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Frequently Asked Questions
Automation in a Nutshell. Feel free to contact us if you have more questions.
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Why should anyone be interested in the Robotic Process Automation?
The Robotic Process Automation (RPA) delivers a high ROI, requires very low investment and the benefits are generated from day one. Importantly, the technology frees up time spent on low value repetitive tasks and allows employees to focus on what matters for the business and customers. The break-even is achieved when 0.5 FTE worth of effort is automated.
There are three main type of benefits using the RPA:
Efficiency gains: The software-robots execute the repetitive work 70-90% cheaper, ~10x faster and highly accurately.
Positive impact on customers and therefor revenues: leveraging the software-robots, the companies can implement customer friendly processes e.g. sending notifications as the robots process their case, respond to customer enquiries faster, setup new products in the systems or displayed them on internet sooner, etc. leading the higher customer satisfaction and revenues.
Employee engagement: skilled employees will appreciate being liberated from manual repetitive tasks. At all our clients the employees prefer to focus on what is important for the business and the mangers like decreasing costs and satisfied employees.
What is the Robotic Process Automation?
The term Robotic Process Automation (RPA) refers to a set of tools that enable to mimic human actions on a computer.
To explain the RPA, I typically use two metaphors:
- A software-robot is like a macro on steroids – working across applications, able to execute complex processes with many steps, decision points and calculations
- A software-robot is like a virtual employee working autonomously, receiving inputs, executing processes and sending or publishing the outputs, using own PC – physical or virtual, own logins and accesses.
The RPA tools typically provide an environment that enable to manage whole team of software-robots. This virtual workforce can work for you 24/7 and is scalable within seconds to reflect the variation of volumes of tasks that need to be processed.
Which industries are best suited for the Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Almost any industry vertical can benefit from the RPA. Naturally, the impact tends to be higher in organisations with higher proportion of back-office employees. We have experience with successful automations in large corporates such as financial institutions or telecommunication, mid-size companies as online retailers, manufacturing companies, shared service centers and BPO organisations as well is with companies with very small back-offices e.g. small franchises and hotels. Having worked in Australia, Asia and across Europe, I would have difficulties to recall a company where we wouldn’t find at least one process worth of automation.
What are the examples of automated processes?
There are plenty of examples in any company function. In general, a wide variety of business processes can be automated. There are several factors to consider. The processes to look for are those that include routine, rules-based and repetitive tasks, which require little or no subjective judgement. Other factor to consider could be error prone processes, specifically those in which compliance plays a major role and non-compliance may lead to costly fines or painful brand damage.
To name a few examples:
Finance: procure to pay process (incl. AP) – automated purchase order generation where triggers can be defined, supplier invoice receipt and processing, payments processing – finance overall is one of areas where the RPA is used a lot; Account Receivable (AR) – timesheets checking, application of correct rates, etc.
BI & Reporting: data gathering and report generation
HR: multiple activities from Hire to Retire – new employees on-boarding into the systems and deletion of leaving employees; transfer of applicants data from recruiting agencies into company systems
Supply chain: stock levels actualization between company and suppliers
Sales back-office: commission calculations, sales orders processing
For more details, see Automated Process Examples
What are the best first steps to take if we are interested in the RPA?
1. Explore the Potential: Begin by understanding how RPA can benefit your business. Learn about the expected outcomes, prerequisites, key insights, and see real-world examples from similar companies. This can be easily done through a complimentary consultation session with our team.
2. Pilot Key Processes: Identify and automate one to three initial processes that are high-impact yet low-risk. These should offer a solid ROI and demonstrate the value of automation with minimal investment. By starting small, both your business and IT teams will become familiar with the technology and start identifying additional areas where automation can drive value. Moreover, as initial robots are deployed, your organization will begin to view processes differently—paving the way for further standardization and scalability. Many companies are often surprised at how affordable the initial investment can be.
3. Design a New Operating Model: Once the first automations are live, use these successes as a foundation to redefine your operating model. Let automation drive and enable broader changes that enhance efficiency and growth.
With the current market maturity, there are many lessons learned that you can leverage to your advantage. Partnering with an experienced team like ours can help you avoid common pitfalls and accelerate your success. If you’d like to learn more or have any questions, feel free to reach out—we’re here to help.
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Inspiration
Automated Process Exampels
Finace and Accounting
Finance is often an ideal starting point for automation due to its structured, digital, and frequently repetitive nature. By automating an initial set of finance processes, companies can build a strong foundation that positions them to successfully automate more complex, core business processes in the future.
Accounts Payable (AP)
Robots can automatically retrieve invoices from a dedicated inbox and perform initial checks, such as verifying whether the invoice is from an approved supplier. They can then send the invoice for data extraction using an OCR engine or AI, receive the extracted data, and upload it to the accounting system as needed.
Accounts Receivable (AR)
Service companies often rely on manual accounts receivable (AR) processes, which can be time-consuming and prone to errors. Accountants typically need to review employee timesheets to track how much time each employee or contractor has billed to specific clients and projects. Additionally, they must account for any materials used. Then, they reference contracts to determine the rates for each project and role. Finally, all of this information is manually combined to generate client invoices.
This entire workflow, including both time and material tracking, can be fully automated, saving time, reducing errors, and improving overall efficiency.
Reporting
Many companies routinely prepare a variety of financial and operational reports. This process typically involves gathering data from multiple systems, including external sources like websites, loading the data into internal databases, and then generating and distributing the reports. Most steps in this reporting process can be automated, significantly reducing manual effort and improving accuracy.
Credits
In retail, companies can claim discounts from suppliers for various reasons, such as faulty products, late deliveries, or service interruptions. Robots can regularly consolidate all such claims within a given period and send them to the supplier for validation. Once validated—or if no response is received—the robot can automatically generate and post credit notes, deduct the claim amounts from supplier invoices, and prepare payments, factoring in the adjusted amounts.
HR
Alongside Finance, HR is an ideal starting point for automation due to its structured, document-driven, and repetitive tasks. Automating processes such as onboarding, payroll, and benefits administration creates a foundation for automating more complex, strategic functions.
Job Portals to HRIS Integration
Candidates often apply to jobs through various job portals. For portals that aren’t integrated with a company’s HR system, robots can automatically download applicant data and create candidate profiles within the HR system, while also generating related reports.
Applicant CV Screening
To streamline the applicant screening process, an automation could read CVs in various formats (e.g., PDF, Word) and summarize them into a structured table. Each row could represent a candidate, with columns for key details such as Name, Education, Contact Information, Certifications. Applicant score can be added too.
Once processed, HR will receive a consolidated table in Excel or Google Sheets, where they can further filter and rank applicants based on the specific role requirements.
Employee on/off-boarding
After a candidate successfully passes the interview and completes the required forms, a robot can handle the entire onboarding process. It creates the new employee in the company’s systems, generates logins and an email address, and sends an onboarding email to the employee. The HR team receives a report of the robot’s activities.
When an employee leaves the company, the robot automatically removes their information from the systems, archives their email inbox for a defined period, and notifies HR upon successful completion of the process.
Candidates background check and non-conflict-of-interest declaration
In some companies, HR must conduct several background checks for new candidates, such as verifying sanction lists, political exposure, and business registry records. Managers are also required to submit a conflict-of-interest declaration. Robots can streamline this process by handling the checks based on HR’s requests.
The system enables HR staff to view all tasks they’ve created, monitor their current status, and track details of each subtask—such as background check results and manager declarations. Once all information is gathered, HR closes the task, which automatically generates a full log of all activities, including background check results, manager responses, and any HR modifications. This log is compiled as a PDF and stored in SharePoint for future reference.
Employees’ tasks management
Tasks or events, such as technician visits or sales meetings, can be automatically added to employees’ calendars. These events are typically created based on customer requests recorded in the customer service ticketing system or triggered automatically by systems like CRM, for example, as part of regular client touchpoints.
IT
Robots and AI can assist IT with various technical processes, including data migration, document extraction, and other tasks that streamline operations and improve efficiency.
Two or more systems synchronisation / data migration
Many companies store similar data across multiple applications, making integration costly and often inflexible. Robots can address this by:
- Automatically replicating new entries from one system to others
- Continuously checking for data inconsistencies and reporting or correcting discrepancies across systems
Document Processing
Processing both structured and unstructured documents, such as forms, contracts, and technical documentation. Algorithms can automate the extraction of data and populate database tables. AI also enables the automation of processes previously deemed too complex due to the input’s structure, such as free-text emails, call transcripts, and other unstructured content.
Quality and Compliance
Quality and Compliance functions have a high potential for automation due to the large number of cases that need to be processed regularly. Each case requires data extraction, comprehension, verification, and amendment if necessary.
Compliance and Quality Management
Many compliance processes require validating whether all necessary documentation and certificates are complete, signed, contain the required attributes, and are properly stored. Robots can regularly audit the existence and completeness of these documents, flagging any non-compliance and automatically requesting corrective actions when issues are identified.
KYC Processes
Performing client and supplier checks across company databases, public registers, and blacklists ensures compliance and reduces risk.
Customer Service and Client Related Process
Customer service is an area where automation not only improves speed, accuracy, and efficiency but also directly enhances the customer experience, leading to increased satisfaction and loyalty.
CRM Processes
Automation CoE can help optimize your CRM processes by:
- Automatically verifying client data during creation
- Streamlining client deletion with automated workflows that maintain data integrity and ensure compliance
- Automatically performing scheduled tasks, such as contacting customers, sending surveys, or delivering customized offers
Quoting
Manually managing quotes can lead to delays and lost business opportunities. Automation CoE can help you automate and accelerate the quoting process to:
- Process supplier prices with flexible integration options
- Configure products and services efficiently
- Accurately calculate labor costs
- Streamline reviews and approvals through automated workflows
Implementing automation not only speeds up the quoting process but also enhances accuracy and customer experience.
Order Processing
Product and service orders often arrive via email and are manually re-entered into company systems. Manually processing orders can lead to errors, delays, and ultimately to dissatisfied customers. Automation CoE can help you automate and streamline the order processing to:
- Automatically capture orders from multiple sales channels
- Validate and verify order details efficiently
- Enter the orders into ERP system to automatically trigger the fulfilment
Sales Commission Calculation
In a franchise network where payments flow from the franchisor to franchisees, a robot can regularly extract the necessary data, calculate payment amounts, and prepare payments efficiently.
In the travel industry, where commissions are paid to agents and distributors for selling travel packages, rooms, and other services, a robot can automatically monitor customer payments and calculate the appropriate commissions for travel agents and distributors based on sales performance.
Claims Management
Effectively managing the claims process is essential for ensuring customer loyalty and retention. Robots can automate the handling of claims received in various formats, such as handwritten texts, emails, and call transcripts. They can automatically categorize each claim, extract key information, and enrich it by pulling relevant data from internal systems and external sources.
Product Management and Supply Chain
Automating product and supply chain management is essential for ensuring smooth and efficient operations, especially when dealing with multiple stakeholders and high volumes of transactions. Given the complexity and scale, this area presents a prime opportunity for automation, enabling faster processes, reducing errors, and improving coordination across the supply chain.
Product Additions
In online businesses with a high volume of new products each month, automation can significantly reduce the time and effort needed to display new items online. A robot can receive product sheets from suppliers, format them, and prepare them for upload. Simultaneously, it can forward product images from suppliers to the internal visual team and handle follow-ups if necessary. This allows your internal team to focus on enhancing the visuals and product descriptions, improving the overall customer experience.
Supply Chain Management
In integrated supply chains, companies regularly share stock levels and orders with partners across the chain, typically by sending reports or depositing files in shared locations. These files are then manually retrieved and uploaded into other systems. A robot can automate this entire process, handling report generation, file transmission, retrieval, and data upload. In the event of discrepancies, the robot can also trigger corrective actions. This automation not only reduces manual effort but also ensures faster, more accurate updates across the supply chain, enabling a proactive rather than reactive approach to managing operations.
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