Robotization is a form of automation in which more and more work is performed by software robots, also called Robotic Process Automation, a computer robot. In this case, it mainly involves repetitive and boring work performed by employees. In fact, within an organization, employees often spend many hours doing this. The essence of robotization is that work is taken out of the hands of employees, giving them more time for more important tasks. But what kind of repetitive and boring tasks are we talking about exactly? And how does RPA take them over?
The virtual employee
An example of a repetitive task that RPA takes out of your hands and automates is scanning a PDF file. There is, as it were, an invisible robot inside your computer that takes over all the checking and copy-paste work from you. Suppose a company receives invoices from hired employees in pdf files via email, the RPA software extracts the pdf files from them. It then looks to see if the sender is known and reads the pdf, then checks the data. Is everything correct? Then it puts the payment ready in the payment system. All an employee has to do is approve the payment. This is just one more simple application of robotization.
You can also think of it as a virtual collaborator that your employees work with within the organization. Besides scanning a pdf file, it can help you with other things. Think of calculations, filling out forms, opening e-mails and creating and moving files. RPA software is mainly suitable for taking over routine and repetitive operations.
You might also find this interesting to read: A peek into the (fascinating) world of RPA software.
Unattended and attended RPA
Within Robotic Process Automation, a distinction is made between two types of RPA solutions: managed robots (attended) and unmanaged robots (unattended). It is good to know the difference between them, because they both have different applications. To paint a clearer picture, we will also explain a few cases.
What is attended RPA?
Attended robots support employees in a virtual way. Therefore, the software robot is dependent on the employees. In fact, this type needs direction from a human to actually perform something automatically. For example, when an employee asks the robot to look up information, such as customer data. This eliminates the need for the employee to search all the systems himself. In this case, the robot supports the employee while performing her tasks. In short, the attended robots are used as a virtual assistant to employees, as they determine when the software will perform a specific action. This application is especially suitable for use in front office work at, for example, a call center, customer service or help desk.
Here are some RPA attended examples:
What is unattended RPA?
The unattended robot involves the robot being (almost) completely independent of the employee and can, in most cases, function without the help of a “real” employee. This type of RPA robot can go into action by itself and perform work on its own. And it does so 24/7. The only time an employee comes into play is when the software encounters errors in the operations it is supposed to perform, such as when data in a document is incorrect.
Unattended robots are most commonly used for back office work, such as collecting, sorting, analyzing and forwarding data and information. An example is a company that receives many requests daily and needs to process them. The software automatically picks the request from the mailbox and processes the data in the system without the intervention of an employee.
Here are some RPA unattended examples:
Curious about how and what our customers have roboticized? Read our customer cases.
Robotic Process Automation and its greatest benefit
Apart from the fact that employees no longer have to perform the boring and repetitive tasks, there is another great advantage of RPA. Almost any application can be connected or merged with RPA software. Thus, it can be applied to new applications as well as older applications or programs. So there is no need to bring in costly ICT-systems, because the robot is a digital worker that does not require complex coding and APIs needs. This ensures that RPA can be deployed anywhere and an appropriate solution can always be found.
The repetitive and boring work you can robotize
Robotic Process Automation can be used for many repetitive tasks and thus for many purposes within an organization. It can copy, paste, move, update, retrieve, log in, register, mutate and that similar work. The software ensures that quality and productivity is increased within the organization. Consider the fact that a robot is less error-prone, works faster than a human and has higher availability than “real” employees. This has a positive effect on the employees, since employee satisfaction is increased by using RPA and employees have time for more important tasks, such as real personal customer contact. Perhaps the solution to staff shortages? Who knows. In short: the virtual RPA employee takes over routine and repetitive tasks from your employees, allowing them to do what they were hired to do.
Relieve workload with robotization
This looks like the future but in several organizations this is already a reality. However most organizations are still losing a lot of time, working within their business systems with different applications and repetitive work.
Download the free white paper and find out what robotization can do for your organization. Includes a checklist.
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