RPA (Robotic Process Automation) has the potential to improve your company’s handling of Rule Based Processes by improving the speed and accuracy of routine tasks while, at the same time, reducing your operational costs. Implementations of RPA typically achieve cost reductions in the order of 65% and improvements in the accuracy rate to 98%. The benefits of RPA are many. Typically, a process that is being carried out by the RPA software will be executed significantly more quickly than could be achieved by a typical person at a workstation. The RPA software will not introduce the errors normally associated with human data entry and will therefore improve the overall accuracy of the activity and the resulting data. A Robot does not need to take breaks and is not limited to a working day or week thereby resulting in greater productivity. These benefits typically result in reduced FTE (Full Time Equivalents) and the associated potential cost savings while improving throughput and accuracy. It is unlikely that RPA will remove the need for human intervention completely, but it does allow personnel to focus their attention on the anomalies that occur and work more closely with customers while the RPA system deals with the routine activities. RPA applications continue to develop and their capabilities are further increasing through the introduction of Cognitive Automation that builds upon the principles of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence. These more recent developments enable more complex decision through contextual analyses which enables intuitive leaps, perceptions, and judgments mimicking the ‘human touch’.

There are numerous RPA solutions available today each with unique characteristics and capabilities. However, no one solution fits all the needs of all the many diverse business requirements. Therefore, it is still important to understand, in some detail, the business needs in terms of functionality, complexity and cost and to match this to the strengths, and weaknesses, of the available applications before a solution is chosen.

The RPA interacts with the existing systems using the same interfaces already in place thereby avoiding costly changes to those existing systems. This can greatly reduce the cost when compared with say a BPM (Business Process Management) solution where existing systems would require adaption. The selection and introduction of an RPA solution, like any other project, needs to be approached systematically and ideally with the support of some expertise. Best practice would include a requirement gathering phase, a proof of concept, a pilot and then full implementation. Within these steps a well-managed delivery should also include change control, training, measuring gains obtained and capturing those lessons learnt.

If you would like to explore how RPA could help to bring improved efficiency and accuracy and reduce costs to your business, then contact Cyberteq. Cyberteq can provide you with advice and help you identify if RPA would suit your specific business needs. The team at Cyberteq are able to bring their knowledge, experience and expertise and advise you on what you could achieve with an RPA implementation as well as help you with the next steps, whether that be a Proof of Concept, a Pilot or a Full Implementation.