Every organization faces operational challenges that can affect efficiency, productivity and competitiveness. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has become a key solution to mitigate these problems and optimize workflows.
Key challenges and their solutions with RPA
The adoption of automation solutions using software robots by companies brings with it a substantial improvement in productivity and efficiency. But why?
Quite simply, the incorporation of a virtual workforce brings direct benefits that are readily apparent, as we will see below. Moreover, it is a non-intrusive technology that boasts one of the shortest returns on investment.
However, it is no less true that the incorporation of this technology, at least in its early stages, may be met with some resistance from employees. Resistance that quickly evaporates when they see the improvement in job conditions and the unloading of unpleasant work.
Because, as we mentioned before, where is the incorporation of this tool particularly useful? Well, let’s see.
- Reduction of personnel effort in business processes
Software robots can replicate human actions in computer systems, eliminating repetitive tasks and reducing the manual workload of employees. RPA can take care of business processes that have defined rules, few exceptions and high repetition.
- Reduction of process errors
By eliminating human intervention in repetitive tasks, RPA significantly reduces errors, ensuring consistency and accuracy in every operation. This, depending on the process, can even result in improved customer service, for example.
- Reduction of processing time
Robots can execute tasks at a higher speed than employees, operating 24/7 without interruption and without fatigue, which speeds up processing time. In addition, since it is possible to run processes outside office hours, robots can advance work so that employees can find reports or tasks completed when they return to office in the morning.
- Peak workload management
RPA offers flexibility to manage large volumes of tasks, prioritizing processes and allowing operations to scale without the need to increase staff. This is especially useful when businesses are faced with periods of high stress, such as tax settlement dates in the tax administration sector or campaigns such as Christmas in the retail sector.
- Regulatory compliance
Automation ensures that tasks are performed in a standard and compliant manner, reducing the risk of non-compliance. Since the robot will always execute the process under the guidelines that have been defined for it, the assurance that it will perform the process according to the required specificities is guaranteed.
- Increased productivity
By freeing employees from repetitive tasks, they can concentrate on higher-value activities, improving the overall productivity of the organization. It stands to reason that the less time spent on essential but low-value tasks, the more time available for more creative or demanding work.
- Coverage for staff absences
In case of sick leave, vacations or leaves of absence, RPA ensures operational continuity without affecting business efficiency thanks to the versatility of being able to adjust executions to the existing workload.
- Support in the recruitment of personnel
Automation reduces the burden of monotonous tasks, making jobs more attractive to candidates and improving talent retention. While there is often initial resistance from employees to the incorporation of software robots, the truth is that once they are assimilated, no one wants to let go of them.
- Minimize exposure of sensitive data
Processes that handle sensitive information can be executed by robots, limiting personnel access and increasing data security. By eliminating the human component in these types of processes, the integrity of the entire data chain of custody is enhanced.
RPA is a technology that helps companies.
Types of work where RPA brings benefits
Automations with RPA are applied in various types of work, since any action carried out by a person in front of a computer can be automated if, as we have mentioned, it is a process that is executed with clear and established rules. However, it is true that among all of them, some stand out especially, because they are common, such as:
- Data Entry
- Reconciliation of information
- Monitoring and alerts
- Data assembly and consolidation
These processes are located in different departments and can be optimized through the implementation of RPA, reducing time and errors.
The role of people in automation
Although RPA handles repetitive tasks, employees still play a key role in the process. The best strategy is to combine the strengths of both and thus obtain the greatest benefits. It is not a matter of replacing one for the other, but of generating new workflows in which robots and people cooperate to generate greater interest for the business. In this way, the workload could be distributed as follows:
- Humans manage exceptions and complex cases
- Robots automate routine and standardized tasks
Companies can define different levels of interaction between employees and robots:
- Completely manual process
- Delegation of tasks to a robot by the employee
- Interaction between employee and robot
- Human review and approval of robot tasks
- Full automation without human intervention
This last case refers directly to what is becoming known as intelligent automation. These are processes supported by artificial intelligence that can execute more complex actions, that include parts that require decision making, and that, at the ideal extreme, do not require any person to take part in the process at any point in the process.
Conclusion
As we have seen, RPA is a powerful tool for overcoming operational challenges and improving the efficiency of organizations. Its implementation allows companies to optimize processes, reduce errors, improve data security and free employees for tasks of greater strategic value. If your company has not yet explored the potential of RPA, now is the ideal time to do so!
