Robotic Process Automation

Introduction

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) uses software, commonly known as a ‘robot’, to capture and interpret existing IT applications to enable transaction processing, data manipulation and communication across multiple IT systems.

Multiple robots can be seen as a virtual workforce - a back-office processing centre but without the human resources. There are financial benefits owing to the lower cost of a robot licence compared to a typical salary, and firms are also seeing non-financial benefits including improved accuracy, timeliness, and operational flexibility.

What can robotics do?

At Deloitte, we have deployed RPA software, at scale (to the equivalent of the manual effort of 100s of people), within clients’ organisations, and within our own internal support processes. We have found it useful to consider robotics (and related cognitive tools) in terms of what they can actually do for a business.

We call these the ‘7 Robotic Skills’ - explore the graphic below.

What processes are suitable to deploy with RPA?

RPA tools are best suited for processes with repeatable, predictable interactions with IT applications. These processes typically lack the scale or value to warrant automation via core systems transformation or if core systems transformation is not due to be implemented soon. RPA tools can improve the efficiency of these processes and the effectiveness of services without changing the underlining systems.

RPA software ‘robots’ perform routine business processes by mimicking the way that people interact with applications through a user interface and following simple rules to make decisions. Entire end-to-end processes can be performed by software robots with very little human interaction, typically to manage exceptions.

RPA can be used to automate processes that are:

• Repetitive
• Prone to error
• Rules based
• Involve digital data
• Time critical and seasonal

A view from our clients

We recently conducted a survey of over 100 Shared Services leaders which showed that they now see RPA as a viable, proven solution, with 74 per cent of survey respondents planning to investigate the technology in the next year and 22 per cent having piloted or fully implemented RPA.

Those who had implemented identified that RPA meets or exceeds their expectations in terms of financial benefits, and reality tends to outperform expectations even further with non-financial benefits.

Read more in our recent survey based article: The Robots are here - meet your digital workforce.

Why Robotic Process Automation?

The benefits of RPA solutions go beyond cost reduction and include:

• Decreased cycle times and improved throughput
• Flexibility and scalability
• Improved accuracy
• Improved employee morale – enables them to add more value
• Allows time to innovate and focus on customer satisfaction
• Detailed data capture

Automation series

• What key competencies are needed in the digital age?: The study discusses the associated effects on the Swiss labour force and highlights what competencies will be particularly sought after in the future.
  
• Transforming the Swiss economy: This study examines the effects of automation on different Swiss business sectors and highlights what opportunities and challenges it will create for companies.
• Industrialisation in banking: The report suggests how an industrialisation strategy can be used by banks to increase efficiency and agility.
• Structural change creates jobs: This study shows that the positive effects of automation in Switzerland will continue to dominate in the future.
• Man and Machine - robots on the rise: This report explores the impact of automation on jobs in Switzerland.
• Next generation automation: This report highlights the differences between robotic automation + artificial intelligence led automation and helps you choose which to prioritize.
• The robots are here: This report examines Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and its role in shared services and Global Business Services (GBS).
• Robots strengthen the digital workforce: This report examines Robotic Process Automation (RPA) makes possible the automation of standardized, rules-based, repetitive processes and, RPA software can be programmed to perform transaction processing and data manipulation and communicate across IT systems, based on a predefined set of tasks and actions.