IT in Manufacturing


AI and BPM for process innovation

March 2021 IT in Manufacturing

“Any attempt to become more competitive can be fraught with risks and challenges, but it can also pose opportunities,” says Dilley Naidoo, director at Rifle-Shot Performance Holdings (RSPH). “To stay competitive, companies need to be fast. They need flexibility and agility to change their practices and mature their business processes.”

Innovative businesses are deploying new business models, through standardised processes which deliver superior value for customers, employees and stakeholders. A process can be defined as a set of activities and transactions that an organisation executes day-to-day to produce an output or reach an objective. Standardised business processes allow companies to work smarter, innovate faster and respond to new market demands in a timely manner.

Even if it is not structured, there is always a process being followed. Regardless of the department you work in, the industry you work in, or whether your job is aimed at generating profit or not, each activity is part of a process. Business Process Management (BPM) is the discipline of managing and improving a business process from end to end by analysing it, modelling how it works in different scenarios, executing improvements, monitoring the improved process, and continually optimising it. Improving business processes is therefore a crucial aspect for creating value, allowing for cross-functional collaboration, achieving better outcomes, and delivering a high-quality customer experience.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) technologies are now being applied alongside BPM to take process innovation to another level. One of the industries that has already benefitted greatly from this union is healthcare.

SoftExpert’s Excellence Suite

An example of this is SoftExpert’s Excellence Suite (SE Suite) – a software solution that streamlines day-to-day routines for healthcare professionals. SE Suite is capable of automating the entire process of patient care, from reception and screening, through consultation, diagnosis and determination of a course of action, supporting clinical decision-making.

Pre-Covid research indicated that health-related data would double in volume every 73 days. With the advent of Covid-19 and the additional burden it has imposed on the entire healthcare system, it has become critical that healthcare professionals are able to manage not just the tasks associated with patient care, but are now able to stay abreast of the availability of new drugs, new types of treatment, their efficacy and the abundance of concomitant data.

Through cognitive computing capabilities, the system is capable of cross-referencing scientific literature with patients’ clinical data such as age, symptoms, prior illnesses, and test results. This helps to more precisely diagnose diseases, while also recommending the most appropriate medicines and treatments according to the clinical condition of each patient.

The solution is fully aligned with the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). Standardisation prevents errors and rework throughout the process, allowing patients’ medical records to be safely reused by other health professionals.

This was made possible due to an innovative approach that integrates IBM Watson’s AI technology with SE BPM, a comprehensive business process management suite that is able to empower organisations in all industries to increase business performance at all levels, and to maximise industry-mandated compliance and corporate governance programmes.

SE BPM improves the visibility and control of business processes with its human-centric and user-friendly interface. The solution promotes continuous improvement of processes across the entire organisation by managing every step of the process lifecycle, from modelling and optimisation, to automation, execution, and monitoring.

By delivering improved business understanding, faster processes, and greater business impact on strategic planning, SoftExpert’s solution allows people to work more efficiently while improving the orchestration of complex processes and supporting business goals with real-time business information.

SE BPM also includes enterprise-level capabilities such as monitoring for business activities and metrics, decision management, document management, quality assurance, system integration tools, and dashboards. It is able to store process models in a native process repository with full version control, hierarchical categorisation, search capability, and role-based security for controlled access to each model.

In short, SE BPM delivers the complete management of business processes aligned to organisational strategies, allowing IT to shift its focus from purely maintenance to driving innovation.

Since Covid-19 is top of mind right now, the medical industry has been used as an example, but these process modelling principles can be applied to any industry sector.




Share this article:
Share via emailShare via LinkedInPrint this page

Further reading:

Range of CDUs to meet the rising demands of HPC and AI workloads
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Motivair by Schneider Electric has introduced two new coolant distribution units that are engineered to meet the rising thermal demands of HPC and AI workloads.

Read more...
Data centre design powers up for AI, digital twins and adaptive liquid cooling
IT in Manufacturing
The Vertiv Frontiers report, which draws on expertise from across the organisation, details the technology trends driving current and future data centre innovation, from powering up for AI, to digital twins, to adaptive liquid cooling.

Read more...
Siemens drives next-generation vehicle development
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
The Siemens PAVE360 Automotive technology is a new category of digital twin software that is pre-integrated and designed as an off-the-shelf offering to address the escalating complexity of automotive hardware and software integration.

Read more...
How digital infrastructure design choices will decide who wins in AI
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
As AI drives continues to disrupt industries across the world, the race is no longer just about smarter models or better data. It’s about building infrastructure powerful enough to support innovation at scale.

Read more...
How quantum computing and AI are driving the next wave of cyber defence innovation
IT in Manufacturing
We are standing at the edge of a new cybersecurity frontier, shaped by quantum computing, AI and the ever-expanding IIoT. To stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats, organisations must embrace a new paradigm that is proactive, integrated and rooted in zero-trust architectures.

Read more...
2026: The Year of AI execution for South African businesses
IT in Manufacturing
As we start 2026, artificial intelligence in South Africa is entering a new era defined not by experimentation, but by execution. Across the region, the conversation is shifting from “how do we build AI?” to “how do we power, govern and scale it responsibly?”

Read more...
AIoT drives transformation in manufacturing and energy industries
IT in Manufacturing
AIoT, the convergence of artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things, is enhancing efficiency, security and decision making at manufacturing, industrial and energy companies worldwide

Read more...
Today’s advanced safety system is but the beginning
Schneider Electric South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Industrial safety systems have come a long way since the days of hardwired emergency shutdowns. Today, safety systems are not just barriers against risk; they are enablers of safer operations.

Read more...
Siemens brings the industrial metaverse to life
Siemens South Africa IT in Manufacturing
Siemens has announced a new software solution that builds Industrial metaverse environments at scale, empowering organisations to apply industrial AI, simulation and real-time physical data to make decisions virtually, at speed and at scale.

Read more...
Five key insights we gained about AI in 2025
IT in Manufacturing
As 2025 draws to a close, African businesses can look back on one of the most pivotal years in AI adoption to date as organisations tested, deployed and learned from AI at pace. Some thrived and others stumbled. But the lessons that emerged are clear.

Read more...









While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information contained herein, the publisher and its agents cannot be held responsible for any errors contained, or any loss incurred as a result. Articles published do not necessarily reflect the views of the publishers. The editor reserves the right to alter or cut copy. Articles submitted are deemed to have been cleared for publication. Advertisements and company contact details are published as provided by the advertiser. Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd cannot be held responsible for the accuracy or veracity of supplied material.




© Technews Publishing (Pty) Ltd | All Rights Reserved