So, one of your IT team has come to you, claiming to have found the answer to automating all the manual, repetitive tasks around the office.
Tasks like staff onboarding, inputting sales orders into your system, invoice, and cash reconciliation… but this new “person” doesn’t need food, a desk, or even a salary. And they are not a contractor.
Let’s talk robots. If, like me, you’re fond of the R2-D2’s of this world, you’ll appreciate the resourcefulness of droids. However, you probably think of robots as ‘things’ first and powerful software second. While droids remain mostly in the realm of fiction, today’s technology offers us Robotic Process Automation (RPA) – not the cute household helpers (like robotic vacuums), but software working behind the scenes in businesses.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
RPA refers to the use of software that mimics human actions to perform tasks and processes. A script is created to replicate every mouse click and action that would typically be carried out manually in your business software.
Some common areas where RPA is being utilised are taking complex PDF sales or purchase orders from your clients, checking stock levels, emailing your clients back, and entering dozens of rows of line items into your ERP for ordering. It is with such repetitive and not very complex tasks that RPA is easily deployed. Unlike human employees, robots don’t get bored, don’t make careless mistakes, and can operate 24/7—but, just like employees, they do require occasional monitoring and maintenance!
Where RPA comes into its own is processing larger-scale, complex tasks like data conversions. This is where your robot comes in as it can work non-stop, even over the weekend. Simply put, RPA can help with repetitive tasks in volume, either simple or complex ones, where accuracy and/or speed are of importance.
The Business Case
A robot, much like an employee, isn’t free – it requires development, licensing, and maintenance. It will have to be created specifically for your situation, for your processes, and for your software. Then again, a license for RPA software that will let you build scripts (bots) yourself is not all that expensive and once you have the expertise you can hire (re: build!) your own easily…the sky is the limit, right? Well. Maybe not.
You may think this obvious however you do need to know how much time and therefore money ‘your’ human would take to input the data in question, or how many mistakes employees make and what that costs the company (the material risk), to write a business case for RPA. Unfortunately, I know many businesses where this kind of information is not readily available. We can calculate this for you.
Implementing RPA
Let’s say you’ve gathered your time and motion data and decided to move forward. Now, picture this scenario:
A meeting is about to start. People trickle in, take their seats, chat, and grab coffee. The boss walks in, smiling, and announces:
“Good day everyone, I just met with the guys from XQ-Soft and their technology is fantastic! It’s exactly what we need to boost productivity!”
He sits down and is met with a lukewarm murmur of a response. Sound familiar?
I have seen this play out many times. If resistance to change is common for standard software implementations, why would it be any different for RPA? Many employees don’t react well to change – especially when it involves automation. The fear kicks in:
- “What about my job?”
- “If I make mistakes so often, why didn’t anyone tell me before?”
- “Are you saying my work isn’t important?”
These are all genuine concerns I’ve heard from employees during RPA rollouts.
One approach I highly recommend? Introduce your robot as a new employee.
Give it a name. Hank sounds good!
“Hank is going to take over the most boring and inconvenient tasks so we can focus on more interesting work.” Believe it or not, this works. I worked with a company where Hank became a widely accepted part of the team. Employees even started asking, “Can Hank do this task for me?”
Of course, this brings up another topic – robot management. Ensuring Hank stays on tasks, handles only the data he’s authorised to access, and meets his KPIs… but that’s a discussion for another post.
Need Help?
If you’re considering RPA but aren’t sure where to start, we can assist with:
- Building a business case for automation
- Process benefit analysis to evaluate RPA opportunities
- Implementation strategies and best practices
We’re just a call away!
Broderick Smith @brogga
Principal – Transform LogiQ
p: 1800 512 214
e:hello@tfiq.co
Broderick Smith is Principal of Transform LogiQ and Founder of Onetick. Broderick specialises in digital transformation, business process re-engineering and systems thinking to make business more efficient and increase productivity and profitability.