Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is an emerging technology that can help to automate your mundane, repetitive tasks, enabling you to manage your business operations in a cheaper, faster, better way.
The software bots that automate your processes work 24/7—without taking any breaks—and works much faster than a human could. They are an instant productivity boost.
These software bots emulate the actions taken by human users, so they can be deployed automate work processes across many business functions, including:
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Finance & Accounting
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Human Resource
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Information Technology
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Sales & Marketing
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Supply Chain
Check out the 100+ RPA use cases we have compiled, classified by business function.
If your company is a Singapore SME, government funding support may also be available through the Enterprise Development Grant (EDG) administered by Enterprise Singapore.
Example RPA Use Cases for SMEs
The following are some specific examples of how RPA can easily boost productivity in SMEs.
Submission of GPCL and ECL Claim Applications (HR)
Background: Under the Government-Paid Child care Leave (GPCL) and Extended Child care Leave (ECL) scheme, the Government will reimburse employers for a maximum of 3 child care leave days over a 12-month relevant period, capped at $500 per day.
To apply for this reimbursement, employers need to obtain the GPCL1 declaration forms from their employees and submit the claims online via the GPL Portal.
Problem: This process is rather mundane and repetitive and can be rather onerous for companies for many employees. In addition, such claims tend to be clustered around the end of the 12-month relevant period, resulting in a seasonal spike in workload. Lastly, timely submission of the applications is critical as late claims will not be considered.
Solution: With RPA, this application process is now simplified and expedited. HR personnel only need to file all the GPCL1 declaration forms into a designated folder. The RPA bot will retrieve all these forms, extract the relevant details, and submit the applications on the GPL portal. For all successful submissions, the RPA bot will extract the confirmation number and send an email notification back to the HR personnel.
Automating GPCL and ECL Claim Applications (HR)
Benefits:
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Up to 70% reduction in the average handling time
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Up to 90% reduction in errors and rework required
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Redeployment of HR personnel to more value-added tasks
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Timely submission and hence reimbursement of GPCL and ECL claims
Extraction of Opportunities from GeBIZ (Sales & Marketing)
Background: GeBIZ is the Singapore Government's one-stop e-procurement portal. All the public sector's invitations for quotations and tenders are posted on GeBIZ. Suppliers can search for government procurement opportunities, download tender documents, and submit their bids online.
Problem: For a sales and marketing professional, searching for GeBIZ opportunities tends to be a rather manual process. Even worse, the process of consolidating and tracking the opportunities can be tedious and time-consuming. Precious time is wasted on performing such administrative work instead of preparing for a winning bid.
Solution: With RPA, the bot will automatically login to GeBIZ every day and extract the opportunities based on the defined keywords. Details of the extracted opportunities will be updated into an Excel spreadsheet for easy viewing and tracking. The bot can also download all the quotation documents into Knowledge Management system like SharePoint or LiveLink for further collaboration. Furthermore, it can create a calendar invite in Outlook to keep track of the tender closing date.
Extraction of Opportunities from GeBIZ (Sales & Marketing)
How We Implement RPA for SMEs
To kickstart the automation journey in an SME, we typically carry out an applied learning programme consisting of 2 phases:
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Phase 1 includes a 2-day RPA discovery workshop where participants will be introduced to the concept of RPA, learn about the common use cases for RPA, as well as how to identify processes suitable for RPA. In addition, participants will be guided on how to use UiPath Studio to develop their own RPA bots. By the conclusion of this phase, a project team will be formed and a use case identified.
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Phase 2 focuses on RPA implementation facilitation. A consultant from CFB Bots will be assigned to the project team to assist them in implementing the use case identified in phase 1. The project team will observe and learn how the solution is developed for the identified use case while the consultant is working on the automation development.
