ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION

Robotic process automation (RPA) is an emerging form of clerical process

automation technology based on the notion of software robots or artificial intelligence (AI)
workers.

Why is RPA relevant now?

 Employees today use a lot more different tools compared to the past.
It is not feasible to automate all those tools and their interactions
with simple macros. Business’ processes need input from different
tools and we have been using an increasing number of tools every
year.
 Outsourcing no longer creates benefits as most benefits of
outsourcing have been reaped. According to a survey, in 2016, 75% of
organizations profiled reported that they had already realized cost-
saving benefits by leveraging labor arbitrage.
 This puts companies that do not use RPA at a disadvantage.
Benefits –
 Increase speed of/reduce errors in customer facing processes to
increase customer satisfaction
 Allows employees to focus on higher value added activities improving
both business results and employee satisfaction.
 Reduce manual data edits, increasing quality of data and reduce
compliance risk.
How it works –
1. Programming
2. Graphical user interface
3. Recorder
4. Self-learning bots
Possible activities of RPA bots –
 Launching and using various applications
 Integrating with enterprise tools
 Data processing

Types of RPA –
1. Attended automation – these bots reside on user’s machine and
are invoked by the user. They are appropriate for tasks that are
triggered at programmatically hard-to-detect points. Can be launched
in three ways (on an RPA client tool, embedded on personal screen,
auto-run when certain conditions are met).
2. Unattended automation – they are like batch processes on the
cloud. They complete data processing task in the background. Four
ways to launch (Data input in a specific location, Bot initiated,
Orchestrator initiated, Specified intervals).
3. Hybrid RPA – attended and unattended RPA bots are combined to
provide automation for both front office and back office activities,
allowing end-to-end automation of a process.

RPA application areas – Numerous businesses have transformed through

RPA. Some examples that exists in almost all the industries are :
 Application processing
 Quote-to-cash
 Procure-to-pay
 Data migration and entry
 Periodic report preparation and dissemination

Best RPA tools in the market –

Automation Anywhere, Blue Prism, Ui Path, OpenSpan, WorkFusion.