In the digital economy, we are witnessing a revolutionary wave that is reshaping the landscape of work. Earlier, organizations offshored high-volume back office operations to take advantage of low-cost foreign labor. Those days are gone! The rise in labor costs has made software-powered digital labor cheaper, faster, and more productive.
In today’s world, most successful companies are pivoting from manual to automated processes for high-volume, highly transactional processes, and it is happening fast.
Why is it so important to pivot to digital labor?
A typical business process at work may include gathering pdf attachments from email, extracting data and copying it to Excel, and sending confirmation e-mails. Consequently, your team will spend a significant amount of time on these mundane processes. Have you ever wondered if these processes could be automated with software robots? By doing so, you will no longer have to waste your time on these tasks; instead, you will have more time to devote to work that will make your organization more successful.
Isn’t that awesome?
In this blog, we will discuss the benefits of next-generation robotic process automation ( RPA ) for businesses, considerations when investing in next-generation RPA, and real-world examples.
Table of Contents
Top Benefits of Robotic Process Automation for Businesses
Improved ROI
Robotic process automation tools are more efficient than humans at managing repetitive tasks, and they improve productivity at your company. That’s why RPA has a positive impact on ROI. Your business can improve several processes through robotic process automation, generating significant amounts of qualitative and quantitative data over time to assist in cost management.
Focus on Higher-Value Activities
Business teams can focus on higher-value tasks when RPA takes over tasks. Reps can spend more time on the phone with prospects if mundane tasks like finding prospects’ contact information are automated or personalized messages are sent.
24/7 Availability and Accuracy
RPA improves business results. Enhancing process quality makes it highly efficient, accurate, and available 24/7. It takes over tasks previously handled by humans, reducing their workload and enabling them to concentrate on value-added activities.
Compliance and Error Reduction
RPA ensures adherence to regulatory standards and reduces the risk of compliance errors. With built-in audit trails and process monitoring, businesses gain transparency, traceability, and peace of mind.
An American bank automated KYC processes, reviewed clients periodically, and monitored suspicious activity using RPA.
Regulatory compliance led to a 75% reduction in due-diligence costs.
Faster Service
Approximately 10%-25% of employees’ time is spent on repetitive tasks, and 30% of IT teams’ time is spent on basic, low-level tasks. As a result, it reduces the efficiency and effectiveness of the organization. It is possible to automate rule-based processes faster with RPA, such as data entry, reporting, and sending bulk emails.
Streamlined Processes
RPA optimizes workflow by automating end-to-end processes, eliminating bottlenecks, and reducing cycle times. Experience streamlined operations, improved resource allocation, and faster service delivery giving you a competitive edge in the market.
Improved Data Quality
Reducing manual errors leads to higher-quality data.
Compared to manual data extraction, RPA can extract and manipulate data with 99% accuracy, compared to 62% for manual data extraction.
By providing metadata on RPA performance and enabling access to legacy data, RPA can also contribute to better analytics.
Key Considerations When Investing in Next-Generation RPA
A few key considerations need to be kept in mind when investing in next-generation robotic process automation (RPA). Consider these factors:
Cognitive Capabilities
Often, next-generation RPA includes cognitive or AI capabilities, such as natural language processing and machine learning. Using these features, robots can understand unstructured data, make decisions, and perform complex tasks beyond traditional rule-based automation. Assess how the cognitive capabilities of the RPA solution align with your automation requirements.
Analytics and Reporting
Monitoring and optimizing your RPA implementation requires advanced analytics and reporting capabilities. Make sure your RPA platform offers comprehensive analytics, real-time monitoring, and customizable reports. By utilizing these features, you will be able to gain insights into process performance, identify bottlenecks, and make data-driven decisions for continuous improvement.
Vendor Support and Ecosystem
Consider the vendor’s reputation, support offerings, and ecosystem of partners. To address any issues that may arise, a reliable vendor should provide regular updates, maintenance, and technical support. You can also expand the capabilities of your RPA solution by collaborating with partners and integrating with third-party applications.
Total Cost of Ownership
Analyze the overall cost of implementing and maintaining the next-generation RPA solution. Besides upfront costs, consider implementation costs, training, ongoing support, and the potential return on investment.
Proof of Concept and Pilot Projects
Conduct a proof of concept or pilot project before fully committing to a next-generation RPA solution. As a result, you can evaluate the solution’s suitability for your specific use cases and evaluate its performance, scalability, and ease of use.
Real-World Examples of Next-Generation RPA Implementation
Reconciling Transactions
Take the example of a parking service company. Daily, they manage a high volume of parking payments, each of which generates its own sales transaction. Employees must reconcile these two data points manually if there is a discrepancy between them. This repetitive task takes a lot of time.
To automate this process, they decide to use RPA. Here’s how:
- Bots consult master files with account information, then download bank movements for each account.
- A pre-established set of business rules is applied to the bot, which generates a reconciliation proposal and sends it to the finance department when a discrepancy is detected.
- A finance team reviews the proposal, resolves any discrepancies, and approves it.
- Each reconciled item is entered into the ERP system by a second bot.
Billing
Billing can also be streamlined with RPA. As an example, consider a global customer that receives invoices from multiple countries frequently. To make the process faster and more accurate, they have to validate the currencies, amounts, and tax rates for each geography.
To process invoices, this company could build an RPA bot. The process is as follows:
- Billing receives customer invoices from finance.
- It downloads them, scans them, captures the data, validates the information, and submits them to the correct customer.
- For billing team control and audit, the bot generates a final report.
As a result, the team’s invoice processing time and average payment collection time are reduced, and invoice accuracy is improved for each collection cycle.
Connecting Database Information
Customer information is stored in multiple legacy databases in many enterprises. Without RPA, employees would have to manually enter customer information into two databases. While monotonous and not requiring analytical thinking, this type of work is crucial to the company.
RPA could improve the process in the following ways:
- Logging into the legacy system is the first step for the bot. (An RPA bot is a great solution since this legacy database does not have an API.)
- A bot scans existing data, extracts the data, and saves it.
- Afterward, the bot uploads the file to the second database, generating a report for review by employees.
Time Card Auditing
Auditing digital time cards can be a daunting task for any organization with hourly or non-exempt employees. For every shift worked, eight punches would appear on a card if employees clocked in at the start and end of a shift, as well as during the break. The repetitive task of auditing each time card would take human hours to complete.
RPA can also help here:
- Each time card is reviewed by the bot and entries that don’t have the right number of punches are flagged.
- When punches are missing on entries, the bot applies predefined business rules.
- If the bot finds any time cards that cannot be corrected by existing business rules, it flags them for validation by an employee.
Employee Onboarding
RPA is used to enroll employees, schedule meetings, schedule induction classes, and send emails and messages regarding their responsibilities.
By using RPA, you can ensure that each new employee receives all the information needed to comply with company policies.
RPA could improve the process in the following ways
- Automates email notifications, reminders, and updates for efficient communication.
- Streamlines collection and processing of new hire documentation.
- Ensures compliance with regulations and company policies.
- Provides real-time visibility into the onboarding process.
Conclusion
In conclusion, embracing next-generation robotic process automation (RPA) solutions is no longer a choice but a necessity for businesses aiming to thrive in the modern digital landscape. The potential for increased efficiency, productivity, and cost savings offered by these advanced automation technologies is simply too valuable to ignore. By leveraging the power of AI-driven robots and intelligent automation, organizations can streamline their operations, reduce errors, and unlock new levels of scalability.
Investing in next-gen RPA solutions will not only future-proof your business but also empower your workforce to focus on higher-value tasks that require human creativity and expertise. So if you are in search of a robotic process automation company then we are here to help you!
RPA services provided by HashStudioz Technologies help businesses automate processes, improve efficiency, and drive digital transformation by combining software development expertise with RPA tools and methodologies.
FAQs
What is the difference between next-generation RPA and traditional RPA?
RPA incorporating next-generation technologies such as AI, ML, and NLP enhances the capabilities of traditional RPA. Through these technologies, bots are capable of handling more complex tasks, making intelligent decisions, and interacting with unstructured data, including text and voice. With next-generation RPA solutions, businesses can automate a wider range of processes and achieve higher levels of efficiency.
How easy is it to implement and integrate next-generation RPA solutions?
RPA solutions of the next generation are designed to be user-friendly and relatively easy to implement. Integration ease depends on the complexity of the existing systems and the specific requirements of the automation project. Choosing an experienced RPA implementation partner can help you identify the right automation strategy, design the process for seamless integration, and ensure a successful implementation.
Is next-generation robotic process automation suitable for all industries?
Yes, various industries can implement next-generation robotic process automation solutions. Healthcare, finance, retail, and manufacturing can all benefit from RPA, as it automates repetitive tasks and optimizes processes.