One of the most exciting developments of the past decade has been the advancements in artificial intelligence and automation more generally. More and more routine tasks and processes are becoming candidates to hand over to machines, freeing us up to work on higher-value things.
The most accessible and approachable form of this is something called robotic process automation (RPA) where a bot or a piece of software is programmed to automate specific steps along a process, without the need for any human intervention. As long as each step along the way can be sufficiently codified, it becomes a potential use case for this exciting innovation. For example, there was a bank that redesigned its claim process, running 85 bots to run 13 different processes and this equated to the work done by 200 full-time staff[i]. The leverage here is difficult to fathom.
To give you a sense as to why this is so powerful, let’s run through some of the main benefits of RPA include:
- Improved Efficiency. By handing off routine tasks to bots, you’re able to significantly streamline your operations because you don’t have to rely on employees to do the work anymore. Bots can run 24/7 and aren’t distracted or pulled away from the tasks by other things – meaning that the process can run continuously regardless of the circumstances. When these RPA bots are set up to work together, you can compound this effect and get to a system that is orders of magnitude more efficient and powerful than what you might have currently.
- Minimizes Wasted Time. Building on the point above, these systems greatly reduced the amount of time that is wasted on tedious or repetitive tasks, getting you the results you need much faster than previously possible. You remove many of the bottlenecks and allow the system to work for you, rather than you having to play an active role across the board.
- Frees Up Time and Resources. When you’re able to automate mundane, repetitive tasks, you can free up your employees to go and do work that is more meaningful and valuable to your organization. You won’t truly recognize the opportunity cost that you’ve been paying until you implement RPA and see just what could be accomplished if your team wasn’t stuck in tedious process-based work all the time. It can be liberating not just for morale and productivity, but also for how you think of yourself as a business.
- Drives Revenue. We can’t ignore the revenue aspects either. By handing off this work to bots, you can drastically reduce your cost base and leverage digital efficiency to drive other revenue-generating behavior. It’s something that can transform your profitability, when used well, and help to create new opportunities for fine-tuning and product development down the line.
These are just some of the benefits that come with RPA and it’s impossible to argue with the results. For every routine process within your organization, there is an opportunity here to automate it away, giving you back your time, resources, and people which can refocus their energies on things that computers can’t do.
We’re just getting started along this journey and the field is accelerating at a staggering pace. Now is the time to jump on the bandwagon and learn to leverage this technology for the good of your organization.
If you think that Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the next step for your organisation, iMovo is the perfect partner to help you learn more about how automation will help you and your employees. Get in touch with one of our trusted team members by sending an email to sales@imovo.com and get ready to discover a whole new world.
[i] ‘Robotic Process Automation: A path to the cognitive enterprise’ by David Schatsky and Craig Muraskin.
