Posted on by Ricky Jacob

Robotic Process Automation – Future of Workplace Efficiency?

For decades, employees in organizations have been spending considerable time doing repetitive manual tasks. This cannot go on for ever. Today, organizations across the globe are constantly trying to identify processes within their existing workload that can be automated.

What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

” An application of technology that allows employees in a company to configure computer software, or a ‘robot’, to capture and interpret existing applications for processing a transaction, manipulating data, triggering responses and communicating with other digital systems. “

– The Institute for Robotic Process Automation (IRPA)

In simple terms, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the use of software to automate tasks and processes.

EY talks about RPA being automation’s next frontier. The report also mentions that the next wave of cost savings that is gathering pace is focused on replacing manpower with technology in service delivery.

Why do we need Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?

Humans are likely to make errors even if they carryout work that is somewhat redundant. A typical example would be Reimbursements and Claims. Also, manual entry of data leads increases the chances of errors. Research shows that about 20% of all claims reports had errors in them.
Even today, a large number of employees are involved in performing such rule-based tasks that are also high-volume activities. Here, RPA has the ability to reduce the requirement of multiple Full-time Human Employees (FHE) with a Full-time Robot Employees (FRE).

Benefits of Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

  • Increase efficiency: Due to the availability to function at all times, with same accuracy without ever getting tired.
  • Access: Organising and analysing data becomes easier now.
  • Quality: Due to removal of manual human data entry, errors are non-existent.
  • Lower cost: Can reduce the number of Full-time employees needed for such repetitive, rule-based tasks.

And hey, Full-time Robot Employee (FRE) works 24/7/365. 🙂

RPA – Transforming Finance Operations in Workplace

Digital Transformation will continue to impact the HR & Finance Operations that currently involve manual tasks and redundant processes like claims and auditing. Currently some companies depend on third party payroll vendors to support their employee’s claims requests.
With RPA, such processes can become efficient and done within the premises of the organisation, big or small.

Closing Remarks

Make no mistake, automation will remove the role of humans to complete various tasks currently carried out by them and that will happen sooner than later.

Organisations will have to adapt to this change and those currently employed will need to prepare for this change as it is inevitable.

Is RPA going to disruptive enough to completely replace decade old practices in Finance Operations at your workplace? Will it completely remove the dependency of huge human workforce to manage payroll and claims?
We will know in the coming couple of years.

Ricky
Founder/CEO, Paysack
ricky@paysack.com