The current crisis is a major challenge for many companies, especially economically. In order to overcome the turbulence, it is worth using new technologies that help companies to generate more productivity, quality and customer satisfaction. This includes the use of Robotic Process Automation, or RPA for short. RPA means that a software robot imitates and automatically carries out manual processes within and across applications. In many application scenarios, this way of working offers the advantage that there is no need to access interfaces or connectors to automate processes.

"All processes that have a clear structure are suitable for automation. This requires fixed rules that serve as a guide for the software robot," explains Hai Le, CEO of FPT Germany. The expert from FPT Software presents five examples of scenarios in which the use of RPA offers high added value:

1st use case: Extraction and migration of data

When companies supplement or replace legacy systems with new solutions, it is always necessary to extract and migrate data. How well this works depends above all on the communication between the systems. The development of interfaces and connectors often requires considerable effort. This is where RPA can take over the task of interfaces and act as an intermediary between the systems. It automatically implements the extraction and migration of the respective data. RPA is also able to control the transfer of data. Anomalies and low-quality data are detected and potential problems are rectified in advance. As a result, RPA saves a lot of time that would otherwise be needed to go through the entire data set again during a later check.

2nd use case: Customer service

Customer service employees perform tasks that are ideal for the use of RPA thanks to their routine. A typical scenario for the technology is its use in the proof of delivery process, for example. A proof of delivery (POD) is an accompanying document that confirms the proper delivery of the goods in question. In many industries, the document is an important part of customer service. Companies retrieve the documents and their information by having their employees regularly check their carriers' websites - a repetitive task that is tedious for people. However, this process follows fixed rules and is therefore a perfect application scenario for RPA. Appropriate solutions can automatically link the information from the documents with a company's internal data, thereby speeding up order tracking and improving response times to customers.

3rd use case: Processing invoices

Invoice processing is considered a time-consuming and labor-intensive process, as it involves several operations carried out by different employees. This also makes the process far more susceptible to human error, such as accidental clicks or carelessness. The more people involved, the greater the risk of error. Monotonous tasks, in which sloppiness often creeps in, further increase this risk. However, software knows no monotony. Companies can use RPA to scan documents and send the invoices to the individual departments, for example. They can then take care of approving and updating the invoices.

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4th use case: Inventory management

In the back office, manual inventory management is a particularly time-consuming and labor-intensive process. Employees are faced with the task of validating the correct data elements and collecting and recording relevant information in their warehouse management system. This is where RPA comes into play again, providing relief with regard to inventory management. It can automatically add information about new orders to a company's database and send confirmation to stakeholders via email.

5th use case: Compliance

Companies spend a lot of time and resources developing compliance checklists, preparing relevant data from this area and creating regulatory reports. The use of RPA reduces the burden on employees in this area. RPA allows reports to be generated automatically from all available data. This significantly reduces the time spent on compliance tasks. In addition, the technology can be easily and quickly adapted to new regulations.

All beginnings are easy

The key to RPA is to start with small projects, learn from them and then build on them. Overall, the technology offers companies the opportunity to increase their own productivity and efficiency in the long term, avoid errors and increase customer satisfaction. With the help of RPA, employees are relieved and have more time for more demanding tasks, which also increases their satisfaction. Due to all these benefits, it is recommended that companies look into RPA, especially now - during the COVID-19 pandemic

Hai Le summarizes: "Implementing RPA into a company's IT system only takes a few weeks. Thanks to its ability to mimic human interactions with programs, RPA can be used in a variety of ways. For example, many migration processes can be carried out without the need for complex interface development. However, it is important to involve your own IT team so that no shadow IT is created."

This article first appeared in our sister publication Industrial Production.