Concept of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

First things first: There aren’t really any robots involved!

Robotic process automation is not a physical or mechanical robot, its rather an improved process framework where a software is running on a physical or virtual machine on backend.

What is robotic process automation?

RPA bots are capable of mimicking most human-computer interactions to carry out a ton of error-free tasks, at high volume and speed.RPA is ultimately about automating some of the most mundane and repetitive computer-based tasks and processes in the workplace. Think copy-paste tasks and moving files from one location to another, for example.

RPA automates everyday processes that once required human action – often a great deal of it performed repeatedly in time-consuming fashion. That’s also how RPA promises to boost efficiency for organizations.

Let’s add some other clear-cut definitions of RPA to make it easy to understand-

Few ways to define RPA

  • “Robotic process automation is nothing but instructing a machine to execute mundane, repetitive manual tasks. If there is a logical step to performing a task, a bot will be able to replicate it.” –Vishnu KC, senior software analyst lead at ClaySys Technologies.
  • “RPA is software that automates rules-based actions performed on a computer.” –Chris Huff, chief strategy officer at Kofax.
  • “In layman’s terms, RPA is the process by which a software bot uses a combination of automation, computer vision, and machine learning to automate repetitive, high-volume tasks that are rule-based and trigger-driven.” –David Landreman, CPO of Olive.
  • “Put simply, the role of RPA is to automate repetitive tasks that were previously handled by humans. The software is programmed to do repetitive tasks across applications and systems. The software is taught a workflow with multiple steps and applications.”–Antony Edwards, COO at Eggplant.
  • “RPA is an advanced form of business process automation that is able to record tasks performed by a human on their computer, then perform those same tasks without human intervention. Essentially, it is a virtual robot copycat.” –Marcel Shaw, federal systems engineer at Ivanti.

Evaluating your internal processes and workflows for RPA

There are some fundamental criteria to help one getting a better understand what RPA is and how it could be usefulOne of the big categories: Any processes that require people to do a high volume of repetitive data work.

There are four basic criteria’s while determining possible RPA fits:

  • The process must be rule-based.
  • The process must be repeated at regular intervals, or have a pre-defined trigger.
  • The process must have defined inputs and outputs.
  • The task should have sufficient volume.

What can RPA do?

Think about the repetitive processes in business functions such as finance, customer service, and HR.

Consider the amount of this kind of work in an area like finance: Receivables and payables alone have traditionally required tons of manual, repetitive effort by skilled workers. Gartnerhas predicted that 73 percent of corporate controllers will implement some form of RPA in their finance departments by 2020, up from 19 percent in 2018.

Other traditional business units, like customer service and HR, offer their own examples of data-intensive, rules-based, and repetitive processes. Specific industries such as insurance and financial services also fit the bill.

Takeorder processing aspecific use case as an example. Think about the last time you purchased online. Traditionally, order processing has been carried out manually and has been a costly matter. With RPA, companies can manage orders without adding to the cost or causing a delay. The RPA software can now handle any order, which includes a series of repetitive steps: sending a message confirming receipt of the order, updating the inventory system, receiving the payment from the customer, ensuring that the internal billing system is updated, and finally dispatching and tracking.

The steps involved in ordering can map to criteria above, for both customer and business. It’s a rule-based process that has a particular trigger and is repeatable; it has specific inputs (such as initiating an order and dispatching the product) and inputs (such as your payment); and for retail businesses, especially, there’s certainly significant volume.It’s a necessary process with plenty of “opportunities” for inefficiencies, errors, and other issues.It’s the kind of process that RPA exists to improve.

“The ability to automate [with RPA] allows workers to switch their focus to more thoughtful and meaningful work while also eliminating data-entry errors that can damage processing times, compliance, and the overall customer experience,” Huff from Kofax says.

In short if you are in business, and would like to be in, its very costly if you ignore doing a through mapping of business processes and implementing RPA without delay. No wonder RPA is emerging as one of the top items in every CIOs ‘to-do’ list today!