their mornings copying, checking and forwarding.
What does workflow automation include?
- 01
Approval workflows
Your rules, enforced by the system
Approvals that follow how your company decides things (by amount, by department or by role), with a record of who approved what and when.
- 02
Escalations & alerts
Nothing waits quietly
When a step is overdue, the system tells the next person in line, so delays surface the same day instead of at month-end.
- 03
Document generation
Documents that raise themselves
Orders, invoices, delivery notes and other routine documents created from the record that already exists, instead of being typed again.
- 04
Reminders & notifications
Follow-ups that do not rely on memory
Payment reminders, renewal notices and task alerts sent on schedule to customers, vendors and staff.
- 05
Scheduled jobs
Routine work, run on time
Reports, data transfers and checks that run on a schedule, without anyone having to start them.
- 06
Request tracking
Every request has an owner
Internal requests for purchase, leave or service logged, assigned and tracked to closure, so anyone can see where each one stands.
- 07
Audit trail
Who did what, and when
Every automated step recorded, so the history of any document can be traced from start to finish.
How does Helmsman deliver workflow automation?
The full approachAutomation starts with how the work runs today. Helmsman sits with the people who do it, maps each step, who approves it and where it waits, and agrees in writing which steps the system should take over. A broken process that is automated only makes its mistakes faster, so the process is put right first.
The rules are then built into the software you already run, or into a new system where nothing suitable exists, and rolled out one process at a time so people see each step working before the next is added. After go-live the rules keep evolving with the business: a new approval limit, a new department or a new reminder is usually a change in settings, not a rebuild.
- 01UnderstandProcess map
- 02AnalyseRequirement document
- 03ArchitectSolution structure
- 04DesignScreens and flows
- 05DevelopWorking software
- 06ImplementLive system
- 07EvolveOngoing support
Industries we build this for
Automation questions, answered.
What is workflow automation?
Workflow automation is software that moves work from one step to the next on its own: sending a document for approval, alerting the next person, raising the next document and reminding anyone who is late. The rules are yours, and the system applies them the same way each time.
What is the difference between process automation and workflow automation?
They overlap. Process automation usually means handing a repeated task to the system, such as raising an invoice from an order. Workflow automation usually means moving work between people, such as routing a purchase request through its approvals. Most businesses need both.
Which business processes should we automate first?
The ones repeated most often by the most people, and the ones where work waits for someone to remember. That is usually orders and stock, billing, approvals, or attendance and payroll.
Can you automate processes in the software we already use?
Often, yes. If the software can share its data through an API (an agreed way for two systems to exchange information) or through exports, automation can be built around it. Where it cannot, only that part needs replacing.
Will automation replace our staff?
No. It takes the copying, chasing and re-typing off their desks, so the same people can spend their time on work that needs judgement.
What happens if an automated step fails?
Someone is told at once. Automation is built so that a failed step raises an alert, instead of being discovered at month-end.