2. Automating Lean Processes with Power Automate and AI
- Faster, more reliable audits & follow-ups — automate standard-work checks and corrective actions so audits are consistent and follow-ups are tracked automatically.
- Real-time KPI tracking & escalation — keep performance visible with automated KPI collection and escalation flows that drive faster corrective action.
- Practical, reusable templates — workshop-built Power Automate flows and Copilot prompts you can reuse across lines, reducing time-to-value and implementation risk.
Introduction
This one-day, highly practical workshop equips Lean leaders, RPA/automation teams and improvement coaches to convert manual Lean practices into reliable, auditable digital workflows using Microsoft Power Automate, AI Builder and Copilot. We begin by translating Lean building blocks — standard work, daily management reviews, KPI capture and escalation rules — into technology design patterns that respect Lean principles and preserve human problem solving.
Throughout the day you will:
Map real processes and decide what remains manual vs what should be automated.
Select the right automation approach (Power Automate vs RPA/UI flows) and where to apply AI for clear value.
Build flows that capture evidence (photos, form data), create and route corrective actions, and enforce SLAs with escalation logic.
Integrate flows with Excel Online, SharePoint and Teams for capture, collaboration and visibility.
Use Copilot to prototype actions and AI Builder to extract, classify and prioritise audit inputs.
Apply robust error-handling, monitoring and governance patterns so automations are resilient and auditable.
The course is workshop-centric: short instructor demos are followed by hands-on exercises where participants convert a live audit or daily management activity into working flows. Deliverables include reusable Power Automate templates (audit, escalation, KPI collection), Copilot prompt examples, sample AI Builder models, a monitoring checklist and a 30/60/90 deployment plan so you can move quickly from pilot to site roll-out.
About the course
Overview & Objectives
Understand how Lean practices translate to automation opportunities and what successful digital Lean looks like. By the end of the course you will have designed, built and tested flows for an audit, escalation and KPI reporting use case.
- Course goals
- Expected outcomes
- Workshop format and deliverables
Mapping Lean Processes for Automation
Learn a practical method to map standard work, decision points and data sources so you can target the highest-value automation opportunities.
- Process mapping for automation
- Identifying automation boundaries & exceptions
- Prioritization matrix for RPA vs Power Automate
Power Automate fundamentals & AI Builder
Hands-on introduction to Power Automate connectors, triggers, actions, conditions and an overview of AI Builder models you can use in Lean contexts.
- Flows basics: triggers, actions, loops
- Common connectors: Excel Online, SharePoint, Teams
- AI Builder models: Form processing, Object detection, Prediction
Automating Standard Work Audits
Workshop: convert a paper/Excel audit to a digital flow that captures evidence, calculates results and creates action items.
- Designing the audit form in SharePoint / Excel
- Power Automate flow to capture audit result and evidence
- Auto-creation of corrective actions with ownership and due dates
Designing Escalation & Follow-up Flows
Build rule-based escalation workflows and SLAs so issues automatically route to the right people with tracking until closure.
- Escalation logic and SLA timers
- Teams notifications, adaptive cards and approvals
- Follow-up task creation and audit trail
Integrations: Excel, Teams & SharePoint
Practical patterns to integrate Power Automate with Excel Online, SharePoint lists and Teams so data is captured, visible and actionable throughout the organisation.
- Best practices for SharePoint lists as single source of truth
- Excel as a temporary capture vs persistent storage
- Using Teams for alerts, approvals and collaborative problem solving
Copilot & Flow Monitoring
How to use Copilot to draft flows and monitoring queries, and how to set up monitoring to surface failed runs, performance trends and data quality issues.
- Prototyping flows with Copilot prompts
- Monitoring and alert patterns
- Automated diagnostics for failed runs
KPI Tracking & Dashboards
Build the pipeline for KPIs from flow data to visual dashboards and alerts.
- Collecting KPI data within flows
- Simple Power BI or SharePoint dashboard patterns
- Triggering alerts when KPIs breach thresholds
Governance & Change Control
Define roles and policies to secure connectors, control costs and manage changes safely across teams.
- Roles & responsibilities for automation
- Connector security and least privilege
- Testing, versioning and deployment checklist
Final Workshop & Implementation Plan
Complete a capstone exercise where participants apply what they’ve learned to a live process and produce a 30/60/90 day plan for deployment.
- Capstone automation build
- Site implementation plan
- Roadmap for scale and ongoing improvement
Instructors
Dr. Issam EL KHADIRI
AI & Digital Lean Consultant and Researcher (Computer Vision, Machine Learning and AI)
Issam holds dual PhDs in Machine Learning and Computer Vision, bringing deep technical expertise to digital transformation initiatives. He has developed advanced software solutions with a focus on image recognition and AI-powered systems. Issam played a pivotal role in shaping the AI backbone of Digital Lean Management, bridging operational excellence with intelligent automation. In addition, he leads the integration of Microsoft technologies—Power Platform, Teams, and Azure AI—to create solutions that boost productivity and accelerate continuous improvement.
