From creating an order to checking material availability and determining delivery dates: Even in the digital age, many work steps are still characterized by a high level of manual effort. Can Agentic AI bring the long-awaited turnaround? After all, AI agents are also able to carry out specific actions based on their analyses, thus relieving employees of time-consuming routines.

In order for the use of agentic AI to actually be successful, the right preparatory work is required. After all, the agents will only work smoothly if they actually know which sub-steps are required to complete the task in question, in which order they need to be processed and which data needs to be available at which stage. What they need is a digital process map from which they cannot deviate uncontrollably.
ERP specialist Asseco Solutions supports the creation of this map by integrating processes into the ERP world.

Process-oriented working method in the ERP system

Since 2023, APplus has been offering users an innovative usage mode that allows them to edit central core processes in a process-oriented manner. Users no longer have to make their own way through data-heavy views. Instead, the "Flow Mode" guides them step by step through the editing of the required process flows.

A system that benefits users in two ways: On the one hand, the lean, process-focused way of working enables a comprehensive speed boost for daily tasks. Practical customer experience has shown that central core processes can often be completed at double to triple the speed in flow mode. At the same time, digital process mapping creates valuable groundwork for the use of Agentic AI: the so-called "process flows" are stored in the machine-readable language "Business Process Model and Notation" (BPMN) and are therefore directly understandable for artificial intelligence.

A good 60 central company processes are already predefined as part of the latest APplus 9 product generation. The spectrum of possible processes ranges from master data maintenance such as article creation, purchasing processes or scheduling to specific processes such as outsourcing, which extend from production to purchasing and logistics.

The ERP takes the initiative

Even without the use of AI, process sequences defined in APplus 9 can already be run through in a rule-based manner if desired, in order to relieve employees of time-consuming routine processes. For example, an incoming email with a service request acts as a trigger. The ERP system then runs through the corresponding flow process automatically, creates a service ticket, checks the availability of the required spare parts, identifies suitable technicians for a maintenance call and schedules the corresponding appointment.

Decision nodes enable rule-based control of the process. For example, it is possible to define which process steps require the approval of a responsible specialist and which the ERP can implement independently. The rules, as well as individual adjustments to the process flow, can be made purely on a configuration basis, meaning that no extensive programming knowledge is required.

Basis for the production of the future

Speed and efficiency have become key success factors in the manufacturing industry. A status quo in which the digital mapping of company processes is becoming increasingly important in several respects: Not only does it open up ways for a new, significantly streamlined way of working in the ERP system. It also creates the basis for comprehensive rule-based automation in order to reduce the workload of employees. And finally, it paves the way for a technological future in which AI agents interact with company processes in a controlled manner and within clear guidelines - making the highly automated production processes of the future a reality.