Automations
Custom workflow automationfor your business
Reduce the follow-ups, data entry, and copying between systems that your team handles by hand. Build Lean connects your tools and builds workflows that move records, apply business rules, and route work to the right person.
What is workflow automation?
A workflow automation carries out a defined sequence of steps when something starts it, such as a submitted form, an approved record, a scheduled time, or a request from a team member.
It can retrieve information, check required fields, apply routing rules, update another system, and send a notification. Some steps run automatically. Others pause for a person to review or approve the work.
Build Lean designs these workflows around your existing operations. The build can include configuring an automation platform, connecting APIs, developing custom logic, and creating a review interface where your team needs one.
Trigger
A form, record change, schedule, or manual request
Read and Check
Retrieve records, match IDs, and validate required fields
Apply Workflow Rules
Choose the next step and request approval where required
Update and Confirm
Send the permitted change and record the result
Exception path
Missing information, rejected requests, or uncertain results are routed for attention.
Trigger
A form, record change, schedule, or manual request
Read and Check
Retrieve records, match IDs, and validate required fields
Apply Workflow Rules
Choose the next step and request approval where required
Pauses for approval when requiredUpdate and Confirm
Send the permitted change and record the result
Any check, rule, or update can branch to:
Exception path
Missing information, rejected requests, or uncertain results are routed for attention.
Where AI fits
Many workflows can run entirely on fixed rules. AI can be useful when a step involves interpreting an email, extracting information from a document, or drafting a response.
When AI is included, its output feeds into the workflow’s validation and review steps. Application rules determine which updates are permitted and when approval is required.
Technical details: Triggers, data flow, and recovery
- Triggers and timing
- A webhook lets a source system notify the workflow when an event occurs. A scheduler runs work at agreed times. Where event notifications are unavailable, the workflow may periodically check for changed records. Timing depends on the source system and the task.
- Connections and data mapping
- APIs and supported connectors provide access to source and destination systems. We define how records are matched, how fields are translated, which system owns each value, and whether updates move in one direction or both.
- Execution and duplicate prevention
- A workflow engine or custom code manages the steps. Queues can hold work while another service is unavailable or busy. Idempotency means processing the same operation again has the same effect as processing it once. The implementation may use operation IDs, destination checks, and stored processing status to control repeated requests.
- Failures and visibility
- Recovery rules distinguish temporary failures from missing data, invalid requests, and denied access. Retry limits, status checks, alerts, and manual recovery steps are defined for each operation. Logging records the information needed to investigate a run, with agreed access and retention.
Less manual work between systems
Automate repeatable steps while giving your team a clear view of what completed and what needs attention.
Reduce repeated data entry
Move selected fields between connected systems using agreed record matches and mappings. Give your team fewer details to copy and fewer separate updates to maintain.
Keep handoffs moving
Create tasks, route requests, and send reminders when defined conditions are met. Use schedules and status changes to start the next step without someone checking a spreadsheet or inbox.
Put exceptions in front of the right person
Identify missing information, unmatched records, and failed updates. Route them to a named owner with the context needed to investigate or correct the problem.
Make the process easier to manage
Document the rules, connections, and operating responsibilities. Track processing status and review where manual corrections or repeated failures show that the workflow needs attention.
Workflow automation across your industry
These illustrative examples show how records, rules, and system updates can work together. Each project starts with the available data, supported interfaces, and decisions your team wants to automate.
Check job costs and route exceptions for review
A scheduled workflow could retrieve budgets, posted costs, and commitment records from the agreed project and accounting sources. It would match project and cost codes, calculate the selected cost measure, and flag items that cross a defined threshold.
Where task creation is included, the workflow could create or update a review task with the source references and reporting date. The project team investigates the issue and decides whether forecasts, budgets, or commitments need to change.
These examples describe possible implementations. System access, data quality, supported actions, and review requirements determine the scope.
Illustrative Workflow
From a scheduled cost check to an assigned review task
- 1Retrieve
Retrieve the Agreed Records
At the scheduled time, the workflow reads the selected budget and cost records from the connected systems. It records the reporting period and available source timestamps.
If a required source cannot be read or does not meet the agreed freshness requirement, the run is marked incomplete and routed for attention.
- 2Rules
Apply the Cost and Matching Rules
The workflow matches project and cost codes and calculates the measure agreed with your team. The calculation defines how posted costs and remaining commitments are treated so the same amount is not counted twice.
Fixed rules identify threshold breaches. Unmatched codes and incomplete records are listed separately for review.
- 3System Update
Create or Update the Review Task
For a qualifying exception, the workflow checks whether an open task already exists. It then creates or updates the task in the selected project system, with an owner, source references, and the calculation used.
Routine task creation can run automatically under agreed permissions. Additional approval can be required for other actions.
- 4Confirmation
Confirm the Result and Route Failures
The destination system returns the task ID or update status. The run records which items completed and which remain unresolved.
Temporary failures can be retried within defined limits. If a response is uncertain, the workflow checks the destination before attempting the update again or sends the item for manual review.
Who does what
Workflow rules perform the matching, calculation, and routing. The connected systems supply records and confirm updates. The project team investigates the exception and decides what action to take. This example does not require AI.
How we build your automation
Start with one recurring process and define the complete path from trigger to confirmed result.
- 01
Map the Process
Identify what starts the work, which records it uses, who owns each step, and what a completed result looks like. Agree which decisions follow fixed rules and which need a person.
- 02
Assess the Connections
Review available APIs, connectors, permissions, and data quality. Define record matching, field mappings, update direction, and timing.
- 03
Configure and Build the Workflow
Use suitable existing components and develop custom integrations or logic where needed. Define validation, routing, permitted updates, and any approval steps.
- 04
Define Recovery and Monitoring
Set out how the workflow handles duplicates, partial completion, unavailable systems, and uncertain responses. Agree retry limits, alerts, and the person responsible for unresolved work.
- 05
Test and Hand Over
Test representative records and failure cases against expected results. Document the workflow, access, configuration, and recovery process. Agree who maintains connections, reviews failures, and supports changes after launch.
Start with one repeated handoff
Choose a process that regularly sends someone copying information, checking a status, or chasing the next step. We’ll assess the systems involved and scope a first workflow your team can evaluate.
Your proposal identifies what will be configured, integrated, and custom-built. It also sets out testing, deployment, documentation, and ongoing operating responsibilities.
Workflow automation questions
What to consider before connecting a process across your business systems.
Which handoff is your team still doing by hand?
Tell us what starts the process, which systems it touches, and where someone has to copy, check, or chase information. We’ll discuss a practical first workflow and the controls it needs.
Free · 30 minutes · No preparation required