How I Automated a Recurring Financial Administrative task with UI Path
A Case Study on Robotic Process Automation
What is RPA?
RPA (Robotic Process Automation) is a form of business process automation that allows anyone to define a set of instructions for a robot or ‘bot’ to perform.
Why is it important?
The RPA bots are capable of mimicking most human-computer interactions to carry out a ton of error-free tasks, at high volume and speed. Thus, we can give the human tasks that we don’t like and usually make errors on to “bots” who are faster and more accurate than we are. This can help free up our human team bandwidth and keep them happier at work.
The Statistics:
- 60% of executives agree RPA enables people to focus on more strategic work.
- 57% say RPA reduces manual errors.
- 57% of executives say RPA increases employee engagement.
Case Study:
Problem Statement:
REEF has 300+ kitchens which are enabled by Ancillary services such as Water, Sewer, Grease Trap Cleaning, Grey Water Delivery, Electric Generator etc.
It is important to pay our utility bills on time for active sites. Failing to do so may put REEF at risk of not having running water and sewer services at any given location. This can cost us ~$6,000 of lost revenue per day per site.
Solution:
In this case study, we are going to login to a website, click some buttons, download a pdf document, and send it as an attachment via email.
In this instance:
- The website is Miami Dade Water and Sewer Department (WASD) billing portal where we manage 7 accounts.
- The pdf document we are downloading and attaching is the utility bill for a kitchen located at 121 SW 3rd Street
- The email is the way Coupa saves the document in a queue for the Finance team to review. (For Demo purposes, we sent the email to Rahul Handa instead of REEF Coupa address)
Impact:
Automating this process will ensure Finance receives 100% of utility bills (no slippage) and that Finance team receives it with enough time to process the document (create a requisition, approve the PO) and pay the bill on time so we our kitchens can run uninterrupted.
Since the procurement team is responsible for managing 300+ kitchens, this is a task that can easily slip. Not all utility bills are on the same username account, thus we have 100’s of accounts to check if we have a pending bill to pay.
See the demo video here!
How can I re-create this demo? Instructions here