E&A

At VionA, we don't start with a technology, but with the organization. First we want to understand where the bottlenecks are, which process will deliver the most and what fits it technically. Then we build. That is also how we work with E&A, a staffing agency with multiple branches and part of the Proman Group. What started as a single automation has grown into a partnership in which we keep looking together at which process is next. Contract renewal is the most recent example.

The growth journey

• The start: the first automation for E&A was creating housing agreements (rental agreements). Due to new legislation, from July 2024 these had to be drawn up separately from the employment contract, every week again for hundreds of candidates.
• A logical next step: the automation worked so well that terminating housing agreements was added within a few months.
• Trust leads to more: E&A was pleased with these automations and kept coming back for the next process. That led to processing traffic fines and the company car tax check for the vehicle fleet.
• The next bottleneck: renewing and terminating contracts. This process came back every day at every branch and was completely manual.

The next process: contract renewal

The bottleneck. Staffing agencies work with many short-term contracts, both placement contracts (the candidate at the client) and candidate contracts (the candidate at E&A itself). For every expiring contract, an employee had to work out whether it should be renewed or terminated, under which conditions, and whether someone was moving on to the next contract phase. With thousands of active contracts, often with terms of around four weeks, that is a continuous flow of work.

The solution. We built an automation that takes over the process in three steps: signal, decide and process. Employees' work shifts from figuring everything out and entering it themselves to simply confirming a choice.

How we set up the partnership

• The technology follows the process: this automation runs entirely on RPA and API connections, without AI. We chose that technology because the process called for it. Using AI would have added nothing here. For processing traffic fines, on the other hand, we do use AI, because PDFs from the CJIB need to be read.
• Rolling out step by step: E&A started at two branches, deliberately the largest one and the one with the most complex contracts. If the automation holds up there, it will work everywhere. The rest will follow.
• Easy monitoring for E&A: they only need to keep an eye on the archive list. It shows per contract whether the automation handled it (succeeded), whether an agreed exception was recognized (task created), or whether something got stuck. In that last case, VionA takes full responsibility for picking it up.
• Clear agreements on incidents: when an issue is reported, we respond within 24 hours and resolve it within 48 hours.
• Continuous improvement: if something changes in the process or in the system the automation works in, we discuss with E&A whether a new check or adjustment is needed. That way, the automation keeps moving with day-to-day practice.

How the process runs now

Since last summer, the automation has been running at the first two branches. Every night all contracts are checked, and in the morning the branch has a list ready of which contracts need action. Employees confirm with one click what needs to happen, and the automation processes it directly in HelloFlex. Renewals now run through the automation by default, so the team can spend its time on candidates and clients instead of contract administration. The next step is the rollout to the remaining branches, so every branch benefits from the same way of working.

Who is this relevant for?

This case shows what happens when automation isn't a one-off project, but a partnership in which there is always a next process in line. That applies to every organization, in every industry. Processes change, grow and at some point need replacing, and then it is valuable to have a partner who thinks along structurally instead of just delivering a standalone system. VionA thinks along with clients about their entire organization: not only about the process being automated today, but also about what's next tomorrow.