We build the automation that sits between your systems. Business process automation, workflow automation, RPA where an API does not exist, and the integration work that makes all of it hold together. From the CBD to Dandenong and down to Geelong, Australian-owned, with your data staying onshore.
Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses and Regional Population.
Melbourne businesses go looking for this work under a lot of different names. Automation agency, AI consultant, workflow automation company, RPA vendor. The labels overlap, so here is what each piece of work actually is and where it belongs.
A process is the whole path a piece of work travels: a purchase order raised, approved, matched to a delivery, paid, then reconciled. Business process automation rebuilds that path so the handoffs happen without anyone chasing them. We map the process as it actually runs, including the spreadsheet steps nobody documented, then automate the stable parts and leave the judgement calls with your people.
Process automationWorkflow automation is narrower and faster to deliver. It connects the tools your team already uses so a form submission creates a job, a signed contract updates the CRM, and an approval releases a payment run. Most Melbourne engagements start here because the payback arrives quickly and very little can break.
See how we scope itRPA drives software the way a person does, clicking through screens and copying fields. That is how you automate a system with no API. It is precise and it is brittle, because a vendor redesigning a screen will stop the robot. We reach for RPA when data is locked behind an interface, and we build a proper integration everywhere else.
AI vs RPA comparedSystems that do not talk to each other are what create the manual work in the first place. Integration puts a reliable path between them with error handling, retries, and a log you can audit when finance asks why a number moved. Xero, MYOB, Microsoft 365, HubSpot, Salesforce, job management tools, and SQL databases are the usual endpoints.
System integrationInvoices, delivery dockets, remittance advices, contracts, and compliance forms. A model reads the document, pulls the fields, checks them against your records, and routes anything unusual to a person instead of guessing. This is the work that RPA alone handles badly, because supplier documents change format without warning.
Invoice automation guideIf you have a budget and a board asking about AI, the first deliverable is a ranked list of what to automate and what to leave alone. Our strategy engagement produces an opportunity map, a technical architecture, a financial case, and a governance section covering the Privacy Act and data residency.
AI strategy consultingThese get sold as competing products. They solve different problems. RPA follows rules somebody wrote down. An AI model handles input that varies. Choosing the wrong one is the most common reason an automation project stalls after the pilot.
Most Melbourne projects end up using both. A rules engine moves structured data between systems, a model reads the documents that arrive in whatever shape the sender chose, and a person reviews the exceptions. The design question is which parts of your process are genuinely predictable, and that is what the first discovery session is for.
Read the full AI versus RPA comparisonEvery engagement starts with one process rather than a program of work, so you see output before a larger scope is committed.
Timelines move with integration scope. A workflow connecting two systems that already expose APIs can be live inside a month. A process crossing an ERP, a job management platform, and finance takes longer, and most of the extra time goes to data cleaning and getting access approved rather than to writing the automation.
Plenty of agencies will sell you a pilot. Fewer will tell you which parts of your process should stay manual.
We are 100% Australian owned and operated. Processing runs on Australian-hosted infrastructure under the Privacy Act, and nothing is routed to offshore data centres.
Our team has delivered data and integration work at BHP, Rio Tinto, Senex Energy, and Schneider Electric. Complex systems, change control, and audit requirements are familiar territory.
No account managers relaying requirements to a junior developer. You talk to the consultant designing and building your Melbourne automation.
Different industries break in different places. Finance drowns in reconciliation, professional services in document handling, logistics in the gap between the job system and the invoice.
Banks, super funds, and fintech in the Collins Street precinct
Legal, accounting, and consulting firms with heavy document handling
Medical research, private practices, and allied health groups
Automotive supply chain and advanced manufacturing
Retail head offices running orders across several platforms
Transport, warehousing, and distribution across the west and south east
Solve8 is headquartered in South East Queensland and we travel to Melbourne for discovery workshops, stakeholder sessions, and go-live support. Build work runs remotely, which keeps the cost of the project down.
100% Australian business
Your data never leaves AU
Australian Privacy Act
Registered Australian business
Solve8 brings 18+ years of enterprise delivery experience from BHP, Rio Tinto, and Senex Energy. You work directly with senior people, not a sales team handing you off to juniors.
Detail on what these projects cost, how long they take, and where they go wrong
Where Victorian operators are starting, and what it costs
Connecting old systems to AI without a rip and replace
A phase by phase breakdown of a real budget
The document workflow most finance teams automate first
What Melbourne businesses ask before they commit to an automation project.
Scope drives the number. A single workflow between two systems that already have APIs is a small project, and most focused automation work starts around $5,000. A process crossing an ERP, a job management tool, and finance runs higher, commonly to $50,000 for a multi-system implementation, with much of the effort going into data cleaning and access approvals rather than the automation itself. Fixed-price AI strategy engagements start at $4,500. The initial 30 minute discovery call is free and ends with a scope you can take to any vendor.
RPA follows rules you write. It drives an application through its interface, clicking and typing the way a person would, which makes it useful for systems with no API and hopeless when the screen changes. AI automation handles input that varies: an invoice in an unfamiliar layout, an email that needs classifying, a document that needs summarising. Most real Melbourne projects use both. RPA moves the data where an integration is impossible, and a model handles the parts where the rules were never written down.
A single workflow across two systems can be live inside a month. Business process automation covering an approval chain and several integrations usually runs 8 to 12 weeks. Larger programs spanning multiple business units take longer, and the delay is almost always data access and stakeholder sign-off rather than build time. We start every engagement with one pilot process so you see working output before the larger scope is committed.
Yes. Solve8 is headquartered in South East Queensland and we travel to Melbourne for discovery workshops, stakeholder interviews, and go-live support. Most build work happens remotely with regular video calls and shared boards, which keeps the cost down. If your security policy requires on-site development, tell us during discovery and we will price the travel into the scope.
Xero and MYOB for finance, Microsoft 365 and SharePoint for documents, HubSpot and Salesforce for CRM, job and field service platforms, SQL Server and Postgres databases, and most systems that expose a REST API. Where a vendor offers no API, we assess whether database-level access or an RPA layer is the safer route. We do not replace software you already run. The point of the work is to make what you have behave like one system.
Financial services in the CBD, professional services firms with heavy document handling, healthcare and medical research organisations, manufacturers and their suppliers, retail head offices, and logistics operators across the western and south eastern corridors. Our team's enterprise background at BHP, Rio Tinto, Senex Energy, and Schneider Electric means large operational environments and their compliance requirements are familiar ground.
Yes. All processing runs on Australian-hosted infrastructure and we do not route work through offshore data centres. For organisations with tighter requirements, we deploy private AI infrastructure that runs inside your own network with no external calls. This matters for Victorian financial services firms, healthcare providers, and anyone holding a government contract with data residency conditions.
No. We work directly with operations managers, finance leads, and business owners, and we write findings in plain language. Where you do have an IT team or a CTO, they are involved in architecture and security decisions from the first session, because they will be living with the result.
Book the free 30 minute call. Bring one process that frustrates you and rough numbers on how much time it consumes. We will tell you on that call whether automation is worth it, which of process automation, integration, RPA, or an AI model fits, and roughly what it would cost. If the answer is that the problem is a process design issue rather than a technology one, we will say that too.
Book a free 30-minute consultation. We'll discuss your project, timeline, and budget. No pressure, just honest advice.
Or email us directly at hello@solve8.com.au