Deloitte research: 95% of organisations using RPA say the technology has improved productivity

• Businesses are recognising the productivity benefits of RPA rather than simply implementing it for cost-cutting measures
• Organisations support more robotics in the workplace, but are struggling to scale RPA as anticipated

A tremendous 95% of organisations that have implemented robotic process automation (RPA) say the technology has improved productivity, according to Deloitte’s fourth edition of the Global Robotics Survey, which analyses market trends and emerging practices in robotic and cognitive automation. In addition, 93% of those that have implemented or scaled RPA say it has improved compliance and 81% agree it has reduced cost.

More businesses are recognising the productivity benefits of RPA rather than simply implementing it for cost-cutting measures. This is a noticeable shift from the previous years’ research findings, which indicated that cost reduction was the main priority when implementing RPA. This year, only 5% of businesses implementing RPA are doing so just to reduce costs, compared to 21%, in 2017.

“Globally, companies are passing beyond the stage of early experiments in RPA are already measuring results such as improved productivity, increased revenue, cost and risk reduction, better customer and employee experience. In Romania, while an increasing number of companies are interested in exploring RPA, not many have been able to adopt at scale and set solid foundations for full benefits realisation,” said Dinu Bumbacea, Consulting Partner in Charge, Deloitte Romania.

The study also revealed a significantly increased support for RPA implementation among those who have already implemented or scaled automation, with 81% of business leaders in these organisations now supporting the use of robotics, up from 72% in 2017.

Despite the increased support, organisations are struggling to scale RPA as anticipated. Just 4% of them are now operating more than 50 robots, a negligible increase from 3% in 2017, while 27% are either piloting RPA with under 10 robots or have moved into full implementation with between 10 and 50 robots. The main barriers to achieving scale are, according to respondents, process fragmentation, the wide variation of offline and online tasks involved in processes set-out to be automated by robotics, followed by lack of a clear RPA vision and lack of IT readiness.

The research is based on responses collected from 530 business leaders, including CFOs, COOs and CIOs, in organisations across the world with combined revenues of $3.5 trillion. The complete survey is available here.

In Romania, Deloitte’s management consulting team includes technology professionals which provide complex information and technology services, such as strategy, procurement, design, tailored executive programs, application managed services, analytics and information management, delivery and assurance of specialized solutions.

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Deloitte Romania is one of the leading professional services organizations in the country, providing services, in cooperation with Reff & Associates, in audit, tax, legal, consulting, financial advisory, risk advisory, business processes, technology and other related fields, through more than 1,200 professionals.