Where automation really saves time, and where it just moves the work
An automated detour is still a detour. The question is not what can be automated, but what should exist at all.
Delete first, automate second
Many manual steps exist only because two systems know nothing about each other: a list is exported, reformatted and imported somewhere else. Put both areas on one data basis and the step disappears instead of being automated.
That is the cheapest form of automation, because afterwards there is nothing left running that would need maintaining.
How to tell that a process pays off
Three questions usually cover it: how often does it happen? How long does it take each time? And how expensive is a mistake? A task that costs ten minutes a day pays off faster than one that eats two hours a quarter.
The fourth point is the one people forget: how stable is the rule behind it? Anything that changes every month is a poor candidate, because maintaining the automation then costs more than doing it by hand.
What usually pays off first in ERPNext
Recurring invoices, dunning runs, purchase suggestions from reorder levels, and notifications on overdue transactions. All processes with clear rules that rarely change and happen often.
Where the line is
Decisions that need experience do not belong in a rule. A system can flag that a customer is over their limit. Whether you ship anyway stays a decision made by people, and that is how it should be.
Führt ERPNext im Mittelstand ein und schreibt hier über das, was in Projekten tatsächlich schiefgeht.