Copying data into Excel by hand can be automated: 3 criteria to check

Any task that follows fixed rules and repeats can be automated. Work rarely is “too specific to automate.” It usually seems that way because the rules have not been written down yet.

① Can it be automated? 3 criteria

Criterion	Question
Rules	Can you explain it in words, as in “if the value is X, do Y”?
Repetition	Does it recur daily, weekly, or monthly?
Format	Is the output format fixed, such as an Excel sheet, a report, or an alert?

If all three apply, the task can be automated.

Failing the first criterion does not mean it cannot be done. It means the criteria in the staff member’s head have not been written down yet. A rule that a person cannot explain cannot be given to a machine either. This is why detailed requirements are an advantage. The more specific the criteria, the more of the work can be turned into rules.

② Where to start: criteria before code

1. Record the work you do for one week
2. Write the rules down: what to keep and what to discard
3. Automate only the parts that repeat
4. Add a screen for checking the results
5. Confirm that the work staff do by hand has decreased

Step 4 is easy to skip. Without a place to check results, staff end up opening files every time to see whether the process ran. The automation creates a new checking task.

③ Handing it over to staff

The tool is delivered as an executable file, so no Python or other runtime needs to be installed. Staff double-click the icon and get the results.

It also includes a button that opens the output folder. If staff have to search for the saved file each time, the time saved by automation is spent again.

④ Keeping it running long-term

The most dangerous failure is one that gives no sign that anything is wrong.

• Collection stops silently. When a credential expires or a login method changes, collection stops but the screen looks normal. Until someone notices, decisions are made on missing data.
• Progress is not visible. A long-running job looks the same as a stalled one.

For collection that requires authentication, the whole flow from login to token renewal is built to run without interruption, and the time of the last successful run is shown on screen. Being set up is not the same as delivering data.

If you build it yourself, the first run usually works. The hard part comes after: making sure it does not stop silently months later. Designing for this takes longer than building the tool itself. Contact us about the work you do now, and we will start by identifying where it is likely to stop.

Making sure the manual work actually goes away

Sometimes a process is automated but staff still do the same amount of manual work. The cause is usually the same: only the collection was automated, while reviewing and reporting were left as they were.

For the manual work to go away, collecting, reviewing, and reporting need to run as one connected process. The measure of success is not “does collection run” but “has the work staff do by hand decreased”.

If the source is an external website or a seller page on an online mall or platform, check the terms of service before building. Some terms explicitly prohibit exporting data from seller systems. In that case it is a breach of contract, before any legal question arises. The criteria are covered in Web crawling: what is allowed.

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One task you repeat is all we need.

There is no need to log a week of work. Tell us in one line what you do repeatedly, and we will assess it against the 3 criteria above and tell you whether it can be automated and where to start.

→ Request an automation assessment · See our work

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Pricing by collection scale and difficulty: Data collection pricing