Part 4: RPA Automation Use Cases
This is a continuation of my previous articles; a RPA mini-series blog. In part one, we examined RPA and why it matters. In part two, we dived into why not everything can be automated by RPA.
In part 3, we looked at how to move beyond task automation and expand their offerings to include intelligent automation (IA).
In part 4 we look at real-life automation use cases for RPA across three sectors; Healthcare, Agriculture(referentialy) and Finance.
You can also read about this from the women in tech blog!
Let us jump right in; we laid out a set of rules to cross-check to ensure that the process intended for automation qualifies for automation; remember, not everything can be automated.
Given multiple processes that qualify for RPA automation; which process do we automate first?
This depends on a variety of factors:
- Evaluate Priorities — Is the automation necessary? This sounds light but modern tools come with inbuilt automation capabilities. Before creating customized automation, cross-check with the tools currently in use for automation features before automating from the ground up.
- Consider Alternatives — Is automation the only way to solve the challenge? (just because a process can be automated does not mean it should). Also, is end-to-end automation required or can full value be achieved by automating part of the process?
- Assess Frequency and Volume — The biggest benefits from automation are realized with high-volume processes done regularly. Conduct a root cause analysis to figure out how often the issue occurs, the number of affected users and the steps needed to resolve(are they constant or do they vary per use case?)
- Does the automation enable a digital workspace? The end goal of fostering a digital workspace can be realised sequentially by ensuring that, employees with little to no experience in formal coding, IT, or computer science are equipped with little to no code tools that can automate processes as the digital workforce grows.
- Stakeholder Buy-In — Stakeholder involvement has shown to be a clear success factor and a fundamental prerequisite for efficient and effective automation. It is important to understand the commitment level a certain stakeholder has as it informs the level of automation effort required(besides, they are the informed captain and have a clearer vision of the work the bot will do; they are the informed captain. Netflix has adopted the informed captain approach.
My recommendation: Use the RACI Matrix. | Responsible | Accountable | Consulted | Informed | The purpose of using a RACI matrix is to map all stakeholders, their responsibilities and to what level they need to be involved, in a structured way. This also informs the development team on who to reach out to for feasibility tests.
Let us look at real-life practical applications by industry leaders (globally) adapting RPA in their work.
Healthcare
Increasingly new solutions are emerging to facilitate processes in the healthcare industry.
The East Lancashire NHS trust in the UK is using RPA to schedule appointments for the average 15,000 referrals they receive each month. They reported saving around 83,600 sheets of paper from using RPA. This has also increased man-hour savings equating to two and a half full-time employees, allowing vital resources to be redirected.
India-based start-up Feat systems are automating appointment creation, reminder and cancellation with an accessible and integrative RPA-enabled web app.
T-Systems, a hospital management start-up in the UK is using RPA to develop various health solutions, which include tracking the time and location of organs to ensure seamless transplant operations.
Canadian telco Telus, partnering with Babylon Health, created a smartphone app that utilises RPA and AI technology that effectively supports patients — https://www.telus.com/en/about/news-and-events/media-releases/new-app-from-telus-health-and-babylon-enables-canadians-to-visit-a-doctor-through-their-smartphone
Agriculture
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is reshaping the agriculture industry — https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/robotic-process-automation-rpa-reshaping-agriculture/
Finance
Fun Fact: Research by Gartner research shows that about 80% of financial firms have either implemented or are planning to implement robotic process automation in their business processes.
- AIG Israel’s customer service team is using RPA to improve operational efficiency without incurring the cost of hiring additional full-time employees. It automated 12 processes, thus increasing reliability and efficiency while relieving CSRs of time-consuming, repetitive, and rule-based tasks.
- The Royal Bank of Canada; the largest financial institution in Canada has been using smart chatbots for more than a year to improve customer service.
- Zurich Insurance uses RPA to segregate the standard and general policies; and save a vast amount of time. The underwriters could get ample time to review more complex procedures. The outcome was surprising as they could save approximately 50% of the processing cost and time.
References
- Qntrl has a good article on the same https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/how-decide-which-processes-automate-practical-guide-qntrl/
- The Institute for RPA & AI (IRPA AI) also has a good read on this topic -https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/10-hot-tips-select-right-processes/
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is reshaping the agriculture industry — https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/robotic-process-automation-rpa-reshaping-agriculture/
Salty check: In insurance, RPA can be used to process time-consuming health claims. It takes 12 seconds for an RPA solution to check the status of a health insurance claim compared to 85 seconds for a human; this translates to one robot doing the work of 9 full-time employees without error.
Coming up: Part 5 will be practical automation using UiPath as our tool. We will use RPA to populate a web app from Excel sheets automatically.
My 2 cents: If your organisation is adopting RPA for the first time; I recommend automating a low-hanging fruit use case; something simple and holds high value. This allows the team to learn on the go while providing wiggle room for rollbacks with minimal pressure. Build a culture of experimentation; the “Crawl, Walk, Run, Fly” model is a great tool for assessing the maturity of an experimentation practice.
