Process automation refers to the use of software and technologies to automate process operations and tasks to achieve organisational goals, such as creating a product, recruiting, and onboarding new employees, or delivering customer care.
Benefits of Process Automation
- Time savings: Employees can focus on work that needs critical thinking, creativity, or the personal touch while charging machines with completing routine, rule-based activities..
- Increased profits/Reduced Costs: Organisations can boost their profitability using business process automation by automating repetitive operations so that employees can focus more of their time on tasks that benefit their clients.
- Higher productivity: Organizations that rely on technology to automate processes also see an increase in productivity as machines can handle multiple tasks simultaneously, thus speeding up processes1.
- Greater efficiency: Business process automation helps fasten tedious tasks with minimal resources with reliable results in lower costs, thus improving efficiency significantly.
- Error minimization: Automating processes helps companies decrease the likelihood of human error dramatically.
- Better standardization: Automation solutions always follow the same steps to complete tasks and never stray from defined rules and bring standardization of processes.
- Auditable records: Automation systems keep a record of every step of the process in an audit trail. Through audit trails, data protection, accountability, and compliance are all guaranteed.
- Improved compliance: Regulatory compliance is made easier by automation technologies. Automation solutions assist in adhering to guidelines by implementing security controls like encryption and role-based access control.
- Superior customer experience: Convenience and fast access to products and services matter most in good customer experience. Process automation facilitates data-driven personalisation, quicker response times, and consistency across channels. By doing this, businesses may provide a better client experience and stand out from the competition.
- Improved scalability: Manual procedures are not scalable enough and can easily impede the expansion of a corporation. With efficient automation technologies like AI and RPA, manual procedures can be scaled down.
How to Implement Process Automation
- Identify Tasks and Process That Can Be Automated
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- Are repetitive
- Are time sensitive
- Includes several people and pieces
- Need auditing or compliance trails
- Impact other processes and systems within the business
- Are rule based, standardized
- Have the potential for high return on investment
- Find these tasks and create a process map that shows the current system.
- Set Your Organizational Goals
Clarify and set your Organizational Goals as decision making becomes a lot easier
- Choose the Right Tools
It should also integrate with existing software and tooling, be able to communicate with other programs, and have a system to deal with data.
- Change Management
Imparting training to employees in the use of the software helps to ensure it is used effectively and with a positive attitude.
- Measure and Monitor
Continually monitor key performance indicators, and if performance drops, assess the process, and re-evaluate needs that are vital to system longevity.
Robotic Process Automation
Robotic Process Automation is a popular form of automation that uses straightforward, user-friendly software to deploy RPA bots that replicate human behaviours. It can save time and money. Below are some use cases of RPA in various sectors.
RPA in Financial Services Sector
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- Streamlining accounts payable and accounts receivable processes
- Automating the processes for producing management reports, monthly closing, and mortgage processing reports
- Fraud detection
- Payment processing
- Credit checks
- Loan application process
Case of UAE-based Mashreq Bank which uses RPA and Intelligent Automation to lift over one million transactions a month. They have 300+ active bots, and 97% of their financial transactions have been automated. Meanwhile, robots manage 80% of non-financial transactions. And they have managed to operate their outsourced activities in India at a close to 30% operating efficiency.
Wealth Management
Sensitive client data is being processed using RPA tools which leaves little to no room for error. With RPA automation that can ensure error-free procedures to the maximum possible extent. Below are some areas of RPA uses in wealth management:
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- Quality control management
- Following compliance practices
- Automating the movement of investor data and integrating data processing automation
Insurance
RPA assists insurance firms by identifying and automating routine processes which take lot of time. Below are some areas where RPA comes into play:
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- Registering and processing claims
- Underwriting
- Regulatory compliance
- Business and process analytics
- Policy cancellation
- Sales and distribution
- Legacy application integration
- Policy servicing/admin
- Incident management
Case of Zurich UK which uses RPA and Intelligent Automation to improve over 120 processes. The digital workforce has processed 3 million transactions and allowed customers to report claims quickly and get paid quickly.
Healthcare
The healthcare industry relies on processes to deliver streamlined, efficient, and enjoyable patient experiences. RPA is used widely to ensure that happens. RPA can help healthcare providers with:
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- Appointment scheduling
- Patient records and data management
- Asset tracking and management
- Diagnostics and data analysis
- Patient outreach and post-treatment care
Manufacturing, Automotives and Back Office Operations
RPA eliminates the potential for human error and increases employee job satisfaction by taking tedious tasks off their hands. Below are a few uses:
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- Invoice processing
- Purchase order processing
- Supply chain management, Accounts payable processing and Auditing
Case of Jaguar Land Rover (JLR) leveraging RPA: Jaguar Land Rover streamlined their accounts payable and invoice reconciliation processes to improve accuracy, lower compliance risks, and streamline time-consuming procedures. With the time and human capacity, they have saved using RPA and intelligent automation, they have been able to put more than £1 million back into their company.
Energy & Utilities
Energy Companies are required to find ways to speed up procedures and allow their employees more time to work on jobs that call for human interaction if they are to keep up and provide good customer service. Here are some common uses of RPA in the Energy & Utilities sector:
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- Contact centre processes
- Virtual agents
- Metering
- Statements and billing,
- Customer account management
- Technician dispatch and reporting
Finance and Accounting
RPA does the heavy lifting of back-office tasks across multiple documents and software in Financial Reporting too. This lessens the need for manual labour to do time-consuming operations like billing, reporting, and account administration. Below are some examples of how it can be used:
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- Expense reimbursement
- Financial planning and analysis (FP&A)
- Accounts payable and accounts receivable processing
- Accounting change
- Account and bank reconciliations
- Reporting
- Back Office Automation
Human Resources
To support corporate growth and overcome issues like finding the right personnel, providing a positive employee experience, and keeping high performers, HR are required to be flexible and scalable. RPA can assist HR teams in achieving operational agility. Below are some use cases to inspire how you can use RPA in the HR function:
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- Spent analytics and reporting
- Learning and development administration
- Position management
- Travel and/or expense management
- Payroll Automation
- Payroll batch importing and validation
- Employee benefit invoice reconciliation, New-starter onboarding and Employee master data, User credentials creation and Access termination
Case of Santander’s real-life example:
Their HR function was able to reduce the time it took to onboard new employees by 85%2. Robotic process automation has been programmed to alert the appropriate departments when a new joiner is recruited, collect the necessary data, set up accounts, and carry out the requisite compliance checks.
Customer Relationship Management
RPA boosts customer satisfaction by automating repetitive jobs and manual processes that do not require human monitoring or intervention. Here are some use cases:
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- Customer support (including fielding customer complaints)
- Customer account management
- Order tracking
- Data transfers
Supply Chain & Logistics
If your business handles a supply chain then RPA. You can generate automation ideas to increase operational efficiency in a variety of areas, including invoicing administration and inventory tracking. Among supply chain management and coordination, the following use cases are some of the most prevalent:
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- Shipment scheduling and tracking
- Invoice processing and credit collections
- Order and inventory processing
- Capturing, researching, and closing out loads
- Procurement and inventory
- Order and inventory tracking
Challenges in Automation
- Identify the right business processes to automate: In the modern business world, automation is becoming more crucial. However, the difficulty for managers to identify the processes which can be automated and do not require additional resources.
- Integration and compatibility of legacy systems: You need to be able to integrate with the several business line applications your company uses to finish the process cycle to fully automate a process. Integration is not possible with more ancient systems. As a result, you will undoubtedly have human intervention and defeat your intended goal.
- Managing large volumes of data: Data is a wealth of knowledge that can aid businesses in developing new goods and expanding. However, identifying and managing critical and large volumes of data can be difficult, time-consuming, and risky.
- Maintaining security and privacy: Security and privacy are two critical areas and are centre of attention due to recent data breaches and data manipulation. This is why most organizations ensure that their systems are secure, but often it is not enough.
- Lack of skilled labour: One of the most significant challenges in business process automation is having trained people who can complete the automation project on time while retaining high-quality outcomes. However, before doing so, you must make sure that your personnel is knowledgeable about the solution you intend to use and is making the most of it.
- Change management: The corporate world of today is undergoing rapid change, and it takes an organisation a long time to successfully adjust to these changes. This is especially true when the company has many employees or when there are numerous departments with varying levels of influence. Keeping up with all the organizational changes can be difficult.
- Choosing the right software: Business processes are the foundation of any business. Without them, it would not be easy to run a company. However, despite the importance of these processes, they often take up a significant amount of time and energy for organizations.
Summary
Process automation uses digital technologies to carry out corporate procedures with little to no human involvement, which boosts organisational efficiency. automated in its driving Process automation is the use of software and technologies to automate company processes and operations to achieve certain organisational goals, such as developing a product, hiring, and onboarding fresh staff, or providing customer service4 Business process automation enables businesses to accomplish time-consuming tasks with minimal resource input. By acquiring outcomes more quickly and more reliably while spending less money, businesses drastically enhance production.
How Brickendon can help?
- By analysing their current processes and identifying areas where automation might bring about considerable benefits that help to lower operating costs, Brickendon can assist in addressing the specific issues and pain points presented by potential clients.
- Brickendon can help develop personalized automation strategies based on the client’s requirements and goals by recommending the right mix of Digital technologies, determining process priorities, and planning the implementation timeline.
- Brickendon can help clients establish governance frameworks to ensure that automation processes comply with regulatory requirements and industry standards.
- Brickendon can help to reduce the manual interference in exiting process which will reduce TAT (Turn Around Time) of the process by utilizing digital Technologies like RPA and AI.
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Sources:
- 10 Key Benefits of Business Process Automation – Penneo
- SS&C Blue Prism | What is RPA? Robotic Process Automation Explained | RPA Software
- 11 Proven Business Process Automation Challenges (theecmconsultant.com)
- What is process automation? | Examples and benefits | SAP
