RPA might be like a Magic Genie. But as soon as people learn about RPA, they want to know:
- Which processes can RPA automate ?
- Does it have any restrictions ?
- What type of processes does it work best with ?
In this blog post, we will try to answer this question. Hopefully, this will help our readers understand where all they can use RPA
1. Stable Processes
RPA should only be used to automate a stable and mature process. Automating an unstable process will not give good returns.
When you ask us “what processes RPA can automate for my organization ?”. Then our recommendation will be to stabilize the process you want to automate first.
2. Rule Based
The process must be rule based. It should not require too much manual intervention or exception handling for Ad-hoc decision making.
Think of RPA as a logical being, as long as it has clear inputs and outputs, it will work wonders for you. However, ambiguity is your enemy when using RPA.
3. Digital
The process must be triggered through digital means . For example : Email received , file received , document created, clicking of a button etc.
A process without a Digital touchpoint cannot be automated by RPA.
4. High Volume
The highest ROI can be achieved with RPA for processes that process high transaction volumes . Like Sales order entry , Purchase order entry , Invoice creation etc. Look at the below 2 examples to understand how different volumes of transactions can give very different savings with RPA for the same automation.
Process 1:
- If it takes your Order Desk employees 30 minutes to create one Sales Order in your ERP
- On an average day(9 AM to 5 PM) your company gets 128 orders
- You pay your Order Desk employees $20 per hour and you have 8 Full Time Employees in Order Desk department right now.
- RPA can create one Sales order in your ERP in 5 minutes with just one employee
- So now you just need 2 employees instead of 8 to enter the Sales Order that your company receives
Process 2:
- If it takes your Order Desk employees 30 minutes to create one Sales Order in your ERP
- On an average day(9 AM to 5 PM) your company gets 32 orders
- You pay your Order Desk employees $20 per hour and you have 2 Full Time Employees in Order Desk department right now.
- RPA can create one Sales order in your ERP in 5 minutes with just one employee
- So now you just need 1 Full Time Employee to instead of 2 to enter the Sales Order that your company receives.