FAQ
Frequently Asked Questions about Robotic Process Automation and its implementation across industries
RPA is a process in which a software bot uses a combination of automation, computer vision, and machine learning to automate repetitive large-scale tasks that are rule-based and triggered. The software is intended to execute repetitive tasks across applications and systems. The software learns a workflow with multiple steps and applications.
In other words, Robotic Process Automation is nothing more than instructing a machine to perform routine, repetitive manual tasks. If there is a logical step to completing the task, the bot will be able to reproduce it.
Simply put, the role of RPA is to automate repetitive tasks that were previously performed by humans.
- Productivity increases. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is known for delivering efficiency gains that are great because organizations always strive to do more with less, become leaner, more resilient, and increase profitability.
- Reduce errors and improve compliance. As a result of RPA robots completing the process correctly the first time, they improve compliance and reduce the cost of error correction.
- Improving the quality of customer service. When work gets done faster with RPA robots, it reduces customer effort, gets the job done right the first time, and shifts work faster, improving customer experience (for both external and internal customers).
- Improving the employee experience. When employees are freed from burdensome and repetitive work, they can work on more interesting, meaningful, and value-adding activities and become happier.
RPA is inherently reliable as it reduces the chance of human error.
Since every transaction is regulated by rule-based logic, there is no possibility of error or rejection. Not to mention the built-in audit trail recording who did what, where, and for how long. Every action is recorded from start to finish.
If any problems arise, these logs make it much easier to find the source of the problem (and identify a solution).
Customer service automation should start with choosing the right software for your business needs. It all depends on the customer support channel you want to automate. But with such a wide selection of omnichannel customer service, you don’t have to spend hours picking and choosing.
Here are 5 ideas for automating the customer service department without losing authenticity:
- Build a well-thought-out knowledge base
- Integrate your knowledge base
- Create automatic ticket routing
- Add ready-made answers
- Keep an eye on autopilot
The cost of an RPA implementation is influenced by the number of software components and bots that make up your deployment. On average, the cost of one bot (or unit) is usually between $5,000 and $15,000.
Straightforward systems can be extended with RPA tools very quickly. As a rule, it takes as little as two weeks, while more complex workflows can take two or three months.
RPA is used to automate repetitive tasks in both the back and front office that need human intervention. RPA bots can perform tasks such as collecting data from multiple applications, filling out the same information in multiple places, re-entering data, or copying and pasting – just about any task that is largely driven by rules and schedules. RPA can also perform many complex rules-based tasks by interacting with any software application or website.
- At the same time, they can’t do the next duties:
- Any process that requires human judgment to handle.
- Any process that contains unstructured data.
- Any process with a non-digital input source.
While RPA is used to collaborate with people by automating repetitive processes (assisted automation), AI is used for Intelligent Automation which replaces human labor and automates end-to-end automation (unattended automation). AI also comes as an aid in RPA, as a solution to more complex problems with unstructured data or human decisions.
This is not true in the long run. The World Economic Forum says that if digital transformation and automation or technological breakthroughs shrink various roles in jobs by 2022, it will add new roles for jobs. Thus, the number of new jobs will be 80% more than the number of jobs in question.
Robotic Process Automation, deploying custom software to automate repetitive tasks in an organization’s workflow, will certainly change the IT task landscape. But it’s important to understand that RPA tools are designed to augment, not completely replace, the human effort in an organization.
In the workflow automation world, BPM (Business Process Management) is a holistic approach to optimizing and automating business processes from start to finish. On the other hand, RPA is a technology that deals with smaller repetitive tasks performed by bots that are only part of a business process.
- RPA is not a physical robot.
- Software bots can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, and can cut costs significantly due to better quality of the outcome.
- RPA technology does not replace your company’s software.
- RPA software provides time for innovation, development, and focus on customer satisfaction.
- RPA technology is not expensive and well worth the investment.
- Software robots will not replace human personnel.
- RPA technology is not just for large organizations
- RPA technology will create new vacancies in the market.
- Always look for RPA providers or developers with a solid technical background
- Small RPA implementations can be delivered even in a few days
The timelines of RPA projects can heavily differ depending on the process complexity, software used, or people involved.
A small process can take 2 weeks of development and 2 weeks of testing before deploying to a production environment. Likewise, a medium-sized process can take 6-8 weeks after being put into production. In the case of a complex process, this can take 4-12 months after starting production. A typical example is when a process is introduced as an initiative to eradicate or reduce a manual process to a significant number. This takes a lot of development time, testing, and most of the time until the SME client/enterprise is fully satisfied with such a process.
A new term emerges that turns out to be an excellent alternative to RPA: Intelligent Process Automation (IPA). 4 other options are as follows:
- IT transformation
- Business Process Management Platforms (BPMS)
- Business Process Outsourcing
- Specialized Plug&Play Solutions
There is an uncountable number of industries where you can use RPA tools. The most obvious include:
- Banking
- Customer Care
- Finance
- Healthcare
- Information Technology
- Insurance
- Manufacturing
- Property Management
- Retail
- Telecommunications
If you want to use RPA to improve the processes at your company, there is no need for knowing how to code. But of course, you have to find a person who knows how to code. When it comes to hiring RPA developers, it is always better to go with people who have a solid technical background, as designing and developing a good robotics implementation requires a deep level of technicality.
There are many RPA tools available on the market, and choosing one of them is a personal challenge. The list of the best RPA tools includes:
- UiPath
- Blue Prism
- Automation Anywhere
- Power Automate
- Microsoft Flows
- Pega
- Contextor
- Nice Systems
- Kofax
- Kryon
- Softomotive
- Visual Cron
Flobotics’ employees are convinced that it is UiPath. UiPath is a deeply extensible Robotic Process Automation (RPA) tool to automate any workspace or web application. This allows companies around the world to customize and deploy robots for their companies. Uipath can be simplified in virtual terminals or cloud environments.
RPA works by accessing information from your existing IT systems. There are many ways to integrate RPA tools with your applications:
- One option is to connect to databases and corporate web services on the back end.
- The other is through front-end connections or desktop connections, which take several forms.
By automating tasks that are mundane and need little or no human involvement, businesses:
- direct their workforce toward more critical functions that do require decision-making and human intelligence
- save costs by doing a specific amount of work in less time and with no errors
so, it leads to a more efficient organization, overall.
You don’t need to hire a technical developer. Our developers’ team configures and controls the entire automation process. Sometimes, bots need maintenance and support, so we easily educate your non-technical team members on the issue of process management and RPA
Managing setting RPA automation does not require programming skills so, your non-technical employees with some basic knowledge or training for a very short duration would be able to manage it.
RPA ROI is calculated based on the Value of Time Gains. To build a full picture of RPA ROI you need to add two factors into account:
- Value of process acceleration (how much actual money was gained by implementing the automation)
- Value of error reduction (how much money was saved on eliminating mistakes)
RPA ROI = [(VTG*AC + Value of process acceleration + Value of error reduction) – AC]/AC x 100%
Read more about RPA metrics here
In most cases, if the RPA project fails it affects the processes that are supposed to be automated. So, the implementation takes money, time, and effort. The good news is that most RPA failures result from human error, not the technology itself. The most important lesson here is that you can learn from past mistakes and generally take a different approach.
The 5% of companies that do well with RPA today are demonstrating that the technology really works, and these businesses are creating yet another technological arms race that all organizations must join in order to survive, let alone prosper. Yes, achieving full RPA ROI in one quarter may protect your bonus this year, but successful large-scale bot deployments over the next year or two will protect your job and possibly your career.
- Managing Medical Inventory (entering repetitive data such as patient appointment requests, claim denials, patient demographic information, blood test results, etc.)
- Scheduling Appointments and notifying patients (feeding appointment data into multiple systems with information on doctor availability, diagnosis, and available time slots for patients)
- Medical Billing Patients Claims Processing
- Computing Systems In Medical Data Structuring
- Medical Supply Chain Management
- Claims Administration
- Medicaid For Newborns (automating validation research, and changing insurance Ids for newly born kids to state-based Medicaid
- Error identification (RPA automatically flags improperly coded claims, streamlines the end-to-end process of managing insurance claims, and submits scanned forms and claims to the right payment channels)
- Cost Reduction
- Stronger Billing Cycle (healthcare companies can significantly economize labor and financial resources when administrative processes are upgraded)
- Improved Patient Satisfaction And Engagement
- Better Employee Satisfaction (tedious, boring, repetitive tasks are being handled by RPA bots so employees can have more time on their hands to focus on more important tasks)
- Elimination Of Human Error (all processes will be carried out succinctly no matter how tedious they may be)
- Optimized Appointment Turnout
Luckily enough, a perfectly integrated RPA can help protect health data and create HIPAA-compliant workflows within the healthcare sector.
RPA can be used in nearly every step of the medical billing process to help automate and standardize routine and inefficient tasks. Robotic Process Automation automates the processing of medical billing operations such as payment posting, Electronic Health Records (EHR), and claims administration, enhancing revenue cycle management for medical billing companies’ bottom lines.
Any company in healthcare can automate its repetitive and mundane tasks with RPA. Just be sure that you devised a strategy for selecting the best processes and then prioritizing them based on factors such as complexity and return on investment. Consider how automating these activities will appear, what it will accomplish, the business context in which it will be used, and how it will fit into future business operations or the broader automation journeys. During this step, RPA consultants will map your processes, review your current tool stack and compare them with your business goals and requirements.
The healthcare industry is a perfect playground for implementing process automation. Hospitals, clinics, and practices worldwide are utilizing Robotic Process Automation to achieve more while spending less. With RPA you’re going to have:
- Faster Revenue Cycle
- Decreased operational costs
- Higher staff retention and satisfaction
- Better customer experience
- Eliminating errors and ensuring compliance
- Connect together all your CRMs, EHRs/EMRs, databases, or helpdesk suites to create one, automated productivity machine
The cost of an RPA implementation is influenced by the number of software components and bots that make up your deployment. On average, the cost of one bot (or unit) is usually between $5,000 and $15,000. Looking back on our case studies in the healthcare industry the cost starts at $5,000 up to $100,000
UiPath, Blue Prism, and Automation Anywhere are the best tools to build automation in healthcare. The final decision should be consulted with a technical RPA expert.
RPA doesn’t eliminate human accountants. Because RPA reduces transactional data processing, accountants can focus on delivering higher-value financial analysis to help clients make better business decisions.
Robotic Process Automation in banking automates lots of repetitive tasks that take money, time, and a big amount of human resources:
- opening/closing applications and systems Web clients, Email (including attachments);
- navigation within applications (ERP, CRM, etc.);
- creating and moving files and folders;
- following links and emulating button presses;
- automatic switching between applications;
- filling out forms, copying;
- loading data from external sources into the program interface and directly into the database;
- comparison and validation of data, mathematical calculations;
- work on complex logic with conditions and cycles;
- OCR (PDF / DOC / XLS);
- multilevel automated verification of data entered by other employees;
- messengers – communication using intelligent chatbots;
- using predictive analytics to drive statistics-based robot decisions and data mining.
You can use RPA to run a bunch of financial tasks. The following are the most popular ones;
– Automatic Report Generation
RPA technology with natural language generation capability can read these lengthy compliance documents before extracting the required information and filing the SAR.
– Registration of Clients
RPA can greatly simplify this process by collecting data from KYC documents using optical character recognition (OCR) techniques.
– Opening an Account
Automation systematically eliminates data transcription errors that existed between the underlying banking system and requests to open a new account, thereby improving the data quality of the entire system.
In the banking and fintech sector, Robotic Process Automation is used to perform recurring, rule-based, and high-volume tasks.
In fintech, RPA follows a predetermined workflow that provides a guideline to the software robot on what steps to follow precisely. This software understands the proper keystrokes, follows the provided roadmap, and runs the required programs automatically to perform necessary tasks. Several banks and other financial institutions currently utilize RPA in customer KYC, account opening, processing client requests, and other repetitive tasks.
Over 70% of executives in finance ranked the automation of financial processes highly on their priority list. RPA strengthens controls, continuously works to improve all processes (both individually as well as the holistic Record to Report), provides real-time and accurate data analytics, and leaves finance executives and CFOs enough time to participate in strategic planning.
The future of finance is quickly evolving, and financial transformation with automation, artificial intelligence, and robotic process automation is the key to success in this new world.
World-famous banks such as HSBC, Credit Suisse, Citi, Deutsche Bank, and international groups Raiffeisen Bank International and BNP Paribas are already leveraging RPA and intelligent automation.
Robotic Process Automation in the insurance sector can be of help in so many areas:- Optimization of the whole process (RPA helps insurers simplify claims processing by streamlining multiple processes, including entering data into the system from various channels such as email, telephone, or online forms, checking coverage, and issuing settlement notices);
- Speeding up claims processing
- Higher quality and accuracy (RPA reduces the inevitable human error);
- Higher compliance (by letting the bot document each step of the claim processing);
- Simple scalability as it is feasible to decrease or increase the number of active RPA robots
- Reduced data entry (converting data from paper forms to electronic records can be done with minimal manual intervention);
- Eliminating the need for storage (with the growth of automation in the claims processing industry, physical archives are outdated. Now they are being replaced by electronic archives);
- Audit log (if any manager of the insurance company has access to a specific file of the claim or performed any action related to the claim, this information is automatically recorded by the system);
- Visibility to the client (new and modern software for the automated processing of claims allows the timely provision of all information to customers).
RPA doesn’t replace humans. They just free them up of the manual tasks and give an opportunity to work on more meaningful and strategic tasks
- RPA computerizes the entire process of data collection from both internal and external sources. Hence, significantly reducing the time consumed for underwriting.
- Process and Business Analytics (with RPA, customer service response time and claims processing are improved seeing many clients benefit from the streamlined processes)
- Policy Admin and Servicing (RPA automates administrative and transactional parts of processes such as settlements, accounting, risk capture, tax, regulatory compliance, and credit control)
- Sales and Distribution (RPA helps to create sales scorecards to help push notifications to insurance agents and help supervise compliance)
- Finance and Accounts (RPA is built to carry out keystrokes, clicks, copy-pasting information, temple auto-fill, field entries, pressing buttons, and lots more. As a result, a larger percentage of daily bank reconciliations are automated, and transactional expenses are reduced including policy-cost footprint)
- Integration with Legacy Applications (RPA can fit perfectly into the prevailing workflow of insurance providers adapting to any type of system made available for use)
Supporting implemented RPA system does not require programming skills so, your non-technical employees with some basic knowledge or training from our side for a very short duration would be able to manage it.
Property management is process-centric by nature. Manual processing of data can lead to errors and even become time-consuming, especially in cases such as reimbursing the tenants when they leave the property. So, the answer is yes, property management companies can automate the processes with RPA and reduce the turnaround time, improve the efficiency of managing critical business processes such as financial reporting, and importantly, save costs on hiring people.
The whole real estate industry can’t become fully automated, but some processes can and have to be automated. It is estimated that even 50% of RPA opportunities are missed.
- Tenant onboarding (RPA bots extract and enter data and run the necessary checks)
- Bank and account reconciliation
- Payment reminders (or even automating standardized communication, such as contract renewals or rent increases)
- NAV calculations
- Portfolio management (letting bots list properties, following their statuses and values, and then updating them on all your sites)
- Maintenance management (RPA enables automatic maintenance scheduling and requesting and utilities reporting)
- AP/AR (bots can verify data, run forecasts, or pull payment details from invoices and upload them into your system)
- AML/KYC compliance (RPA algorithms scan customer information for potential regulation breaches or extract this info needed for other compliance assurance duties)
Cutting operational costs due to time savings and productivity boosts; RPA allows to scale up the portfolio without scaling up recruitment; Bots handle arduous tasks and stay sharp at all times; Bots free the employees from manual tasks, so they can focus on customer outreach, negotiations, and high-impact projects; By delivering services faster, better and with fewer errors real estate firm gets more satisfied customers.
If you are not sure about which processes in your company should be automated, RPA consultants and business process advisors will enter your organization, and talk to your team in order to discover all the processes. The goals here are to identify bottlenecks, and suboptimal flows and map your actions, tools, and stakeholders.
The RPA team also analyzes all the legal implications and aspects of automation to ensure compliance with relevant juridical systems. Then the processes should be audited and their automation potential should be analyzed, based on the expected ROI and Expected Business Value. That’s the basics of how we discover whether you need automation or not.
There’re lots of benefits to implementing RPA in logistics. Better Customer Services, improved billing processes, better inventory control, easier integration with systems, boosts the productivity of the team, reduces costs
- Email Automation (you can easily automate the entire communication process between customers, suppliers, shipping agencies, and manufacturers. RPA also helps automate email responses when an order has been requested, shipped, halfway completed, delayed, or received)
- Planning supply and demand
- Supplier selection and procurement (automate sourcing and procurement processes, so, supply chain enterprises can reduce cycle times by 25-50% and processing times by 15-45%)
- Order processing and payments (the transaction data can be directly updated in the company database, payment gateways can handle the withholding of the amount, and the software solution can send a confirmation notification to the user)
- Message about the status of sending
- Robotization of document processing
The logistics industry relies heavily on paperwork and BOMs. Examples of using RPA in the logistics industry and RPA in warehouse management will help you solve the problem in the following ways:
- Shipment schedule: RPA bots extract data from letters, memos, and notes associated with a shipment and update the shipment schedule based on this data. This cuts time by almost 50% and ensures fast delivery.
- Delivery Tracking: RPA software allows you to install bots that can track where the shipment is and alert the system when it reaches certain locations. This reduces the time it takes to update the delivery progress;
- Delivery notifications: Getting regular delivery updates is a tedious process. RPA can automatically update delivery progress and provide stage completion notifications.
