What is RPA or Robotic Process Automation?

In the process of digital transformation, new solution proposals are appearing on the market that we could classify as technological support for companies to improve their productivity. In this context, what has come to be called “ Robotic Process Automation ” or abbreviated to RPA appeared some time ago, whose description can be misleading if we think that it is about investing in robotic hardware.

Robotic process automation is a software technology that enables transactional tasks to be performed in any IT application, the way a user would. The structure of an RPA application is a structured digital data entry and a logic of processes based on rules and conditions capable of acting accordingly with the data received.

Organizations are allowed to automate at a lower cost and time in relation to how it was done before, which allows reaching a greater number of companies. The whole process is non-intrusive in nature and takes advantage of existing infrastructure without disrupting underlying systems, which would be very complex and costly to replace. RPA robots are capable of imitating the actions of human users based on known business rules or even artificial intelligence. In this way they can:

1. They can interact with other desktop or web-based applications.
2. They can manage files and folders on the storage system with different actions such as create, delete, update, move, etc …
3. Run operating system commands, such as running scripts, etc.
4. Manage emails, both extracting data from the email, and generating and sending emails.
5. Extract text from images through the OCR system of great application in the treatment of invoices, tickets, etc …
6. They can manage documents, can read and write excel documents, doc, CDV, PDF, etc …

What advantages does applying a Robotic Process Automation system bring to companies?

The first thing to consider is this technology is valid for all business sectors. The company can obtain great benefits in almost all areas. In relation to the benefits according to the implementation in the different areas of the company, we can highlight:

In the Supply Chain, RPA helps to improve:

• The life cycle
• The speed, capacity, and efficiency of the assets
• Increase the satisfaction of your customers, suppliers, and employees
• It usually means a cost saving of at least 30%.

In finance and accounting, it offers faster work cycles allowing a cost reduction of at least 50% as a consequence of a:

• Greater efficiency
• Greater precision

In human resources (HR), it is a very suitable technology for processes that require capturing and processing data, updating and processing requests, etc. which allows:

• Greater efficiency
• Higher profitability

In general, the companies that have implemented this technology mostly recognize:

1. Reduced costs and time.
2. That provides them with better information management.
3. Its implementation has improved the fulfillment of expectations.
4. Logically, the possibility of substituting work carried out by a person by an automatic process (robot), provides obvious advantages such as: It  does not get sick
5. Replicated easily
6. It can act from any location
7. It minimizes risks since it is less prone to errors.
8. The final idea is to employ people in higher value-added and more creative tasks.

Conclusion

Therefore, RPA is a process automation system that allows companies to employ intelligent software systems or software “robots”, which imitate the actions of human users. It can be implemented in a wide range of industries, where people perform repetitive, high-volume tasks, freeing them up to perform higher-value tasks. This system is having great acceptance because it supposes companies a great saving in the cost of intensive manual efforts and thus allows them to free up capital and resources for activities of greater value.

We can say robots are here to stay. The sooner we take advantage of their potential, the sooner we will create a competitive advantage for your business. RPA offers direct profitability while also improving business precision.