Where can RPA be used? When not to use RPA?

Where can RPA be used?

RPA is best used where activities are:

• Repetitive
• Prone to error
• Rules based
• Involve digital data
• Time critical
• Suffer from seasonal peaks

Automation could apply in any part of a business. Below are some of the typical areas in a business where RPA Robots can be deployed to automate tasks.

In considering where RPA is used, factors such as the volume of routine activity and the timing of the activity can influence the priorities.

HR Teams

UiPath have produced a great document that Ether Solutions are pleased to share – RPA for HR Creating a More Human Workplace.pdf

• Candidate vetting checks
• Staff on-boarding
• Compliance activities (e.g. Training certifications)

Supply Chain Teams

• Contract Management
• Freight Management on supplier / courier portals
• Returns processing
• Order processing
• Proof of Delivery collation
• Inventory Management
• Supplier on-boarding and periodic compliance checks

Finance Teams

• Master Data Management – setup and changes
• Supplier Invoice processing and approval
• Sales Invoice generation and distribution
• Incentive claim management
• Customer credit checks
• Data reconciliation checks

IT Teams

• Helpdesk services
• Password Resets
• New Starter account provision / Staff leaver account locks
• Provision of Cloud services

Sales and Marketing Teams

• Data transfers to CRM
• Validation and updates of CRM information
• Information capture from News websites and Social Media

When not to use RPA?

For an RPA deployment to be effective, a business process needs to be:

• Stable and not subject to constant change
• Not contain to many variations or the ROI will drop as the development costs will be high
• Not handling a variety of documents formats, as that will require RPA to be supplemented with AI for the implementation to be effective
• There is a reasonable volume of activity, processes only performed once a month are likely to deliver a low ROI

General RPA usage

Please contact us to discuss how RPA Robots could be used in your business.

The day to day activities that can be performed by staff with little knowledge of the business are often suitable candidates for automation.  How to select a process for automation can be a balance of a number of factors.

The boring tasks that are viewed by staff as  “Admin” or “Compliance” can be good places to consider for automation.

In many situations where RPA can be used, it is not a 100% scenario but often an 80:20 split. The routine work is suitable for RPA to be used and the exceptions / complex are most effectively performed manually. 

As confidence grows in RPA usage, the 80:20 split may evolve to a 90:10 balance of automation to human work, as a better understanding of the manual workload emerges.