RPA – What is Robotic Process Automation
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that allows organizations to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks that are typically performed by humans. RPA uses software robots or “bots” to mimic the actions of a human worker, such as typing and clicking, to complete these tasks.
RPA is often used to automate tasks that are routine and predictable, such as data entry and processing, and can be applied to a wide range of industries and functions. RPA can be integrated with a variety of systems and technologies, including legacy systems, and can be used to automate tasks across different departments and functions within an organization.
Some of the key advantages of RPA include increased efficiency and productivity, cost savings, improved accuracy and quality, and enhanced customer experience. However, RPA also has some limitations, such as the need for careful planning and implementation, and the potential for bot failure if the underlying processes change significantly.
Overall, RPA is a powerful technology that can help organizations streamline their operations and improve their performance.
Definition and explanation of RPA
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that allows organizations to automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks that are typically performed by humans. RPA uses software robots or “bots” to mimic the actions of a human worker, such as typing and clicking, to complete these tasks.
RPA is often used to automate tasks that are routine and predictable, such as data entry and processing, and can be applied to a wide range of industries and functions. For example, a financial institution might use RPA to automate the process of reconciling bank statements, or a healthcare organization might use RPA to automate the process of scheduling appointments and filling out patient paperwork.
RPA is typically implemented by creating a bot that is programmed to follow a set of rules and instructions to complete a specific task. The bot can be trained to follow a specific process or workflow, such as logging into a system, pulling data from a database, and performing calculations.
RPA has a number of benefits, including increased efficiency and productivity, cost savings, improved accuracy and quality, and enhanced customer experience. However, RPA also has some limitations, such as the need for careful planning and implementation, and the potential for bot failure if the underlying processes change significantly.
Examples of how RPA is used in various industries
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can be applied to a wide range of industries and functions and has been successfully implemented in a variety of sectors. Here are a few examples of how RPA is being used in various industries:
- Financial Services: RPA is commonly used in the financial services industry to automate tasks such as reconciling bank statements, processing loan applications, and verifying customer information.
- Healthcare: RPA is used in the healthcare industry to automate tasks such as scheduling appointments, filling out patient paperwork, and processing insurance claims.
- Manufacturing: RPA is used in the manufacturing industry to automate tasks such as data entry, quality control, and supply chain management.
- Retail: RPA is used in the retail industry to automate tasks such as processing orders, managing inventory, and analyzing customer data.
- Human Resources: RPA is used in the HR industry to automate tasks such as processing employee time sheets, handling employee benefits, and managing employee records.
- These are just a few examples of how RPA is being used in various industries. As RPA technology continues to advance and become more widely adopted, it is likely that it will be applied to an even wider range of industries and functions.
Advantages and limitations of RPA
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) offers a number of advantages, but it also has some limitations. Here are some of the key advantages and limitations of RPA:
Advantages of RPA:
- Increased efficiency and productivity: RPA can significantly increase the efficiency and productivity of an organization by automating repetitive and time-consuming tasks.
- Cost savings: RPA can reduce the need for human labor, resulting in significant cost savings for organizations.
- Improved accuracy and quality: RPA can help organizations reduce errors and improve the accuracy and quality of their work.
- Enhanced customer experience: RPA can help organizations improve their customer experience by providing faster and more accurate service.
- Scalability: RPA can be easily scaled up or down to meet the changing needs of an organization.
Limitations of RPA:
- Complex implementation: Implementing RPA can be complex, requiring careful planning and execution.
- Dependence on underlying processes: RPA is only as effective as the underlying processes it is automating. If these processes are flawed or change significantly, it can lead to bot failure.
- Limited capabilities: RPA is best suited for tasks that are routine and predictable, and may not be suitable for tasks that require more advanced decision-making or problem-solving abilities.
- Potential for job loss: RPA can automate tasks that are typically performed by humans, which may result in job loss or the need for re-training.
- Overall, RPA is a powerful technology that can offer significant benefits to organizations, but it is important to carefully consider its limitations and plan for its implementation accordingly.
How to get started with RPA?
- Know the Vendors: With new firms and products entering all the time, it is incredibly important to use RPA. If you are a business considering a software solution, you must know a provider is viable, that it has installed the product in similar businesses or industries, and it has a defined growth path for additional features and functions. Make sure you know the vendor landscape to make an informed decision.
- Don’t Overlook the Software: There are many vendors in the RPA space that offer a trial version, allowing you to know a lot about the product. It has been observed that many online vendors provide online documentation and training materials that will eventually help new users to get started.
- Always Try: It couldn’t be wrong to say that many businesses begin their RPA journeys by experimenting with a multitude of products. Doing so will ultimately help potential users to become familiar with the products and better understand not only the differences between them but also how they are used and how to automate one or more processes.
- Implement & Check: When it comes to making a sound decision and optimizing the resources, the organization needs more than experimentation as it’s all about the RPA program. Make sure you implement RPA and quickly compare its effect with your current manual process.
The Exponential Growth of RPA
RPA, over the recent years, has grown exponentially and it’s showing no signs of slowing down. From 63.1% in 2018 to $846 million, RPA grew like wildfire, making it one of the fastest-growing segments in the global market.
And the industry is expected to be grown to $25 + Billion by the year 2017.
How does Robotic Process Automation work?
When it comes to handling repetitive, rule-based digital tasks (filling in the same information in multiple places), entering data, or copying and pasting, Robotic process automation (RPA) does the job efficiently. It helps businesses to get rid of all the mundane tasks by handing them over to machines to handle them well.
Incorporating RPA helps businesses to achieve cost efficiencies by enhancing overall accuracy and streamlining processes. When repetitive tasks will be handed over to machines, humans can focus on creativity, judgment, and interpersonal skills.
Type of Bots
- 1. Task Bots: These kinds of bots help manage repetitive tasks in different areas like document administration, HR, claims management, IT services, and more. Be it cost-saving, productivity, and error reduction, these bots have got you covered!
- Meta Bots: Also known as the automation building blocks, these bots help you to make minimal changes to the application.
- IQBOT: IQBot is also known as an intelligent bot that helps to perform a task using the latest cognitive technology. It helps to organize unstructured data while improving its skills and performance.
RPA Capabilities
Businesses can easily use intelligent automation for cognitive capture, process orchestration, and analytics. Here are some of the possible capabilities that will give your business a competitive edge.
- Automation Development
This capability will help users to develop automation while changing the environment, including the look and feel of the UI and other features like screen recorders, and process mining or task discovery.
- Integration Features
From screen scraping, metadata interaction, and robust API management, this capability of RPA has got you covered!
- Control Panel and Dashboard
This capability allows you to control and modify the environment, including work allocation, monitoring of work throughput, and central auditing.
- Resilience, Error Recovery, and Security
This capability of RPA helps promotes the continuity of the business and the overall environment.
Why RPA?
Regardless of an organization’s size, it arguably goes a lot in executing monotonous tasks daily. These processes could be time-consuming and may negatively impact the business due to possible human errors. With the help of RPA, it can easily automate such processes ensuring maximum compliance to set standards, saving operational costs, and securing higher revenue gains to an enterprise.
Why RPA is important for modern businesses?
- Know Your User: With the implementation of RPA, you can easily understand user behavior, helping organizations in decision-making for their audience.
- Cost-Effective: In today’s technology-driven world, RPA is the most sought-after solution when it comes to reducing the expenses being made on manual tasks.
- Improves Productivity: No matter how many employees work in your organization, there’s a limitation to the work done. On the other hand, RPA offers unlimited possibilities for any company to run its business without compromising its productivity.
How to Select an RPA Project?
The following are the aspects that should be taken into consideration while choosing an RPA project.
- Rules-driven: Tasks that are rules-based and are not subject to change.
- Electronic Trigger: Processes that solely focus on receiving electronic data files.
- High error rates: Tasks that include paper-based data entry.
- Repetitive in Nature: Manual and repetitive tasks.
- Data-Intensive: Tasks that involve consistent churning of voluminous data.
- Manual Calculations: Tasks that include manual calculation where the possibilities of errors are more.
- Out-of-Hours jobs: Tasks include seasonal work overloads, multiple orders, resolving complaints, etc.
- High Compliance: Tasks that include audit proofs.
- Validations: Tasks where validations are mandatory at every stage.
- Electronic Start/Endpoints: Tasks that include digital inputs/outputs with irregular manual steps.
- A huge number of resources: Tasks where resources and multi-step processes are a must-needed.
What are the Benefits of RPA?
1) Customer satisfaction: It couldn’t be wrong to say that most companies find it difficult to meet the evolving needs of customer demands. And if a business is already engaged in doing repetitive tasks and dull tasks, it is important o implement RPA, so customers can focus on other core business operations. Also, the employees can use generated reports to understand the requirements of the customers without investing much time.
2) Productivity: RPA systems are equipped with robots that are fully focused on specific tasks. One of the best things about RPA is that it can easily create a monthly report in half an hour whereas an employee might take over 4 hours. Doing so will significantly enhance the productivity of your employees without breaking the bank.
3) Accuracy: No matter how skilled your workforce is, there are prone to make mistakes. The prime aim of the robotic process is to completely eradicate errors in processing. As long as the business processes are properly optimized, they don’t need to worry that the robots will make errors that their employees might.
4) Return on investment (ROI): RPA tools, when combined with workflow tools, could be a game-changer for businesses of all kinds. With enhanced productivity, customer service, and accuracy, your business is likely to get a significant return on investment.
RPA FAQ:
RPA Frequently Asked Questions FAQ you must know:
- What are some common ways RPA is being used now?
RPA helps companies to perform a multitude of important tasks. Some of the common fields in which RPA is being used include call center operations, claims administration, data migration, support of the sales process, credit card applications, expense management, scheduling systems, and more.
- Will RPA take away Jobs?
It couldn’t be wrong to say that RPA is likely to wash away a few jobs that include monotonous tasks like data re-entering and sales support.
The prime reason behind creating the RPA technology is to automate the redundant jobs while the people working on these jobs could use their skills on other core operations of the company.
If you don’t want your job to get dissolved in a few years, you must consistently upgrade your skills in new-age technologies like AI, ML, and RPA, to be precise.
- Why should I care about RPA?
The main reason you must care about RPA is that it helps reduce the time spent on simple and repetitive tasks. Doing so will significantly help to reduce the cost of the workforce while allowing them to focus on value-added tasks.
- Why should I learn RPA?
Since more and more businesses, irrespective of their sizes, are considering RPA processes to streamline operations, there will a great demand for professionals who are well-versed in the technology.
It couldn’t be wrong to say that businesses usually have a multitude of tasks in the pipeline. And that’s the reason, they are always in a need of people who understand how to implement and manage such technology.
- What is Robotic Automation?
Robotic Process Automation can be defined as the new-age technology that mimics the actions of a human within a digital system to efficiently execute a business process. RPA is all about robots capturing data and manipulating applications to perform a multitude of repetitive tasks. Unlike humans, RPA bots never get tired and make zero mistakes.
- How does Robotic Automation impact back-office processes terms automation?
When companies plan to introduce RPA solutions, the focus should be on the question of which activities should be automated and what not to be automated.
One of the best things about automation is that it can enormously increase efficiency which enables the workforce to focus on more challenging and more interesting aspects of their job. Let’s take an instance to understand!
In accounting departments, for example, RPA will reduce personnel requirements by 40% in the next five years.
- What are the advantages of Implementing Robotic Process automation without making any changes to the existing software used in an organization?
- No, IT infrastructure changes are required – there is no integration requirement – the robots interface with any application through the user interface in the same way a user does.
- No integration costs – robots drive existing applications.
- IT robots are “trained” by their users by being “shown” how to complete a task.
- A robot once trained can scale across any number of other robots.
- The robot’s knowledge is extended and re-used over time.
- A robot is trained in a live environment making projects less expensive and much faster than traditional IT.
- Multiple robots applied to a task can be synchronized to deliver large-scale robotic platforms.
- How much does robotic automation cost?
A “fully loaded” office robot is usually a 1/3 rd the cost of globally sourced agents.
- What advantages does Robotic Automation deliver for Backoffice / Service Industry?
Benefits include:
- Robotic FTE’s are 1/3 of the price of off-shored FTE’s and can work 24/7
- Speed to automation – days and weeks to automate clerical procedures
- “Self Build” – no need for specialist IT, robots are trained by end-users
- Robots are trained to do repetitive clerical tasks and drive existing applications so no costly integration and expensive process re-design expertise is needed
- A small specialist team from the business operations works alongside robots to train them, manage exceptions and continually improve the robot’s operational performance
- MI is automatically captured across all procedures operated.
- What type of processes is suitable for this style of automation?
RPA could be incredibly beneficial in dealing with a range of repetitive activities, including data transfer, reconciliation, data processing, data mapping, and report generation, to name a few.
- Why RPA is important for modern businesses?
RPA plays an incredibly important role in the development of modern businesses because it can easily perform repetitive tasks, allowing your employees to focus on other core operations of your business.
- How long does a robot automation project take?
Unlike traditional IT projects, RPA process delivery generally takes 1-3 months in the completion of an automation project.
- What processes are the best fits for RPA automation?
The processes are time-consuming and don’t need consistent human intervention.
- What are the results we can get by implementing RPA?
You are likely to get:
- Reduced costs
- Consistent quality
- Increased efficiency – robots are able to work around the clock, 24/7/365.
Even during the weekend or on holidays, there is no need for them to take breaks. Coupled with increased speed and decreased cycle time, this can provide an optimized back-office.
- What does the future of RPA look like?
Current value propositions aside, it’s important to consider future developments and advancements in RPA capabilities. Today, robotic software is based on rules and exceptions that require human intervention for resolution.
But are RPA software robots capable of completing cognitive tasks? What would the collaboration between RPA and more intelligent solutions, such as artificial intelligence, entail?
With the contribution of cognitive algorithms and machine learning, RPA will be able to adapt to more complex situations, independently correcting errors, and applying judgment. The convergence of RPA with AI is on the near horizon while transactional processes are the current focus of automation technology.
- The abilities of both RPA and cognitive products will be combined into a single solution that will allow tasks to be automated in an adaptive and responsive way to maximize business outcomes. The software robots will be able to analyze elaborate activities just like a human employee in order to deliver superior performance and a more valuable customer experience.
What’s Next?
As you can see, the questions surrounding the efficacy of RPA are important how this technology can serve as a value proposition for companies. In addressing common concerns, you should have a deeper understanding of the benefits RPA offers companies in achieving streamlined processes. Business activities that previously hindered productivity can now be automated to allow for a significant increase in resources and revenue, and RPA has an even more promising future ahead, especially with intelligent technologies leading the way in the next major step in automation capabilities.
What is Hyper Automation?
Why Should You Learn RPA?
- Popularity and High Salary
Yes, you heard it right! The popularity of RPA is so huge that the salary of an n RPA developer is around 110,000 dollars per year. Many corporate giants and MNCs are Dell, Accenture, IBM, Cognizant, and Capgemini use robotic process automation to enhance the growth. And that’s the reason, there’s a great demand for people with RPA automation.
- Saves Time and Money
No matter what business you have, you want a solution that can let you save time and money. When it comes to ensuring a profitable business, you must find the right balance between time and revenue and RPA may help you do that!
- ROI Is Visible
While RPA can bring in some fixed costs, it has a clearer part to demonstrate its returns.
- Complex Problems Are Solved
When it comes to analyzing data sources and analytic capabilities, RPA may perfectly cater to the needs of these problems. One of the best things about RPA is that it may easily store complex information and transform the same if required.
- No Down Time
Be it day or night, software bots can work all the time at their full capacity. If there’s any change in the process, then you can use new bots to match everything.
- Delivers Security
There’s no arguing with the fact that a breach in security could negatively impact any business. Since the data stored in a central repository, RPA ensures that the setting is done by the workers, ensuring you’ll get maximum protection.
- Easy To Scale and Implement
Being easy to use and implement, RPA primarily focuses on providing assistance to users to navigate, ensuring that the work is to be done more quickly and conveniently. And also, you can make changes and experience how these changes are going to impact your result.
- Best of Intelligent Automation
RPA is based on experience and practical work that will help to reduce the major workload in an organization.
- Software Migration
It couldn’t be wrong to say that software migrations could be time-consuming and costly. But when switching to RPA, you won’t face any sort of difficulty while ensuring the work is done in no time.
- RPA Is Not “Rip and Replace”
One of the biggest advantages of using an RPA bot is that it doesn’t let you replace your existing system, meaning you don’t need to make modifications.