Imagine your company makes a widget. An order comes in via email and a widget needs to be delivered to the customer. In a perfect world this would all be handled by one service but in reality, multiple systems most likely play a part in end-to-end fulfillment. In this scenario Jane is responsible for receiving the order and updating your company’s systems. Her workflow may be as follows:
At first glance many may consider this a “digital” process as no paper is printed, but there are still many steps requiring manual intervention. RPA is simply removing the human element from the process which as we will see brings many benefits. The rest of this article will discuss the foundation of Robotic Process Automation and benefits related not only to the scenario above but many other types of processes.
The robotic aspect of RPA refers to the creation of software “robots” or bots that mimic tasks similar to the ones outlined above. Once created they will monitor Jane’s digital actions and learn in the process. Once Jane shows them her workflow the robots take over and she gets a well-deserved cup of coffee.
The robotic aspect of RPA refers to the creation of software “robots” or bots that mimic tasks similar to the ones outlined above. Once created they will monitor Jane’s digital actions and learn in the process. Once Jane shows them her workflow the robots take over and she gets a well-deserved cup of coffee.
This is an often-overlooked aspect of RPA. At a high enough level anything can sound simple such as “Deliver widget to customer”. As we saw in the example above there are multiple steps involved in completing the transaction. This can be further exacerbated by something as simple as orders coming from multiple locations (email, fax, direct, etc.). Many organizations hope for a silver bullet in which an outside firm comes in and automates systems without any involvement from their employees. This simply isn’t the case as the process must be defined and reviewed by those performing the actual work.
While this is where all the benefits of RPA are realized it relies heavily on the first two (robotic and process) being accurate. As the old saying goes, garbage in – garbage out. Automating a process that is inefficient or missing input from users often results in higher costs, overhead, and a significant amount of rework. Planning and preparation are key to ensuring success when automating any process.
While we have outlined a specific scenario, the above software bots have the ability to interact with any application or system in the same way users perform their daily tasks. The benefit here is that once a process is automated your bots work 24/7 without the need for breaks and the human element of error is removed.
While this is where all the benefits of RPA are realized it relies heavily on the first two (robotic and process) being accurate. As the old saying goes, garbage in – garbage out. Automating a process that is inefficient or missing input from users often results in higher costs, overhead, and a significant amount of rework. Planning and preparation are key to ensuring success when automating any process.
While we have outlined a specific scenario, the above software bots have the ability to interact with any application or system in the same way users perform their daily tasks. The benefit here is that once a process is automated your bots work 24/7 without the need for breaks and the human element of error is removed.
RPA is simply a way to execute on the vision of BPM. Business Process Management (BPM) is the strategic discipline in which an enterprise employs various technologies to optimize workflows and processes at multiple levels. These technologies typically include a process engine, business analytics, content management, and collaboration tools at the core level. These key components are put in place to discover critical information, generate models, analyze data, measure growth, improve structures, and automate enterprise processes-- with the overarching goal of optimizing the organizational ecosystem as a whole.
As technologies have advanced, the benefits of employing BPM technologies have been achievable at an increasingly more granular level. This first led to “Process Automation” which then evolved to RPA.
An automated process can have a tremendous impact on an organization’s bottom line. At first glance (above) it may seem we are simply putting Jane out of a job but let us take a closer look. The success of our company above depends on delivering widgets, not the manual input of orders from one system to another. This frees up Jane to focus things that really make a difference. Many studies show that an average employee spends up to 40% of their time on digital tasks that require manual intervention. In any regulated industry such as healthcare and manufacturing this average can be much higher. The critical importance of error free execution as it relates to compliance and auditability in areas such as patient care result in much better outcomes. In addition to the above the following are also experienced:
Accuracy and speed of every automated task. Without the human element common mistakes are avoided and an identical process is followed every time. In addition when employee turnover occurs there is no downtime due to retraining.
Employee morale is improved when meaningless work is automated. No one wants to feel like a cog in the corporate machine. Automating digital tasks allows our employees to focus on the things that are important and makes a fundamental difference to their day-to-day work experience.
While it is dreaded by many, compliance is a reality in any regulated industry. The good news is that compliance tasks no longer need to be onerous or time consuming. Since bots are able to interact with any application (Internal or External) auditing and reporting tasks can be performed during off hours to minimize impact on systems during peak hours.
Scalability is another clear benefit that comes along with RPA implementations. While it may be feasible to have Jane perform the tasks outlined above when 10-50 orders per day are received, how well does that scale to 10,000? The flexibility of RPA allows for scaling up or down of any process based on workload. In addition, new or existing bots can quickly be programmed or redeployed as systems and applications are updated.
With the rise of social media customer experience has quickly risen to the top of nearly every consumer driven industry. Rapid praise or backlash from customers online can lead to a meteoric rise or dramatic tumble from which many organizations never recover. Automating tasks ensures no delays in fulfillment are experienced due to employee absences, shortages, or vacations. In addition, improved customer experience creates a positive feedback loop for the organization resulting in higher morale.
An automated process can have a tremendous impact on an organization’s bottom line. At first glance (above) it may seem we are simply putting Jane out of a job but let us take a closer look. The success of our company above depends on delivering widgets, not the manual input of orders from one system to another. This frees up Jane to focus things that really make a difference. Many studies show that an average employee spends up to 40% of their time on digital tasks that require manual intervention. In any regulated industry such as healthcare and manufacturing this average can be much higher. The critical importance of error free execution as it relates to compliance and auditability in areas such as patient care result in much better outcomes. In addition to the above the following are also experienced:
Accuracy and speed of every automated task. Without the human element common mistakes are avoided and an identical process is followed every time. In addition when employee turnover occurs there is no downtime due to retraining.
Employee morale is improved when meaningless work is automated. No one wants to feel like a cog in the corporate machine. Automating digital tasks allows our employees to focus on the things that are important and makes a fundamental difference to their day-to-day work experience.
While it is dreaded by many, compliance is a reality in any regulated industry. The good news is that compliance tasks no longer need to be onerous or time consuming. Since bots are able to interact with any application (Internal or External) auditing and reporting tasks can be performed during off hours to minimize impact on systems during peak hours.
Scalability is another clear benefit that comes along with RPA implementations. While it may be feasible to have Jane perform the tasks outlined above when 10-50 orders per day are received, how well does that scale to 10,000? The flexibility of RPA allows for scaling up or down of any process based on workload. In addition, new or existing bots can quickly be programmed or redeployed as systems and applications are updated.
With the rise of social media customer experience has quickly risen to the top of nearly every consumer driven industry. Rapid praise or backlash from customers online can lead to a meteoric rise or dramatic tumble from which many organizations never recover. Automating tasks ensures no delays in fulfillment are experienced due to employee absences, shortages, or vacations. In addition, improved customer experience creates a positive feedback loop for the organization resulting in higher morale.
While it isn’t free, RPA isn’t nearly as expensive as you may think. Just as developing a website used to require programming knowledge, technology and tools have advanced to the point at which anyone with a computer can be up and running in less than a day. No code and low code tools have had the same impact on process automation. Any computer savvy user can be trained to develop, program, and deploy bots to automate everyday tasks. Since bots have the same skill sets as people, common tasks such as data manipulation, calculations, data extraction and more can easily be accomplished. Setting up bots is as easy as taking a picture or video with your phone and posting it online.
Once set up, RPA delivers benefits to the business immediately in areas such as reduction of costs, accuracy, speed, and satisfaction. Organizations also experience unique competitive advantages as their workers are freed up to perform tasks that directly improve the bottom line rather than repetitive tasks prone to error. If you still aren’t convinced check out the case studies below from some of our Fortune 500 customers. We look forward to hearing from you soon!
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