# Automation Candidate Process Scoring Worksheet

> Source: https://netray.co/tools/automation-candidate-process-scoring-worksheet
> Publisher: Netray (netray.co), AI and integration engineering for ERP and manufacturing systems.
> Section: Free Tools

## Short answer

List manual processes, enter volume and effort, score rule clarity, data quality and risk, and get a ranked automation shortlist with annual hours at stake.

## Category

manufacturing

## Audience

- Plant manager
- COO
- Operations excellence lead

## Tool

**Kind:** worksheet

**Mode:** editable

**Columns:**

#### Process

**Key:** process

**Type:** text

#### Owner

**Key:** owner

**Type:** text

#### Runs per week

**Key:** runs_week

**Type:** number

#### Minutes per run

**Key:** min_run

**Type:** number

#### Rule clarity (1-5)

**Key:** rules

**Type:** number

**Help:** 5 = fully rule based

#### Data quality (1-5)

**Key:** data

**Type:** number

**Help:** 5 = clean structured data

#### Risk if wrong (1-5)

**Key:** risk

**Type:** number

**Help:** 5 = safety, compliance or customer impact

#### Hours per year

**Key:** hours_year

**Type:** number

**Expr:** runs_week * min_run / 60 * 48

**Format:** number

#### Fit score

**Key:** score

**Type:** number

**Expr:** rules * 2 + data * 2 - risk + min(hours_year / 100, 5)

**Format:** decimal

**Rows:**

**Process:** Daily shortage report email to buyers

**Owner:** Materials

**Runs week:** 5

**Min run:** 40

**Rules:** 5

**Data:** 4

**Risk:** 1

**Process:** Certificate of conformance assembly

**Owner:** Quality

**Runs week:** 30

**Min run:** 15

**Rules:** 4

**Data:** 3

**Risk:** 4

**Process:** Supplier invoice three-way match exceptions

**Owner:** Finance

**Runs week:** 20

**Min run:** 12

**Rules:** 3

**Data:** 3

**Risk:** 3

**Process:** Weekly OEE report compile from machine exports

**Owner:** Production

**Runs week:** 1

**Min run:** 180

**Rules:** 5

**Data:** 3

**Risk:** 1

**Process:** Customer order acknowledgement from PDF PO

**Owner:** Sales admin

**Runs week:** 40

**Min run:** 10

**Rules:** 3

**Data:** 2

**Risk:** 3

**Process:** Engineering change impact review

**Owner:** Engineering

**Runs week:** 6

**Min run:** 60

**Rules:** 2

**Data:** 3

**Risk:** 5

**Totals:**

#### Total hours per year

**Key:** hours_year

**Agg:** sum

**Format:** number

**Summary:**

#### Equivalent FTE at 1,800 hours

**Key:** fte

**Expr:** sum_hours_year / 1800

**Format:** decimal

**Primary:** true

#### Average fit score

**Key:** mean_fit

**Expr:** avg_score

**Format:** decimal

**Notes:** Score is rules x 2 + data x 2 - risk + a volume bonus capped at 5. It is a ranking aid, not a business case. Hours assume 48 working weeks. Edit the weights if your priorities differ.

## Content

**Intro:** Most plants have more automation ideas than capacity to deliver them. This worksheet ranks manual processes by how well they suit automation, using volume, how rule based the work is, how clean the data is and what happens when it goes wrong.

**Sections:**

#### How to use the worksheet

**Body:** Add one row per process, not per task. Enter how often it runs and how long one run takes, using stopwatch or log data rather than memory. Score rule clarity, data quality and risk from 1 to 5 with the process owner in the room. Sort by the fit score and take the top five to a feasibility review. Export to Excel to share with finance and IT.

**Bullets:**

- Use the same scale for every row so scores are comparable
- Have two people score independently and discuss differences
- Re-score after the first pilot, assumptions usually change

#### The scoring logic

**Body:** Rules and data are weighted double because they decide whether automation is possible at all. A high volume process with unstructured inputs and unwritten rules is expensive to automate and fragile. Risk subtracts, because errors in safety, regulatory or customer facing work need human review or an approval step. The volume bonus is capped so a single huge process does not hide smaller, easier wins.

#### Reading the result

**Body:** High fit with low risk is a quick win: scheduled reports, notifications, data entry from structured sources. High volume with low data quality needs data cleanup first. High risk items may still be worth automating, but with human approval on write-back. The FTE figure shows effort released, which is only a saving if the time is redeployed or avoided overtime.

#### Common mistakes

**Body:** Automating a broken process just makes it fail faster, so fix the process first where possible. Another mistake is counting hours saved at the full loaded rate when the work is spread in small pieces across many people. Include exception handling time: a process that is 90 percent automatic can still leave most of the effort in the exceptions.

**Cta:** If your shortlist includes ERP data entry, reporting or document handling, Netray can review which items suit AI or scripted automation on your own infrastructure. The worksheet is complete without that.

**Faq:**

#### Is a high fit score the same as a good business case?

**Answer:** No. The score ranks technical and process suitability. A business case also needs build cost, run cost, change effort and realistic savings. Use the score to choose which candidates deserve that deeper work.

#### How many processes should I score?

**Answer:** Start with 15 to 30 across operations and back office. More than that and the scoring becomes a project of its own. Rescore quarterly and add new items as they surface in daily management meetings.

#### Should safety critical processes be excluded?

**Answer:** Not automatically, but the risk score will lower their rank and they should keep a human approval step. Anything affecting product conformance, regulated records or personnel safety needs validation and clear accountability.

#### Why does the worksheet use 48 weeks?

**Answer:** It allows for holidays and shutdowns in a typical year. Change the formula if your plant runs 50 or 52 weeks, or if the process only runs in certain seasons.

## Search terms

automation candidate scoring, process automation prioritization template, which processes to automate, automation opportunity assessment excel, RPA candidate scoring matrix, manufacturing automation prioritisation, automation backlog scoring

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