Approval flows with any number of levels, an alternate at each level, delegation, series or parallel paths, a time limit per level and an escalation user.
An approval flow is configured once and reused: the number of levels, who sits at each, the alternate approver at each level, whether a person may delegate and for how long, whether levels run in series or in parallel, the time limit at each level and the escalation user when a limit passes. Value bands map amounts to the level where the flow ends, so a 40,000 request ends at level 1 and a 4,000,000 request reaches the committee.
The engine enforces the sequence: every level is passed in order and every decision carries its true time, because the log records the step and the time as they happen. An override, for example an administrator releasing a stuck instance, is a step of its own with a justification and a name.
| Setting | Options | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Levels | 1 to n, from a hierarchy or named | plant controller → division CFO → group CFO |
| Alternate | one per level | deputy controller |
| Delegation | allowed or off; maximum period | 2 weeks, both names logged |
| Path | series, parallel, mixed | legal and procurement in parallel with level 2 |
| Time limit | per level; working days or hours; calendar-aware | 3 working days at level 2 |
| Escalation | parent level, alternate, named user, return to requester | to the group CFO after 5 days |
| Band | amount or score thresholds per level | < 100,000 ends at level 1 |
A record has an owner. The owner assigns it to one or several people, who complete their part in sequence or in parallel, each within a time limit. Tracking shows the owner and the levels above every open assignment: who has it, since when, what is left. A month-end checklist is 80 assignments with dependencies; an audit remediation is 30 actions across 12 owners; both are the same engine.
Assignments can be made by rule, from the case data (the steward of the material's domain), from a list, or by hand on the tracking screen. A person's queue is one screen across all apps: everything assigned to them, sorted by clock.
A notification carries enough to act on: the case, the values that matter, the deadline, and buttons for the decisions the step allows. On Slack and Teams the card is structured, so an approver can approve, return or escalate from the phone; on email the same buttons deep-link into the workbench. Digests gather what a role needs weekly: open items, clocks about to run out, decisions taken.
In the showcase estate, an anomaly at 02:14 produced one card to the owner with the asset, the pipelines held, the subscribers at risk and the deadline; the owner acknowledged from a phone at 02:19 and the fix was live at 02:58. The exceptions page tells the whole story.
| Request | Packaging line 3 upgrade · Penang · 640,000 |
| Requested by | M. Tan, plant engineering · business case attached |
| Budget line | Capex 2026 · Penang · 1,200,000 · 410,000 approved to date |
| Level 1 | Approved by plant controller, Tue 10:14 |
| Clock | 2 working days left at your level |
A handshake between functions or companies: each party signs the same version of the case; the case closes when all have signed; the log holds each signature with its time.
A level grants a lower level a permission for a period, for example to release a block up to a value; the grant and every use are logged.
Threaded discussion anchored to the case, with reactions, visible to every role that sees the case, part of the record.
Inform a function, a level or a list, with a card and a read receipt, for the steps that need awareness only.
A screen sent to a list, a level or a supplier base, with a close date; answers are rows other apps can read; reminders by rule.
A rule assigns a reward or an incentive on an outcome; measures are shown per level as the flow runs and on the board afterwards.
Yes. The card carries the context and the buttons; the action is logged with the person's identity, the same as in the workbench.
Clocks use a calendar per site or country; a time limit of 3 working days in Penang knows Penang's holidays.
The app raises the approval in the app and mirrors it in the other system's approval list, so people act in either place and both records agree; the log holds the acknowledgement.
A rule of the flow: the engine skips a level where the approver is the requester and records the skip, or routes to the alternate, as the definition says.
Bring one process and the systems it touches. In the first session we register the data handlers, draw the levels or the lanes and run the first screen on your live rows.
