Using Robotic Process Automation to increase efficiency, reduce operational costs

IT-driven Process Automation is one of the key aspects of digital transformation and most organizations have mandated this as a strategic priority. Businesses and organisations are considering various options of automation to improve the efficiency and productivity of their operations, with a view to saving costs and becoming more competitive. Process Automation is actually one of the most, simplest initiatives that an enterprise can start their digital transformation journey. With the introduction of Robotic Process Automation ( RPA) tools, Process Automation is debated at a different level because that gives a greater control and capabilities to process automation through bots (a software application that executes automated tasks) without affecting existing IT infrastructure.

An enterprise may use several heterogeneous systems to realise its business needs. Business data generated or stored in one system may need to be transferred to another system to maintain the continuity of its flow. This transfer may be from e-mails to a system, spreadsheets to a system, from one system to another system or within the same system. Currently it is mostly done by data entry operators or other operational staff. This type of data transfer is a repetitive and cumbersome task that takes a considerable time of the operators and may even lead to human errors. The good news is that most of these activities can be automated today by using robotic tools.

There are ample RPA tools available and the industry is rapidly adopting RPA to get rid of operational inefficiencies to go for quick wins while working on other digital transformation initiatives. What are the benefits you can get from RPA?

Reduced Operational Cost: - This is the most important factor, if RPA performs the job of a human employee then there is no need to pay salaries, increments and other benefits. In addition, training costs, attrition risks, power consumption, office space, business risks can be reduced drastically. The benefits listed below will also lead to

indirect cost saving. Improved Productivity: - RPA runs tirelessly, accurately and in most cases faster than human employees do. Therefore, the productivity improves significantly. Increased Accuracy: - RPA processes data with 100 per cent accuracy if correctly implemented. This reduces lots of rework and unexpected damages to the business. Increased Customer Satisfaction: - Employees can now focus on the customers and services rather than filling forms and repetitive order processing. This will help meet the customers' expectations. Simple Integration Approach: - No need to change any existing systems to support RPA implementation. There is no need to raise a support ticket, change request, approvals from the existing system vendors to get the systems integrated using RPA. Increased Employee Satisfaction: - Employees are frustrated and tired of doing repetitive work on 24/ 7 rosters. Now they can hand over those tasks to a robot and get involved with work that uses their intelligence and expert judgement. Better Resource Utilization: - The employees can be utilized for the tasks that add value to the business than just performing repetitive rule based work. The computers used for RPA can be utilized effectively 24/7/365. Quick ROI: - The rich features and functionalities available in most of the RPA tools make the implementation much easier and results in a better coverage of the processes. In most cases 100 per cent automation is possible. The time required for process study and implementation is significantly lesser than traditional software developments. Therefore, within a short period of time and with less effort you can get the outcome. Scalable and Flexible: - Scalability is one of the key challenges faced by enterprises today especially if the demand is unpredictable. Getting new employees to meet seasonal demands and training and deploying them could be a complicated process. With respect to RPA, it is very easy to clone process automations and scale. On the other hand, RPA is very flexible to accommodate process changes and rolling it out. High Availability: - Unlike human resources, the system's availability is much higher and controllable. The RPA can run day/ night and on holidays. In case of a failure/ disaster it is easy to set up the RPA system (other dependent systems should be available) and re-start operations. Continuous Process Improvements: - Once automated all the process activities can be tracked along with the timings. So, it is easy to identify the bottlenecks, measure the performance and continuously improve the processes. Maintain Consistency: - When it comes to humans the performance and quality may highly depend on the individual who performs the job. With RPA the delivery and quality is consistent and predictable. Business Risk and Compliance: - Since there are no human errors, and compliance steps are built into RPA all the process activities are automatic and therefore there is no risk of steps being missed, entering wrong information, sending information to wrong parties, etc. The other advantage is the availability of audit trail. All the activities are logged and traceable, and can be used for any investigations.

What are the tools available?

Following are some of the popular tools available in the market and they have various capabilities in- built to support complex RPA implementations.

There are commercial as well as free tools.

Automation Anywhere: Blue Prism: Epiance: Jacada: Kofax: Nice: AutoiQ: Pegasystems: UiPath; and WorkFusion. Are there any risks and challenges? Selecting the right RPA tool is important. Once implemented you must live with it. It is necessary to make sure that the tool provides enough functionalities and capabilities that you need in the future. The tool should be stable and backward compatible. RPA introduces a change to the organization and it is disruptive. Employee resistance and fear of robots taking over humans should be managed. RPA is to support humans at work. There is an implementation cost: RPA tool licenses, hardware and professional fees for RPA tool set up, configurations, scripting and the maintenance cost. RPA is in the industry for some time, but it is still new to many. Many organisations think they need to possess high-end technical skills to leverage RPA capabilities. However, they do not need such expertise to adopt RPA. It is not a good idea to use RPA if the systems and processes are being changed frequently. This needs professional support and will be expensive.

How do you know whether you have an opportunity?

The following checklist will help you identify whether there is any opportunity within your enterprise to use RPA and gain the advantages discussed above: Do you have well defined rule driven processes ( order creation, invoicing, etc.)? Do you have workflows? Have you employed humans to work as the system integrators ( transfer data from one system to another, one format to another)? Do you deal with multiple sources of electronic data? Do you use multiple systems and tools for your operations where their data should be logically integrated? Do you use any legacy systems or external systems? Do you process high volume transactions using humans? Do you process long running transactions using humans? Do you compromise the delivery or quality of your outputs due to human errors in the IT systems? If you have a few "Yes's, definitely there could be some areas where you can apply RPA. Or you may get help from a RPA consultant and explain your systems, processes and pain points. They can help you to identify whether there is any space for improvements with the help of RPA. (The writer is Head of Technology, John Keells IT and can be reached

at harsha@Johnkeellsit.com)