Digital has brought in so many technological advances to this age and one of them is Robotic Process Automation (RPA).
A simple definition of RPA is, automation of business processes across the enterprise using software robots. Any repetitive task which requires some decision making is an ideal candidate for RPA. Automation has become an integral part of Digital Transformation. Implementing these software robots to perform routine business processes and eliminate inefficiencies is the key for business leaders.
Today’s organizations often need to execute millions of repetitive and time-intensive business processes each day. Using RPA they can automate administrative functions such as customer address changes, registrations and other high-volume tasks and transactions. This helps avoids human errors & also allows employees to spend more time & focus on customer-related functions for better customer experience.
RPA is well suited for processes that are clearly defined, repeatable and rules-based. Any company that uses workforce on a large scale for general knowledge process work, where people are performing high-volume, high transactional process functions, will boost their capabilities and save money and time with RPA software.
Process automation can expedite back-office tasks in finance, procurement, supply chain management, accounting, customer service and human resources, including data entry, purchase order issuing, a creation of online access credentials.
By adding the cognitive computing power of Natural language processing, speech recognition, and machine learning, businesses can achieve high-end tasks which require human interventions.
Automation of front-end operations typically involves chatbots or conversational agents. RPA can provide answers to employees or customers in natural language rather than in software code. This can help to conserve resources for large call centers and for customer interaction centers.
As RPA brings more technologically-advanced solutions to businesses around the world, they bring a multitude of benefits as below.
· Increased Speed: routine tasks are carried out swiftly by RPA without any intervention, thereby faster time to resolution
· Reduced labor costs due to software robots than humans
· Enhanced employee experience: since repetitive tasks as taken care by RPA, employees can spend quality time for strategic work and enjoy their work life
· Higher quality: better consistency & accuracy due to minimized variations and better customer service
· Enhanced insights: by automating the data collected and applying Big Data analytics for improved efficiency
· Scalability: robotic workforce can be scaled to any level required
BPO industry is the most benefited sector due to RPA. Insurance, Banking industries use RPA for KYC, claims processing, policy admin, statement reconciliation, credit card application processing etc.
Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, UiPath & Verint are some of the few top vendors in the market today.
Be ready for RPA storm coming in near future with the addition of artificial intelligence capabilities.
