10 Benefits of Process Automation

Automation technologies like robotic process automation (RPA), emulate repetitive human actions like data entry tasks, which allows for employees to spend their time on more valuable and strategic initiatives. Not only does this give your people more valuable time in their day, but it also reduces errors as RPA technology is much more precise than a human counterpart.  

RPA technology offers organizations a whole slew of benefits including:  

• Faster Processing—Compared to humans, RPA can complete several times as many processes so you can handle more transactions more quickly.
• 24/7 Operating—RPA software robots don’t need to sleep and don’t get tired. They process around the clock, keeping certain business tasks and operations running at all hours. If something needs human attention, they also have the ability to set tasks aside until morning.
• Analytics Collection—RPA collects data on everything it does, filing them into reports that you can analyze and to identify issues in your processes you might not have noticed. This will help check for common process ailments like bottlenecks, inefficiencies, and slow areas.
• Improved Accuracy—Using RPA software helps to remove the vast majority of human error from processes as it’s designed to follow specific rules.

2. Productivity

One of the most obvious benefits of process automation is the boost in productivity that comes with handing off repetitive tasks to robots who can work longer and faster than a human.

Additionally, automation solves some of the wasted time presented by the “productivity paradox,” where more technology slows processes down as people spend time navigating, switching between, and training on new apps. These disparate, disconnected systems can slow things down, where RPA speeds them up.

The increase in productivity, of course will depend on your specific use-case for the RPA software, the scale at which it’s deployed, and what type of RPA bot you’ve integrated into your process, attended or unattended.

• Attended Bots—These bots work in collaboration with humans in order to complete transactions. A human might focus on customer-centric tasks while the bot handles data, calculations, reporting, and notifications. Because of the human element of attended RPA, the process is slower.
• Unattended Bots—In this case, processes are automated and executed without human assistance required. The bots are free to operate 24/7 which means production is ramped up.

Which type of bot you choose depends on the tasks you’re automating and the nature of your business. Some processes simply require human interaction to make decisions, while others operate entirely independently.

Overall, automation helps solve many problems within a process that streamlines it, meaning more productivity and less time wasted. This extra time also gives your employees a chance to focus on strengthening the brand value-offer as a whole. 

3. Cost Savings

Automation saves money in different ways within your business.

First, it takes away repetitive, “boring” tasks from workers so they can focus their time on more important tasks and ones which require creative and critical thinking. This saves money by removing a lot of wasted time for your employees who can now tackle harder issues within your organization.

On top of giving your employees more time to focus on high-value activities within their role, implementing process automation properly can reduce inefficiencies and remove bottle necks, speed up both manufacturing and service delivery, and improve the customer experience by optimizing the customer journey.  

4. Compliance

If a business is in one of the many fields which require maintaining certain regulatory standards (finance, healthcare, manufacturing, etc.), then RPA can actually help you get and stay compliant with them.

Deploying RPA can help businesses build out their compliance programs by providing another level of oversight and control over processes.

RPA bots perform every process exactly the same every time—this reduces the chances of errors. The bots also report their own actions accurately into an activity log which means you get a 100% accurate audit trail.

This is a crucial element for most security regulations, which require organizations to have a clear understanding of the state of their data and ensure that it is always handled safely.

5. Reduced Errors

Errors can be expensive but using RPA robots greatly reduces the risk of human error in your processes because a bot performs tasks the same way every time, always. Plus, since data is automatically transposed or exported, there’s no chance of mistakes occurring when this data is moved from one source to another.

Fewer errors also relieve some of the burden on your workforce by allowing your staff to spend less time on redundant work.

The reduction in errors resulting from implemented RPA technology also creates better, more accurate and more precise reports from which your team can pull actionable insights that lead to real results. In a world where data is everywhere, having stronger, more granular insights is vital to building a competitive advantage. 

6. Customer Satisfaction

One of the most exciting robotic process automation benefits is the positive effect it can have on your customers, their experience with your business, and the way that you serve them.

With RPA, you can respond to customer queries faster and more efficiently, respecting your customer’s time and handling their questions and requests successfully at the exact moment they need answers. What used to take hours or even days now only takes minutes. This, of course, can be applied to any number of customer interactions, including order processing.

Process automation like this will improve your company’s reputation among your audience through positive word-of-mouth, stronger online reviews, and increasing repeat customers. 

7. Increasing Employee Satisfaction and Retention

Nothing tires an employee more than boring work. Luckily, RPA specializes at removing that kind of repetitive, time-consuming work and allowing those workers to focus on things that challenge them to think creatively and critically.

This increases efficiency, raises morale, and even boosts productivity in a workforce when it is successfully implemented.

One challenge many businesses face when looking to implement RPA is getting buy-in from the same people whose lives will be easier once the bots are deployed as they get nervous that the automation will replace their jobs entirely.

However, when it is clearly communicated that implementing RPA won’t leave them searching for work, they know what the changes to their day-to-day tasks will look like, and understand that the advantages of automation include making their job easier and more exciting, they often end up being the software’s biggest advocate at the company. 

8. Eliminate Paper-Based Processes

Using RPA is a very environmentally-friendly option because it lets you take processes that usually eat up paper and other resources and digitize them so they don’t require consumables at all.

Beyond digitization, a digital document workflow incorporates automation into processes involving files. It routes each document to any human that needs to see and sign off on it, and then stores it in an easily-findable and searchable shared folder.

By establishing these digital document workflows, you can effectively eliminate all paper use within your organization, making you greener and saving you money and time.

10. Scalable Processes

An automated, robotic workforce has the ability to be whatever size you need it to be depending on your business.

If you grow, it’s easy to grow your RPA alongside you for minimal extra cost. This is a massive benefit of automation that allows your business to be as agile as possible by quickly and efficiently scaling up or down depending on the time of year or because of consistent growth.

It also means that you’ll never outgrow your automation solution, nor will you ever be forced to pay for software that is much higher capacity than what your business needs at the time. RPA meets exactly what your needs are exactly when you need it. 

The Importance of Automation