Most modern working environments are pretty hectic places. Organisations need to run smoothly and efficiently to really operate at their full potential. The easiest way to ensure that a company is a well-oiled machine is to refine and automate its simple, everyday business practices. Welcome to Robotic Process Automation.
Successful organisations are building their success on their processes. Of course, customers are vital, sales are important, and marketing can’t be ignored – the list of critical processes goes on. Every organisation has hundreds of essential components and cogs. But without the actual workflow, the whole thing ceases to be. So it makes sense to have everything running as efficiently as possible. The way to do that in the modern workplace? Automation.
What do we mean when we use terms like ‘Business Process Automation‘ and ‘Robotic Process Automation’? Well, don’t worry. We aren’t talking about you having to make thousands of redundancies and replacing your workforce with an army of robots. This isn’t a Philip K. Dick novel. We’re simply talking about letting technology handle the repetitive manual tasks that drive your business. The paperwork processes that your business runs on a daily basis.
Robotic Process Automation isn’t about cutting people out of the loop. It’s about automating those ceaseless – but vital – processes and tasks. And freeing up your staff to push themselves with more creative ‘human’ work elsewhere.
Here are six reasons why we think all modern workplaces should consider robotic process automation:
1. Drive Down Costs & Stop Losing Revenue
Large multinationals have been employing Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for years now. And the bean counters there know all about bottom lines. The old model used to see companies outsource menial tasks to offices or agencies in countries with a lower cost of living. And that saved money. But even with the cost reduction attached to lower remuneration, savings are limited. Whereas with RPA, there are no people to pay whatsoever. Most adopters see a return on their investment within just six months.
2. Increases Efficiency & Productivity
Whether it’s structured or unstructured data, most firms rely on employees to process information in a way that’s rarely ever as efficient as it could be. Legacy systems, inflexible attitudes, and outdated technology can all contribute. The net result? Slow processing, reduced productivity and unhappy customers. Automation changes all that.
3. Save Time
Automation streamlines repetitive business tasks so that the time taken to complete a task is reduced while accuracy increases. The average firm can expect to see any automated processes become up to 65% quicker with RPA.
4. Cut Out Human Error, Inconsistencies & Duplicated/Incomplete Work
There’s no escaping it; people sometimes make mistakes. Paperwork is misplaced, errors make their way onto forms, invoices go unpaid, processes get interrupted or forgotten. Lots of small mistakes add up to some serious problems sometimes. Automating these simple daily tasks eliminates that possibility. It also cuts out the business’ reliance on paperwork. Digital forms and sections of any workflow are always where they should be. They’re complete, easily accessible and up-to-date.
5. Free Up Your Workforce To Perform More Creative, Motivating & Less Repetitive Tasks
Administrative staff may worry that RPA represents widespread layoffs, but that’s rarely ever the case. Smart organisations don’t make dedicated and hardworking employees redundant. They redeploy them. Just because, say, an Accounts Payable Clerk’s work no longer needs doing, that doesn’t mean they’ve nothing to do. That staff member can be given a more thought-provoking role in the organisation that tests, involves and inspires them. Before long, the workforce is so much more motivated!
6. RPA is Easy To Set Up, Convenient To Use and Scaleable
Business Process Automation isn’t a pipe dream or a project that requires thousands of meetings and years of planning. It’s something that can be set up in a mere matter of weeks. It’s easy to implement, works alongside your existing systems and use and – most importantly – it’s scaleable. It grows with the expansion of the business. Automation makes a sleeker business model, allows growth and facilitates more work and more money. But the investment stays the same.
It doesn’t matter if you’re a small or large organisation, if you have manual tasks that are slowing you down, you can benefit from automating your business. Find out more about how you can get started with RPA and how we can help – download our eBook on Paper to Digital Transformation.