Where Is RPA Used?
Robotic process automation is used in virtually all facets of the modern business world, including manufacturing, distribution, retail, finance, and telecommunications, as well as in departments ranging from information technology to human resources and accounting. The bots carry out a variety of tasks, from transferring information to different databases to compiling reports, among other things. RPA is non-intrusive in nature and makes use of a company’s existing infrastructure without causing disruption to the underlying systems, which are typically difficult and expensive to replace. This allows RPA to leverage an organization’s existing resources more effectively. With robotic process automation (RPA), cost efficiency and compliance are no longer an operating cost but rather a byproduct of the automation. RPA allows businesses to automate activities at a fraction of the cost and in a fraction of the time compared to conventional IT solutions. Before going into the history of robotic process automation, let’s understand the proper implementation of robotic process automation.
The Appropriate Deployment of Automated Robotic Processes
The key to achieving one’s goals and objectives is the successful implementation of a software system. Adaptive Growth has been in the software implementation business for over 30 years and has completed over 600 software implementations. And the achievement of that success was contingent on the accuracy with which the user requirements and the users’ expectations were described and defined within the context of a work flow. How many times have you encountered a remark during the implementation of software, particularly an ERP system, that goes something like this: “That’s not the way we do our work”?
The Top 5 Pain Points Robotic Process Automation Solves for any Business:
- Improve Productivity: Consider a Robotic Process Automation (RPA) bot that enables a worker to create a monthly report in just 20 minutes, whereas doing so manually can take up to four hours. Within a few seconds, the robots are able to calculate, click, and navigate their way through the screen. This efficiency gain isn’t big enough to justify replacing the worker with a robot, but it does help that worker be more productive, which in turn aids in preventing additional expenses down the line. The incorporation of robotic process automation will result in an increase in the company’s overall productivity.
- Increase Efficiency: The RPA software does not require any breaks; it is able to work around the clock, seven days a week, and all 365 days of the year. In the same vein, it does not go on vacation and does not call in sick. The average RPA robot may replace anywhere from two to five human workers, and occasionally even more. Robots are able to finish the same amount of work in a shorter amount of time or more work in the same amount of time than humans.
- Enhance Accuracy: Because workers are people, there is always the possibility that mistakes will be made. The capacity of robotic process automation to eradicate processing errors is one of its defining characteristics. It is not necessary for businesses to be concerned that robots will make errors comparable to those that may be made by their employees, provided that the processes of the business are accurately mapped and properly optimised.
- Improve Analytics: The use of RPA technologies enables businesses to collect data about the completion of tasks, which can then be used for analytical purposes. Work volume patterns, cycle times, error rates, and exceptional cases are just some of the things that can affect it. Better decisions can be made on both the micro and macro levels when data is gathered effectively, compared to data gathered in other fields, and differentiated from data gathered in those other fields. In addition, your company is able to identify areas in which the operational procedures of the business could benefit from additional streamlining in order to achieve higher levels of productivity.
- RPA Software is Non-intrusive: The RPA bots that are installed in your organization won’t have any effect whatsoever on the applications that are already there. There is no need to worry about drawn-out software implementations or cost increases in order to get what you had originally believed you had purchased.
The History of Robotic Process Automation
There have been many wonderful innovations that were allowed to languish in obscurity until a forward-thinking individual saw a new application for them. In a similar vein, the recent rise of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has shed light on the fascinating path that this innovation has travelled. Not only is it the responsibility of finance and accounting professionals to reconcile accounts, post journals, and assist in the preparation of narratives surrounding their company’s financial condition, but they also have other responsibilities. In point of fact, their mission is to ensure that the final products, the financial statements themselves, accurately reflect the state that the company is in at the present time as well as its potential for growth in the future. The financial statements are their “final product,” and the quality of the information they contain is indicative of the care and skill they put into their procedures and their commitment to quality. F&A teams will be able to pave the way for a future that is more efficient and effective with the help of the roots of the current standards and process.
Walking the ground floor of automation
Before the advent of the Industrial Revolution, all stages of production were handled individually by skilled craftsmen. Production consisted of a single thread, and products were made one at a time in a sequential manner. When you go to a historical reenactment or a colonial village, you will have the opportunity to speak with a silversmith, a candle-maker, and a cobbler. The upcoming concept of the assembly line made it possible to specialize processes, increase throughput, and provide portability of labor because individuals did not need to know the entire process; rather, they only needed to know their particular areas of responsibility. Following in the footsteps of the assembly line, the term “workflow automation” can be traced back to the time of the industrial revolution. The term gained popularity in the 1990s, when it became possible to eliminate the need for manual data entry. Automation was the driving force behind assembly line manufacturing. It provided a way to lower error rates on processes that were highly repetitive and predictive. In addition, configurable automation made it possible to improve precision in these activities, thereby cutting down on the number of errors and rework and contributing to an overall improvement in the quality of the deliverable.
Continuing Along the Route
The fields of finance and accounting are undergoing significant changes at the same time as the rest of the business world. They “craft” the narrative surrounding a reconciliation, journal entry, or close task using tools such as Excel and email, which is one way that modern accountants are comparable to the “craftsmen” of bygone eras. This is due to the fact that their day-to-day activities are generally confined to such tools. They are personally retrieving the source content, analyzing the data, entering the data into a spreadsheet, carrying out the task at hand, and then “checking it off” as completed when they are finished.
Because these “craftsmen” keep the vast majority of their institutional knowledge and expertise in their heads, when they leave, the knowledge leaves with them. These are three of the most fundamental problems with the idea of an approach to finance and accounting (F&A) that is based on the “craftsman” model: (a) the quality may differ between respective experts; (b) throughput will vary widely based upon the capabilities of any one person; and (c) this will result in an uneven distribution of labour.
Even the most modern “assembly line” is still wholly reliant on human beings at all levels to complete the work that is assigned to them before passing it on to the next person in line. Think of the spot welder who, before the frame of an automobile moves on to its next destination, simply verifies that the fender has been welded to the frame of the vehicle. The introduction of shop-floor robotics was the real catalyst behind the development of the modern assembly line. The development of automation has made it possible to achieve previously unattainable levels of productivity while simultaneously enhancing the product’s overall quality. Take the example of the spot welder from earlier; regardless of how capable they are, they are susceptible to natural human error, and mistakes can occur for a variety of reasons, such as being distracted or having a mental lapse. The accuracy and dependability of the data in the financial statements, which are their “finished product,” are a direct indication of the work they put into their operations, as well as their level of competence and commitment to quality.
Leading the Way with RPA
Now, how exactly can the incorporation of modern RPA assist in the improvement of the “assembly line for financial statements”? A disproportionate amount of time is spent by accountants on individual manual processes, rather than on developing their skills as resources that add value. Using configurable robotic process automation would relieve accountants of the mind-numbing prospect of having to manually match data or spend precious time during the close reconciling an account that did not have any material change from period to period. In other words, it would free them from having to do both of these tasks manually. RPA is comparable to the shop floor robot in that it specializes in activities that are extremely repetitive, predictable, and extremely precise.
Since the robot’s behavior is predicable and it follows predetermined rules, one might wonder why it can’t just do all the work by itself. Perhaps…one day, but the simple fact of the matter is that even though current US GAAP and IAS are rule-driven to a large extent, they are not entirely so, and narrative explanation may be required at times. When faced with challenges of this nature, a company’s most valuable resource—its finance and accounting experts—becomes absolutely essential. When an exception arises that calls for an explanation or interpretation, the “assembly line” will most likely need professionals who are highly skilled, extremely knowledgeable, and actively engaged in their work. In the context of the assembly line analogy, companies now have a human being who acts as a quality assurance checkpoint, checking the “spot weld” of the robot from time to time, or who must perform a given task that requires just too much nuance for the robot to handle on its own.
Look to the Robots
Accountants will be in a better position to delegate more and more of their day-to-day responsibilities as the level of sophistication of robotic process automation continues to rise. RPA has the potential to liberate finance and accounting teams, allowing them to concentrate on exceptions, conduct more in-depth analyses, and reduce the risk footprint their company faces, all while bolstering the reliable and non-restatable nature of financial statements. Progressive businesses are actively stepping up their investment in robotic process automation (RPA) technology in the direction of full “assembly line” technology integration. These investments, when taken as a whole, are laying the groundwork for the “shop floor” of the accounting and financial industries of the future. Following in the footsteps of the history of manufacturing, which led businesses to adopt robotic process automation, the professions of finance and accounting can now turn the next page.
Steps Towards RPA Technology
As we get closer to the time when RPA technology was created, we can also see the development of technologies that were used in the creation of RPA. To begin with, one of the first steps in the process of developing RPA was the development of software for screen scraping in the 1990s. This technology was used to extract data from RPA-heavily-used programs, websites, and documents. The data was then used for various purposes. The 1990s also saw the introduction of tools for workflow automation, which is the technology that is most analogous to RPA. RPA would not have been possible without any of these various technological advancements.
In the history of Robotic Process Automation, the first RPA software was created in the early 2000s as a direct result of the developments described above. In spite of the fact that this RPA system was quite effective at automating repetitive tasks, its capabilities were rather restricted. As a result, its existence was not widely recognized until the year 2015. In the past three to four years, robotic process automation (RPA) technology has reached a point of boom as a result of the discovery of RPA combined with AI technologies. According to the findings of recent studies, RPA technology will be the most popular form of automation in the year 2021. RPA technologies are used by a variety of businesses, both large and small, today. They put the increased productivity that comes from using RPA technology toward expanding their business.
Is the future of RPA bright?
According to a report by McKinsey, the RPA will have a significant impact on the global economy of nearly $6.7 trillion by the year 2025. Taking into account a variety of evaluations and statistics, it is evident that RPA is going to be one of the leading technology platforms, and it is estimated that it will become a standard for producing positive results in business. With its widespread application in automation, it is also anticipated that RPA will put human jobs out of business. Market Research Future (MRFR) forecasts with accuracy that numerous industries will profit from RPA, and it is anticipated that the market for RPA will increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 29 percent between 2017 and 2023. In the not-too-distant future, when robotic process automation (RPA) has reached its full potential and developed to its fullest extent, all of the tasks that a human performs today will have been automated by RPA.
Through a combination of machine learning and the ability to make adjustments based on past performance, these platforms can handle errors and exceptions that arise during business processes. Companies will be able to automate improved visibility, transparency, communication, and collaboration across their value chain because these workers can apply judgement and creativity to their work. When RPA solutions are combined with intelligent technologies, analysts predict that the resulting solution will have such great potential that it will be able to fix even the most unexpected errors. As a result, RPA will see widespread adoption across industries. The first iterations will resemble machine learning, and subsequent refinements will allow the system to predict how a human would react in various situations. RPA has come a long way from its roots in screen scraping and is poised for explosive growth. To free up time for human analysis and innovation, RPA will develop further and provide greater technological potential to enhance business and other processes with greater precision.