Process-oriented automation or Business Process Automation (BPA) automates what the abstract process should do. It does not simulate what humans would do, but it executes the actual predefined business process or its technical parts. For example, the simplified Order-to-Cash (OTC) can go like this:

1. Receive Customer Order
2. Validate Order with rule-engine
3. Upsert Customer order to CRM (Upsert = insert if new or update existing)
4. Credit Check via API
5. Order Entry to Line-of-Business (Lob) System via API
6. Order fulfillment (wait for LoB)
7. Trigger the Order shipment process via API and send the transport order to the logistics partner via API.
8. The purchasing party received the ordered articles and confirmed them via API. Update order status in LoB and initiate invoicing process.
9. Wait for the "Order Invoiced" status
10. Payment Received - update Lob and end.

This kind of process automation can be done with BPA capable iPaaS (Integration Platform as a Service), like Frends enterprise iPaaS. Note that in the Frends BPMN2.0, a diagram is also an executable code. Each Order -instance can be visually monitored with all the data that went through - or caused an exception. With an iPaaS, the process may be triggered directly from a website or by the purchasing party's ERP (or integration platform) via API exposed by the iPaaS. The iPaaS or automation platform executes the process using interfaces of the line-of-business system and external interfaces, for example, checking the credit