Sample deliverable for a fictional company. Real ones are built from your team's own work.Harrowfield Supply is a fictional Montreal distributor of packaging and janitorial supplies. Every name and number in this sample is invented.
Workflow map: what to automate first
Prepared for Claire, Marketing manager, and the sales and operations leads, Harrowfield Supply. October 2026.
We listed the tasks Harrowfield's team repeats every week, timed them with the people who do them, and ranked each by the hours it would save and the harm a mistake could do. Three are worth building now. Each keeps a person approving anything that reaches a customer.
- 7
- repeated tasks mapped
- 37 h
- a week spent on them today
- 14 h
- a week saved by the 3 to build first
Ranked by hours saved a week, then by risk. Risk is the harm one unreviewed mistake could do. Every task that reaches a customer keeps a person approving it.
Build first
- 01
Quotes for repeat customers
Medium risk- Today
- 9 h a week
- Saved once built
- 6 h a week
- Done by
- Sales reps
- Tools used
- Outlook, the order history in the ERP, the Excel price list
- What could go wrong
- A wrong price reaches a customer.
- Who approves
- The sales rep checks every price before the quote goes out.
- 02
Product descriptions in French and English for new items
Low risk- Today
- 6 h a week
- Saved once built
- 4.5 h a week
- Done by
- Marketing coordinator
- Tools used
- Word, the website editor
- What could go wrong
- A clumsy sentence goes live and gets fixed.
- Who approves
- The coordinator reads both languages before publishing.
- 03
Weekly stock summary for the sales team
Low risk- Today
- 4 h a week
- Saved once built
- 3.5 h a week
- Done by
- Purchasing
- Tools used
- Excel, an ERP export
- What could go wrong
- It stays inside the company.
- Who approves
- Nobody before sending. Purchasing spot checks it once a month.
Build next
- 04
Logging sales calls in the CRM
Low risk- Today
- 5 h a week
- Saved once built
- 3 h a week
- Done by
- Sales reps
- Tools used
- HubSpot
- What could go wrong
- A missed detail in an internal record.
- Who approves
- The rep confirms each entry with one click.
- 05
Monthly marketing report
Low risk- Today
- 3 h a week
- Saved once built
- 2.5 h a week
- Done by
- Marketing manager
- Tools used
- Google Ads, Google Analytics 4, Google Sheets
- What could go wrong
- A wrong number in an internal report.
- Who approves
- The manager reads it before it goes to leadership.
Not now
- 06
Replies to where is my order emails
High risk- Today
- 7 h a week
- Saved once built
- 3 h a week
- Done by
- Customer service
- Tools used
- Outlook, the ERP
- What could go wrong
- A promised delivery date the warehouse cannot keep.
- Who approves
- Drafts only, sent by a person, once order status is reliable in the ERP.
- 07
Supplier price list updates
High risk- Today
- 3 h a week
- Saved once built
- 1 h a week
- Done by
- Purchasing
- Tools used
- Excel, the ERP
- What could go wrong
- Every quote after it inherits a wrong price.
- Who approves
- Stays manual. The time saved is too small for the risk.