RPA software tools allow companies to enable digital automation of processes by performing tasks the same way a human would. Robotics process automation works by using a user interface (UI) and follows a set of predefined rules. RPA deployment helps reduce development time and fastens up delivery lifecycles. RPA can also be extended to a wide range of functions across an organization.
RPA is widely used by financial and insurance companies. Industries where routine tasks need automation. RPA can automate financial processes like comparing invoices against shipment notices, or transfering data from email to text systems, or and deploying a call center speech-to-text system as a transactional systems of record. It is for such benefits of robotics process automation that more and more companies are turning to RPA for automating their back- and middle-office processes.
What has helped many companies is RPA technology's ability to provide rapid returns on their investments despite a much lower initial cost when compared to the cost of replacing legacy systems. RPA does not require any new infrastructure. Instead, it is deployed on top on existing processes that facilities all this.
But, where many companies go wrong is they dive into RPA without proper process analysis and try to automate everything. It can get tricky.
The case for Process Analysis before RPA
Not all processes can be automated. Not all processes need to be automated. If you don't understand your goals, and what you want from RPA, your deployment will not be a success.
RPA might not be the best solution is your goal is to redesign or improve the processes rather than automating them in their current state. RPA, as we have discussed does not redesign anything. So, if your existing process maturity levels are not optimized, your RPA-bot will sit on top of broken processes. You might not want that.
If your goal is to go beyond just labor savings and actually improving the process, then you need to get a good understanding of your existing business processes and the new processes you need to put in place before enabling RPA. Out of date standard operating procedures and poor documentation often lead to a low level of process knowledge and understanding within a company. That can be quite healthy.
A successful RPA implementation requires process mapping, analysis, and redesign. Following existing Lean methodologies like Six-Sigma or best practices like ITIL can help you cut out unnecessary steps before RPA implementation. Redesigning processes during your RPA implementation may increase your time and cost a bit, but your ROI will have the potential to much greater for sure. As we said before, optimized processes let software bots operate at optimum speed and efficiency.
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