Automation benefits your business beyond an increase in operational efficiency. Besides other benefits such as increased revenue and enhanced customer experience, more than nine in ten organisations also believe that automation kickstarted their digital transformation.
How fast are RPA bots?
Watch how quickly RPA bots work—they work much faster than humans. Now, imagine them working at this speed 24/7 without any downtime—no sleep, no breaks, and no leave. They'll easily produce a 12x gain in productivity.
What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a technology that automates business processes by emulating a person performing manual, repetitive tasks, and making decisions based on pre-defined rules.
RPA bots—essentially lines of software codes—effectively manage, execute, and monitor any repetitive processes that do not require human judgment, allowing employees to focus on the more sophisticated, higher-value tasks.
RPA is non-invasive and can work with any existing software
RPA automates tasks through the user interface, accessing the applications in the same way a human would.
You will not need to make any changes to applications and programs you are already using, unlike traditional automation before RPA came along.
AI enhances RPA to enable Intelligent Automation
The latest developments in Artificial Intelligence (AI) take RPA beyond strictly rule-based tasks.
By incorporating AI, RPA bots can now also automate more cognitive, decision-based tasks—we call this Intelligent Automation.
Check out this real-world success story involving Machine Learning and RPA.
Benefits of RPA for your business
Increased productivity
Robots work 24/7 and can perform repetitive tasks much faster, without errors
Reduced compliance costs and risks
Robots repeat tasks perfectly, hence reducing human errors
Better employee engagement
RPA frees up human workers from tedious, unpleasant work, leaving them more capacity for creative, interactive work
Better customer service
Increased productivity and more engaged employees result in better customer experience
Revenue growth
Freed up capacity allows for exploring new areas of growth and new revenue streams
Increased resilience
Reduced reliance on human workers safeguards your business continuity in times of crises, such as the Covid-19 pandemic
There are many business benefits of RPA, but here are a few highlights:
What can RPA bots do?
RPA is useful for any labour-intensive tasks that involve repeated entry or transfer of large amounts of data, interfacing between several applications, or supplying the same information to multiple systems.
As a result, RPA is very useful for automating mundane tasks and for bridging poorly integrated IT systems.
Software bots can:
Log in to any application
Connect to system APIs
Read and write to databases
Extract information from documents
Move files and folders
Open emails and attachments
Scrape data from the web
Make
calculations
What processes are suitable for RPA?
Choosing the right processes to automate is one of the most important decisions you can make to ensure a high ROI on your automation efforts. Processes that are best suited for RPA share this common set of characteristics:
1. Rule-based
Can the process be described using a flowchart? More specifically, are there any human judgement and discretion required when performing this task?
2. High transaction volumes
Are you spending at least x minutes per day performing this task? In general, the larger the time savings, the better the Return on Investment (ROI).
3. Low exceptions
What are the edge scenarios that need to be handled by the bot? Ideally, the less exception or error handling required, the better it is.
4. Stable and well-defined processes
Is there an up-to-date Standard Operating Procedure (SOP)? Are there any significant changes in SOP within the past one year or expected in the next one year?
5. Low system change
Are there any planned system enhancements, upgrades or replacements for the applications required for the process within the next one year?
6. Structured data and readable electronic inputs
Is the input and output data in a fixed, digital format? Are these data readily available for training and testing purposes?
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RPA use cases in the industry
RPA and Intelligent Automation are widely used in the following functions across various industries:
Finance &
Accounting
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Example use cases:
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distributing and processing invoices
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reconciling bank statements
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financial planning and forecasting
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tax reporting
Finance & Accounting
Human Resources
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Example use cases:
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payroll processing
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expenses claims processing
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employee onboarding and offboarding
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benefits administration
Human Resources
IT Services
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Example use cases:
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routine maintenance and monitoring
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password resets
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automatic backup and restoration
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integrating disparate systems
IT Services
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Example use cases:
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sending RFQs
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supplier onboarding
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contract management
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supplier relationship management and performance tracking
Supply Chain
Supply Chain
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Example use cases:
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consolidate bills of materials
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reorder spare parts automatically
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automate back-office functions
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order processing
Operations
Operations
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Example use cases:
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classifying and directing customer queries
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retrieving customer information
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customer data updates
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customer service metrics reporting
Customer Service
Customer Service
The Best RPA Tools in the Market
To ensure that you have a smooth journey with RPA, it's important that you work with the market-leading RPA tools that are technologically mature and well tested across different industries.
At CFB Bots, we have strong partnerships with these market leaders — UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Microsoft — and we are well equipped to deliver high-performing RPA solutions for you, no matter which tool you choose.
More information on RPA
RPA Implementation Resources
RPA Process Selection White Paper
Personalised Automation ROI Report
11 Myths about Robotic Process Automation
25 Rules You Should Never Break When Creating an RPA Bot
RPA Use Cases by Industry
6 Real-World RPA Success Stories in Manufacturing
RPA Use Cases by Business Function
