Introduction to Microsoft Power Automate

Power Automate, formerly known as Microsoft Flow, is a cloud-based service offered by Microsoft to help users create and automate workflows across multiple applications and services. Its aim is to boost user productivity in business processes and automate repetitive manual tasks.

Using Power Automate, you can design workflows that connect to over 300 services, such as SharePoint, Outlook, Excel, OneDrive, Dynamics 365, and third-party applications like Twitter, Dropbox, and Google Services. With these workflows, you can, for instance, automatically save email attachments to OneDrive or alert your team about specific tweets.

It allows conditional logic (if…then…else statements), which makes it more than just a task automation tool, but also a potent business process automation platform. It can handle complex scenarios, not just single task automation.

Power Automate offers pre-built templates for common tasks, reducing the technical barrier for non-programmers. However, it also provides robust tools for developers to create more complex automations.

Overall, Power Automate is a powerful tool for improving efficiency, reducing errors and saving time by automating business tasks and processes.

Document Automation Workflows in Power Automate

Document automation workflows in Power Automate represent one of its most compelling features, enabling businesses to automate repetitive document management tasks, enhance efficiency, and reduce the possibility of human errors.

At its core, Power Automate allows you to create and manage workflows involving documents, including generating, editing, sharing, and storing. This can involve Microsoft services like Word, Excel, and SharePoint, or third-party services like Google Docs, Adobe PDF, and Dropbox. This cross-platform functionality is a key strength, enabling diverse document workflows.

For instance, an approval workflow could be created, automating the process of document approval. Here, Power Automate can detect when a new document is added to a SharePoint folder or a OneDrive directory. It can then automatically send an email to the appropriate person with a link to the document for review. Once the document is approved or rejected, the status can be updated, and notifications sent to relevant stakeholders.

Another example could be a document generation and storage workflow. Data from Microsoft Forms or Dynamics 365 could be used to automatically generate documents in Word or Excel. The created document could then be converted into a PDF and stored in a specific SharePoint folder or sent via email.

Document automation also extends to areas like data extraction and integration. Power Automate can connect with Nanonets, enabling users to extract specific data from a document, such as invoice or receipt details, and automatically update a record in Dynamics 365 or an Excel spreadsheet.

Moreover, Power Automate’s flexibility also allows developers to handle more complex scenarios. Custom connectors can be created to interact with services not directly supported by Power Automate. Error handling and conditional logic can be implemented to account for different workflow outcomes.

In conclusion, Power Automate’s document automation workflows can transform time-consuming manual processes into efficient automated tasks, freeing employees to focus on more value-driven activities. Its versatility, simplicity, and deep integration with various services make it a vital tool for any organization seeking to streamline their document management processes.

OCR and PDF Data Extraction in Power Automate

Nanonets is a powerful tool which offers pretrained data extraction models that can extract useful data from documents. We support all common document types, and can easily train specialized models custom document types. Leveraging Nanonets API in Power Automate opens up possibilities for developing highly efficient automated workflows, particularly in document data extraction.

To understand this, let’s look at a common business scenario. Imagine a company receives a large volume of invoices daily. With Nanonets and Power Automate, you could automate the process of extracting the necessary data from these invoices and store it in a database or use it in another application like Dynamics 365.

Here’s a step-by-step example:

1. An invoice document is received and uploaded to a SharePoint folder or received as an email attachment in Office 365 Mail.
2. A Power Automate workflow triggers upon the addition of this new document. Using the “When a file is created” or “When a new email arrives” trigger, Power Automate can automatically detect the new invoice.
3. The workflow then sends the document to the Nanonets API via a HTTP POST request. This could be done by using a Custom Connector or the built-in HTTP action in Power Automate.
4. Nanonets processes the document with its machine learning model, specifically trained for invoice data extraction, and returns the extracted data in a structured format, like JSON.
5. The Power Automate workflow receives this data and can then parse and use it as required. This could involve updating an Excel spreadsheet, creating a new item in a SharePoint list, or updating a record in Dynamics 365.

In the Dynamics 365 context, Nanonets’ ready-to-use integration with Dynamics 365 would make the process even more seamless. Let’s explore another scenario to illustrate this:

1. An invoice document is uploaded into Dynamics 365 as an attachment to a specific record.
2. A Power Automate workflow is triggered based on this action. The workflow then sends the invoice document to the Nanonets API for processing, taking advantage of the ready-to-use integration that Nanonets offers with D365.
3. Once the data is returned from Nanonets, the workflow then parses the structured data and updates the relevant fields in the Dynamics 365 record. This could include details like the invoice number, date, total amount, etc.

These workflows help to automate what can typically be a labor-intensive process, saving significant amounts of time and reducing the risk of human error. Moreover, they leverage the power of machine learning to accurately extract required data, even from complex or varying invoice formats.

In addition to invoices, this process can be applied to a range of other document types – receipts, purchase orders, delivery notes, etc. Each document type would require a machine learning model trained for that specific document, which Nanonets is capable of providing.

Nanonets’ integration with Power Automate and Dynamics 365 opens up significant possibilities for businesses looking to automate their document data extraction workflows. These integrations make it easier for organizations to harness the power of machine learning in their everyday processes, leading to greater operational efficiency and accuracy.

Here are a variety of examples showcasing how Nanonets can be utilized in Power Automate for different automated document data extraction workflows:

Expense Reports: Scan uploaded receipts in SharePoint, extract data with Nanonets, and automatically populate an Excel sheet for expense tracking.

Contract Management: Upload contracts to a specific OneDrive folder, extract key details like parties involved, dates, and clauses using Nanonets, and update a SharePoint list for contract management.

Invoice Processing: Send invoices received via email to Nanonets for data extraction, and use the returned data to create or update records in Dynamics 365 Finance.

Order Fulfillment: Extract data from purchase orders uploaded to a Teams channel using Nanonets, and trigger a Power Automate workflow to create a new order in Dynamics 365 Supply Chain Management.

HR Onboarding: When new employee documents are added to a SharePoint folder, extract key details like name, job title, and start date with Nanonets, and then create a new employee record in Dynamics 365 Human Resources.

Customer Correspondence: Extract key information from customer letters or emails using Nanonets, and automatically create or update a customer service case in Dynamics 365 Customer Service.

Project Management: When a new project proposal is added to a Teams channel, use Nanonets to extract key details like project title, proposed timeline, and budget, and create a new project record in Dynamics 365 Project Operations.

Sales Lead Generation: Extract data from business cards using Nanonets and use the returned data to create new leads in Dynamics 365 Sales.

Insurance Claims: When an insurance claim form is uploaded to a SharePoint folder, extract the claim details with Nanonets, and update a claim record in a custom-built Power App.

Health Records: When medical documents are uploaded to a secure OneDrive folder, extract patient data with Nanonets, and update the patient’s record in a healthcare management application.

How to set up Nanonets in Power Automate

Setting up Nanonets in Power Automate involves building a custom connector. Here is a step-by-step guide to creating a custom connector for the Nanonets API:

1. Get your API Key from Nanonets:
The first step is to generate an API key from your Nanonets account. This key will be used to authenticate your requests to the Nanonets API. You can find instructions on how to get your API key here.

2. Create a custom connector in Power Automate:

• Navigate to https://flow.microsoft.com and sign in to your account.
• From the left navigation bar, select “Data” and then “Custom connectors”.
• Click “+ New custom connector” and choose “Create from blank”.
• Give your connector a name and click “Continue”.

3. Set up the general details:

• For “Scheme”, choose “HTTPS”.
• In the “Host” field, enter the Nanonets API base URL (it should be something like “app.nanonets.com”).
• Click “Security” in the navigation panel on the left.

4. Set up the security details and connector actions:

Note : For this section, you can use the Nanonets API Documentation to configure the security and action details.

• Define the security details. You can use the api-key authentication method to authenticate using your API key.
• Create a New Action.
• Define and fill details of your Nanonets model prediction endpoint to create the action.

6. Test the connector:

• Click “Test” in the navigation panel on the left.
• You may need to create a new connection. If so, click “+ New connection”.
• Choose an action to test, fill in any required inputs, and click “Test operation”.

Once the custom connector is set up, you can use it in your Power Automate flows just like any other connector. You’ll be able to choose the actions you defined for the connector and use the data returned from Nanonets in other actions within your workflow.

Nanonets OCR for Automated Workflows in Power Automate

In conclusion, Nanonets OCR is a powerful addition to Power Automate’s arsenal of automation capabilities, providing opportunities to streamline and improve document data extraction processes in workflows. Its powerful machine learning algorithms are designed to decipher text from various document types accurately, offering a solution that goes beyond traditional OCR technology by learning from the data it processes and improving over time.

With Power Automate’s flexible and robust platform, incorporating Nanonets OCR into automated workflows becomes a relatively straightforward process. Power Automate’s ability to create custom connectors allows integration with Nanonets API, opening up a multitude of use cases. Whether it’s extracting information from invoices, contracts, purchase orders, medical records, or any other type of document, the combined capabilities of Power Automate and Nanonets OCR can handle it.

One of the key strengths of this integration is its ability to significantly reduce manual data entry and associated errors. By automating the data extraction process, businesses can improve the accuracy of their data and free up employees’ time to focus on more value-added tasks.

Furthermore, Nanonets’ ready-to-use integration with Microsoft Dynamics 365 enhances the ability to directly apply the extracted data into various business applications, providing an end-to-end solution for document data extraction workflows.

In a business environment increasingly leaning towards automation and digital transformation, tools like Power Automate and Nanonets OCR are becoming essential. They not only provide automation capabilities but also harness the power of machine learning, resulting in smarter, more efficient, and error-free business processes.

Power Automate’s accessibility and Nanonets’ powerful OCR functionality are a potent combination that can significantly impact businesses. As we continue to witness the digital transformation of various industries, the integration of these two platforms will undoubtedly play an influential role in shaping efficient, automated, and intelligent business workflows.

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• Source: https://nanonets.com/blog/ocr-pdf-data-extraction-in-microsoft-power-automate/