Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required humans to perform. These tasks can include queries, calculations and maintenance of records and transactions.
RPA replicates human actions to handle repetitive tasks that normally involves human efforts fully engrossed in completing them without contributing to ROI. RPA, when used will save tremendous efforts, time and cost allowing humans to be more productive and contribute to business value.
RPA technology, sometimes called a software robot or bot, mimics a human worker, logging into applications, entering data, calculating and completing tasks and logging out.RPA provides organizations with the ability to reduce staffing costs and human error. Bots are typically low-cost and easy to implement, requiring no custom software or deep systems integration.
RPA evolved from three key technologies: screen scraping, workflow automation and artificial intelligence.
Screen scraping is the process of collecting screen display data from a legacy application so that the data can be displayed by a more modern user interface.
The advantages of workflow automation software, which eliminates the need for manual data entry and increases order fulfillment rates, include increased speed, efficiency and accuracy.
Lastly, artificial intelligence involves the ability of computer systems to perform tasks that normally require human intervention and intelligence.
BENEFITS OF RPA
Robotic process automation technology can help organizations on their digital transformation journeys by:
- Enabling better customer service.
- Ensuring business operations and processes comply with regulations and standards.
- Allowing processes to be completed much more rapidly.
- Providing improved efficiency by digitizing and auditing process data.
- Creating cost savings for manual and repetitive tasks.
- Enabling employees to be more productive.
APPLICATION OF RPA
- Customer Service: RPA can help companies offer better customer service by automating contact center tasks, including verifying e-signatures, uploading scanned documents and verifying information for automatic approvals or rejections.
- Accounting: Organizations can use RPA for general accounting, operational accounting, transactional reporting and budgeting.
- Financial Services: Companies in the financial services industry can use RPA for foreign exchange payments, automating account openings and closings, managing audit requests and processing insurance claims.
- Healthcare: Medical organizations can use RPA for handling patient records, claims, customer support, account management, billing, reporting and analytics.
- Human Resources: RPA can automate HR tasks, including onboarding and offboarding, updating employee information and timesheet submission processes.
- Supply Chain Management: RPA can be used for procurement, automating order processing and payments, monitoring inventory levels and tracking shipments.
RPA Tools
RPA tools are the software that helps users to configure various tasks to get automated.
- UiPath: UiPath is a highly extensible Robotic Process Automation tool that helps to automate desktop or web applications. It offers global enterprises to design and deploy a robotic workforce for their organizations. UiPath comes with drag and drop feature. So, the users do not need programming knowledge to automate the tasks using UiPath. The community edition is free for the people who want to learn, practice, and implement RPA.
- Blue Prism: Blue Prism is an RPA Tool that provides a virtual workforce to the organizations. It helps organizations to automate manual, repetitive, and rule-based business processes in an agile and cost-effective manner. It includes drag and drop support to automate the tasks.
- Automation Anywhere: Automation Anywhere is one of the popular RPA tool that offers powerful and user-friendly capabilities to automate any complex business process. This tool is a combination of all the core functions. It combines RPA with intellectual elements like language understanding and reading any unstructured data. Automation Anywhere is a web-based administration system that provides control to run and manage end-to-end automated business tasks for companies. It allows automating a broad range of tasks, from basic windows configuration steps to the ultimate networking and remote database processes.
- Robocorp: Robocorp is a Python-based open source stack for automating applications and processes. Robocorp is an open source RPA tool which is capable of automating simple to complex bussiness process. It is a developer friendly, more flexible and customizable. We can automate any task you can imagine with hundreds of keywords and libraries with performance, scalability, and security built-in.