All termsSystems
Manual Labor
A manual, human-performed step — someone re-keys data, carries a disk, faxes a report, or exports a file by hand.
When to use it
Model manual labor to make non-automated steps visible — they're where errors and delays hide.
In plain terms
The person walking a USB stick between two rooms.
Common gotchas
- Manual steps are the usual source of delay and transcription error — flag them for future automation.
- They often have no audit trail.
- "Temporary" manual workarounds tend to become permanent.