Process mapping shows who does the work, what information they use and where an order gets held up. This guide helps you map one task and choose an initial test.
Demonstration with fictional data. This example does not represent a real company or a client result. The tests below are proposals for evaluating an improvement. No integration has been carried out.
1. Choose a task with a clear start and finish
Choose a recent example. In this scenario, the task starts when an order arrives by email. It ends when the order is entered in the system and the customer receives a confirmation. Delivery is outside the scope of this map.
Identify who is responsible. Ask the person who does the task to show you the actual steps. Include the messages, checks and corrections that do not appear in the written procedure.
2. Follow the order, step by step
Sample email: “We need 12 boxes, reference CX-104, for Example Client.” These details pass through Excel and the business management system:
- 01ReceiveEmail
- 02CheckEmail + person
- 03CopyExcel
- 04EnterManagement system
- 05ConfirmEmail to customer
| Step | Person and tool | Work | Wait, error or exception |
|---|---|---|---|
| Receive | Sales · email | Read the order and identify the customer. | A reference or quantity may be missing. |
| Check | Sales · email and management system | Check the order details and terms. | Wait for the customer's reply or a decision from the person responsible. |
| Copy | Admin staff · Excel | Copy the customer, references and quantities. | A reference may be copied incorrectly or a row repeated. |
| Enter | Admin staff · management system | Enter the same details and create the order. | The order may already exist. The system may be unavailable. |
| Confirm | Sales · email | Send the confirmation with the order number. | Confirmation may be sent before the order has been entered. |
This process repeats with every new order. Order volume, working time and waiting time are not yet measured in this example.
An exception needs a different path. If a reference is missing, someone asks for the information and follows up on the reply. Add that path to the map.
3. Find where a change could help
Observe several orders, including some with problems. Record:
- Frequency: how many orders pass through this process in a defined period?
- Human work: how much time is spent reading, copying, checking, correcting and replying?
- Waiting: where does the order get held up, for how long and why?
- Errors: what goes wrong, and what work is needed to fix it?
- Exceptions: what are they, and who can make a decision?
- Responsibility: who approves the change and oversees the process afterwards?
Separate working time from waiting time. An order may wait hours for approval while needing only a few minutes of work. Copying the details faster may do little to reduce that delay.
Choose a task that repeats, has understandable rules and produces a result you can check. Start with a small test, someone available to take responsibility and manageable consequences if something fails. When tasks involve similar effort and problems, start with the one you can test with fewer changes.
4. Choose the type of improvement
| Option | When to consider it | Application to the example |
|---|---|---|
| Simplify | Some steps serve no purpose, or information is repeated. | Check what Excel is used for. Remove the duplicate record if nobody needs it. |
| Configure | An existing tool can already do the work. | Check whether the management system can import orders or use templates. |
| Integrate | Data needs to move between tools. | Transfer the checked details to the management system and save the order number it creates. |
| Build | The existing options leave an important need unmet. | Create an order intake tool that fits the company's rules. |
| Keep manual | The work is rare, changes often or involves decisions that are hard to verify. | Leave orders with special commercial terms with the person responsible. |
First, check whether the Excel record is needed. Also check what the existing tools can do. Include usage costs, maintenance and support for the team when comparing options.
AI can help extract details from emails in different formats. Test it with emails similar to those you receive. Define who checks the fields that AI cannot identify reliably.
5. See how an initial test could work
You can prepare the map, gather examples and define the test with your team. Before running it, check with someone who knows the tool whether the team can configure it or needs technical support.
If you still copy the same details by hand after checking these options, you could test just the automatic preparation of the fields. In this example, checking and entering the order remain manual.
Complete order: the tool configured for the test prepares the customer, references and quantities. Admin staff check the fields and manually enter the order in the management system. Sales sends a confirmation with the new order number.
Missing information: the order stays pending, with the missing field and the person responsible identified. That person asks the customer for the information. When the reply arrives, the order returns to the checking step before it is entered.
Possible duplicate: admin staff pause entry until they have checked whether the order already exists.
Order entry fails: admin staff check whether the order was saved before trying again. If they cannot resolve the problem, they alert the person responsible. Confirmation waits until there is a valid order record.
Test these paths using your company's rules and tools.
6. Compare the complete workload
Record the current situation before the test. Then observe comparable orders over a defined period.
Count completed orders, corrections, exceptions and failures. Measure all human work: preparation, review, clarification requests, corrections and follow-up. Measure waiting time separately.
Include the team's initial effort too: showing examples, explaining rules, testing cases and learning the new procedure. Time freed up does not automatically mean money saved.
Define the criteria for continuing: less copying, consistent record quality and resolved exceptions. If review time cancels out the time saved on copying, reconsider the approach.
A simple worksheet for your process
Use the PDF with three blank pages to map your task. You can fill it in on your computer or print it and write by hand. The table below summarises this article's fictional example.
| Field | Completed example | Your task |
|---|---|---|
| Task and person responsible | Enter orders · person responsible for sales | ___ |
| Start / finish | Email received / order entered and confirmed | ___ |
| Steps, people and tools | Receive → check → copy → enter → confirm. Sales and admin staff. Email, Excel and management system. | ___ |
| Orders per period | Not yet measured | ___ |
| Human work / waiting | To be measured separately | ___ |
| Errors and exceptions | Missing details, duplicates, failed order entry | ___ |
| Initial test | Prepare details automatically; check and enter them by hand | ___ |
| Who checks and resolves failures | Admin staff; special terms handled by the person responsible for sales | ___ |
| Before / after comparison | Human work, waiting, corrections and completed orders | ___ |
Write “not yet measured” when you do not know.
Want to look at a task in your business?
Orinne helps analyse processes and implement improvements with software, automation and AI.
This conversation is free. We will discuss the task, its difficulties and a possible next step. You can bring an example without sensitive data. You do not need to fill in the worksheet before the conversation.
If it makes sense to proceed, the diagnostic assessment and any further work are scoped and priced separately.