Four numbers that tell you whether operations are improving
Cycle time
How long a case takes from arrival to completion, measured in elapsed time rather than working time. Elapsed time exposes the queues and the waiting, which is where most of the delay actually lives.
Touches per case
How many times a human picks a case up. This is the number that automation moves most directly, and it correlates closely with both error rate and staff frustration.
Error rate
The proportion of cases requiring rework. Worth splitting by cause: data entry, missing information, and genuine exceptions need entirely different fixes, and only the first two respond to automation.
Cost per transaction
Total operational cost divided by volume. It is the number that tells you whether growth is getting cheaper or more expensive, and it is the one an owner actually feels.
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