Australia’s Productivity Challenge – Making the Case for Smarter Business Spend Collaboration

Introduction

Australia’s productivity challenge is well-documented, with the Australian Financial Review (AFR) frequently highlighting concerns that red tape, regulatory burdens, and slow decision-making are holding businesses back. Business leaders often feel that productivity growth is constrained by external forces—government policies, economic conditions, and industry regulations. However, waiting for systemic change isn’t an option.

Productivity gains don’t require massive overhauls or high-risk investments. Instead, businesses can take small, incremental steps within their own operations. These small improvements—when applied consistently—compound over time to deliver significant efficiency gains, a principle outlined in James Clear’s Atomic Habits. The key is to focus on internal inefficiencies that are within a company’s control—particularly in procurement, supply chain, and financial operations, where poor workflows and fragmented processes create unnecessary delays.

The Productivity Lag – A Growing Concern

The Productivity Commission reports that Australia’s labour productivity has grown at just 1.1% per year over the past decade—well below historical averages. In contrast, nations that embrace process automation, AI-driven decision-making, and workflow optimisation are accelerating ahead.

But a closer look reveals that Australia’s lag isn’t just due to regulatory complexity—it’s also about internal inefficiencies. Procurement approvals get stuck in email chains, supplier onboarding takes weeks due to fragmented data, and finance teams spend hours on manual invoice processing. These delays are often the result of inefficient workflows, not external barriers.

How Business Process Mapping and Six Sigma Help

Before making meaningful improvements, businesses must first identify the root causes of inefficiencies. This is where Business Process Mapping (BPM) and Six Sigma methodologies become valuable.

• BPM helps visualise workflows to pinpoint bottlenecks, unnecessary approvals, and manual interventions that slow things down.
• Six Sigma focuses on reducing process variability and waste, ensuring that workflows run smoothly and with minimal errors.

By applying these principles, businesses can remove inefficiencies before layering on automation and AI.

Breaking the Silos: The First Small Step

Many inefficiencies arise because departments operate in silos. Procurement, supply chain, finance, and operations often use separate systems that don’t communicate, leading to:

• Delays in approvals and payments
• Duplicated efforts in supplier management
• Lack of visibility into procurement costs

A simple workflow-driven approach can help remove these inefficiencies. Instead of waiting for policy changes, organisations can start with practical internal improvements, such as automated approval processes and integrated procurement-supply chain data flows.

In our next article, we’ll explore how workflows and Agentic AI can be leveraged to drive real productivity gains—without major investments or regulatory dependencies.

Source: Productivity Commission Report, AFR, McKinsey & Co., James Clear’s Atomic Habits

FourPL Contact for more information:

Brett Findlay, Chief Executive Officer, FourPL
brett.findlay@fourpl.com.au
+61 424 154 012