Time to Automate - How can Robotic Process Automation help your organisation?

09/11/20

Cost optimisation is at the top of organisations’ agenda post COVID-19. Many of them are now realising the power of automation to enable efficiency, accuracy and productivity whilst allowing employees to engage in greater value-adding activities.

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) allows organisations to digitise repetitive tasks through a virtual workforce by using well defined workflows with little to no human intervention.

For several years, RPA was confined to physical robots driving operations in the manufacturing industry. However, unlike physical robots, RPA runs on top of existing digital ecosystems without any IT transformation projects and also easily integrates with other applications. This allows teams to perform higher value-added tasks which entail human strengths such as emotional intelligence, reasoning and judgement.

With the evolution in the concept and capabilities of Robots, today, businesses are faced with greater potential to increase productivity by automating manually repeatable processes and tasks.

The benefits of RPA go beyond cost reduction and include:

Reduced cycle times and improved throughput as bots are able to work faster, consistently and around the clock.
Flexibility and scalability by integrating with existing digital applications thus fitting into the current set up.
Reduced error rate by performing rule-based work and achieving up to 100% accuracy.
Increased employee productivity by freeing up human resources from mundane activities.
Increased customer satisfaction by reducing human errors and operating consistently over 24/7.
Greater transparency and visibility through audit trails and transaction logs.

How to identify potential RPA candidates in your organisation?

The points below depict the criteria for earmarking processes which are ripe for automation:

5 steps that will get RPA working for you

Here are 5 steps that will help you to embark on this exciting journey:

Try it before you buy
Before taking the plunge, dip your toe in the water. Make use of a Proof of Concept (PoC). The PoC will give you a sense of what results to expect and at the same time allow you to become comfortable as well as build trust in the technology. This will help your board to gain confidence in the potential of the solution.
Think big
Once you feel that you are ready, think of the areas where RPA will be the most advantageous to your company in terms of time and cost savings. Define your roadmap.
Start in the right place
After having established your roadmap, start where the benefits of RPA will be the most noticeable, that is, the quick wins.
Join forces
Collaborate closely with subject matter experts of each department. Spot the pain points and work together to make the best out of this disruptive technology.
Track your results
Processes that were difficult to track in the past are now easy to monitor with RPA. So, leverage the insights generated by RPA to help you achieve operational excellence.

Contact us

If you would like to know more about RPA or schedule a demo, please call us on 404 5104 or
contact us. One of our dedicated consultants/experts will assist you.

Vikas Sharma
Partner, Consulting
Email: v.sharma@pwc.com