How Businesses Everywhere are Increasing Productivity and Efficiency with RPA

Let’s face it; humans aren’t built for the numerous mundane and repetitive tasks that need to be executed within many businesses. For one, these tasks are unfulfilling, and two, many of these tasks can’t afford to be affected by human error, which is likely to occur at some point. If you could free up your human talent for more high-level responsibilities, and get more consistent with your repetitive processes, would you do so? 

If the answer is yes, you are among the many businesses looking to implement Robotic Process Automation (RPA) into their systems. With RPA in place, many processes within your business can become wholly automated with precision accuracy. An increase in productivity and happier and more engaged employees are just two of the key benefits gained by using RPA in your business.  

Let’s take a closer look at these benefits and some of the things to consider when implementing RPA. 

Benefits of Using RPA in Your Business 

RPA Reduces Human Error and Frees Up Employees for More Fulfilling Work 

It’s inevitable that human error will occur when people are engaged in repetitive tasks for long periods of time. Humans simply are not made to perform the same tasks over and over for eight or more hours per day. And, in many cases, these errors lead to significant and ongoing issues for your business.  

For example: 

• A data entry employee is missing or adds a 0 when entering financial data, leading to inaccurate reports. 

• Someone inputs the wrong SSN, DOB, or address when onboarding a new customer, leading to confusion and miscommunication. 

In addition to being prone to error, humans don’t always show up to work at the same time and also need time off for illness or vacation. If a human is 30 minutes late to work, that is 30 minutes of lost productivity. A robot, however, can be programmed to start working at the same time every day regardless of any circumstances. 

RPA and humans are both best suited for different activities, and, luckily, RPA gives humans the opportunity to engage in more creative and fulfilling ones. Eliminating specific mundane and repetitive jobs will also improve your employees’ quality of life and lead to higher employee retention, especially in today’s world, when people are quick to jump ship if they find a better, more exciting opportunity at another company.  

Implementing RPA will also open up new job opportunities within your business. For example, you’ll need to hire process engineers, designers, and architects who can manage your business’ RPA from a high level. 

RPA Increases Productivity and Reduces Cost for Your Business 

With the implementation of RPA, processes or a series of processes can be accomplished much faster and more consistently than if humans were responsible. Also, unlike humans, RPA is free from distraction, doesn’t need breaks, can function around the clock, and can carry out tasks the same way every time without fail.  

RPA eliminates manual data edits, which increases the quality of your data, reduces compliance risks, and simplifies audits. Furthermore, once the upfront costs of RPA are recovered, your newly streamlined processes will save you money. It’s not hard to imagine why this would be the case. 

For example: 

If you have a human-operated call center that has ten people working, you have to pay each of those ten people for their time. That money could easily be saved by using an automated call center rather than paying someone to perform these mundane tasks all day.  

With these savings, you can reinvest the money into new ventures, R&D, and advanced training for employees who no longer need to perform the automated tasks. 

RPA has a Low Technical Barrier to Entry 

Many people think that using RPA is a tedious and extremely technical process, but this is not the case. The reality is you don’t need to have an in-depth technical background to learn or use RPA technology. As such, it’s easy to train your workforce on how to use it effectively. 

Another advantage of using RPA is that it’s non-invasive to implement. You don’t need to change any of your existing systems to implement or use it. You simply work with specialists to set it up within your current frameworks and remove the human element from the repetitive tasks. 

Key Considerations When Implementing RPA in Your Business: 

Decide if RPA is Right For Your Business 

There’s an upfront cost when purchasing and implementing RPA which needs to be considered. If your business isn’t in a position to handle this cost, it’s not the right time to use RPA. Your business also may not be a good fit if you don’t currently have consistent processes in place. If your processes continuously change, or if you would still need humans to verify steps in a process you want to automate, you need to refine this process before implementing RPA. 

It’s also essential to have excellent change management in place before implementing RPA. In order for RPA to function well, you have to clearly communicate new changes to your workforce and be able to train them. If your organization has struggled with change management in the past, this needs to be addressed before moving forward with RPA. 

Another key consideration when implementing RPA is security – especially in industries such as banking, legal, and government due to the sensitive nature of the information. When setting up right, RPA can be very secure, but you need to be diligent about keeping a detailed audit trail so that if there is a problem, you can go back and quickly fix it. 

Examine and Qualify Processes That Can Be Handled by RPA 

If you think your business is well suited for RPA, it’s time to figure out which processes you would like to automate. 

Typical tasks that business use RPA for include: 

• Extracting data from one system and organizing it in another  
• Connecting systems together 
• Making calculations 
• Reading structured and unstructured data 
• Opening emails and attachments and reorganizing the information more efficiently 
• Logging into systems and applications 

Here are the four steps your business will need to take in its RPA transformation: 

1. Create a proof of concept where existing processes are examined and qualified for automation. 

2. Build a team that consists of an RPA architect and business analyst to decide on how RPA technology can be used to maximize productivity. 

3. Test the RPA implementation. 

4. Train your employees, and integrate RPA into your business’s workflow. 

This whole process can take anywhere from a few weeks to 6+ months, depending on the complexity of the project, the types of technologies used, and the amount of manual intervention needed.   

Get Started With RPA Today 

As we have seen, there are many benefits to using RPA in your business. You can increase the productivity and speed of repetitive processes while also freeing up your human talent for more creative and fulfilling responsibilities. Additionally, RPA will help you cut costs for years to come once the initial investment is recovered. 

With this knowledge in hand, why would you wait to start seeing the benefits of RPA? Many businesses have already implemented RPA, and more will continue to follow. To stay competitive and position your business to succeed in the future, RPA should be your next move. 

If you would like to learn more about RPA or how Truvs can help you get the ball rolling, feel free to reach out to us today.