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Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the use of software (the ‘robot’ in this scenario) to capture and interpret data in order to automate processes, data manipulation and communications across multiple systems.
It is a powerful way to automatically pull information together and integrate it into a business process or customer journey without needing manual intervention and steps.
How can RPA be used?
RPA can be used to automate the slow, manual tasks that steal time from your employees and can help you scale the business processes that you’re already working on without taking up any more time or resource.
It can be applied to almost any digital process, usually where repetition occurs, for example, accounts payable with the scanning, matching and paying of invoices in the finance department.
Other examples of RPA include:
- HR – Replace paper with e-forms from Job Application to Separation
- Mailroom – Sort and distribute all inbound physical and electronic documents
- Contracts – Archiving – Fully index all historic documents in a single repository
Robotic process automation can be made more powerful when combined with other digital solutions, or when multiple ‘robots’ are set up to automate the entirety of a time-consuming, repetitive process.
Ideal processes to implement RPA are one’s that are:
- Repetitive
- Human error-prone
- Rule-based
- Digital
- Time Critical
- Seasonal
It’s likely you have processes that match at least one of these criteria and there’s a good chance the process takes time and causes mistakes due to the repetitive and potentially dull nature of the tasks.
What are the benefits of RPA?
The benefits will differ depending on the processes that you choose to automate but generally, robotic process automation can include some of the following benefits:
1) Time Saving
Robotic process automation can be used to automate lengthy processes that were previously carried by employees. If a task or process included a lot of data inputting, extraction or processing, then the same process could be automated, freeing up employee time.
The time saved could allow an employee to work on higher value tasks that can’t be automated.
2) Scalability
Usually, in order to scale a process, it could mean taking more employee time or even hiring new people. With RPA, it’s possible to scale the process without the need for extra resource.
3) Error-free Processes
Humans make mistakes, hence the well-known term ‘human error’. With process automation, the accuracy of a process is higher as the operation is simply being repeated by a machine.
Where tiredness might be a factor for mistakes for humans, you can rest assured that robots won’t tire of doing the same process over and over again.
4) Cost saving
As with scalability, RPA gives the potential for cost reductions and savings as the cost of running the process is likely to be cheaper than the time and possibly salaries that have to be spent to run the same process with a human.
We’re not saying RPA should replace people, but rather that repetitive tasks steal time and by removing them from an employee’s workload, the cost can be re-allocated to higher value tasks.
Robotic process automation is a powerful way to run processes without the need for human intervention and can save time, money and add scalability to the processes.
