Is RPA all that it’s raved up to be as an engine of digitalization transformation?RPA is all the rage right now. From the banking industry to the medical sector, every company is implementing some form of automation to improve various types of workflows.Nonetheless, can RPA bring real change to a company’s digital transformation projects?
A Deloitte research has established that more than half of present-day organizations have initiated an RPA project of some kind. Deloitte further estimates that in the next few years, RPA is bound to attain a “near-universal adoption.”From the study, this upward trend indicates that RPA is fast becoming popular, which only means that businesses are deriving real value from it.
In this article, we’ll be discussing whether RPA is a driver for Digital Transformation, and how it’s making a difference across various areas of digitalization. Let’s get started.
1. It powers content intelligence platforms
For companies, one of the goals of digital transformation is Content Intelligence. Content intelligence entails automating data entry. It covers the entire information life cycle, all the way from data collection to analysis.When data is available across an organization’s branches in an easily searchable format, a business can make better decisions right from the top of the hierarchy.
In terms of content intelligence, RPA has a proven tracked record in dismantling data silos and generally digitizing data, even in unstructured layouts.
By eliminating inaccurate data strategies, RPA has made its case as the hero of digital transformation.
As a practical real-world example, we’ll take a look at RPA in action through theintelligent document processing software Adlib.
Adlib is an AI-powered content intelligent platform. It uses a combination of OCR software technology and cloud storage to transform data in various formats and merge it into a single stream of information flow.
The result is that digital data is available to an organizational branch regardless of where it is in the operational chain.
With this digitalization of data management, it becomes easier to isolate certain data if your business needs to comply with data regulations.
Without RPA technology, intelligent document processing platforms would not be as effective or even be a reality in the first place, which would be a huge roadblock in the digital transformation journey of any business.
2. It enables customer service digitalization
Is your business fueled by a customer-centric digitalization approach?If it is, Gartner predicts that RPA is set to contribute up to 25% of boosted customer service efficiency by 2025.Thus, robot process automation is an integral component of digitally transformative customer care.
Some of the use cases of RPA in customer service today include:
- AI-powered chatbots: These can reduce churn rates by soothing the lead cycle with organic B2C conversations.
- IVR call centers: AI-powered autonomous call assistants reduce the burden on companies’ call centers by handling basic client queries.
- Biometric and face recognition: For convenient and more secure business access systems, RPA software is making this a reality.
Without RPA, the digitalization of customer service would not deliver the stellar results we currently see in the above use cases.
Moreover, RPA software can provide insight and contextual data in real-time. These two aspects are cited by the aforementioned Gartner survey as some of the major factors behind customer service digitalization failures.
Amazon, for instance, has implemented machine learning toolsto discern customer persona during client calls.
The RPA software decides whether to hand over the conversation to a live agent based on the interpreted customer persona. This is yet another example of how RPA is pivotal as an agent of digital transformation.
3. It facilitates supply chain management
The digitalization of supply chains is another important part of the digital transformation journey, especially so when a company has large multinational roots.Without RPA assistance in crafting faster and more effective supply chain processes, these projects wouldn’t be able to attain the same levels of success as they are now.
So what exactly wouldn’t be possible in supply chain digitalization without RPA?
In the absence of RPA, supply chains would be unable to implement autonomous warehouse sorting robots, product tracing, and demand forecasting.
Additionally, RPA software is enabling the design of supply chains around important metrics based on on-time performance.
Businesses are able to consider time-to-customer or time-to-market performance, upon which to build digitalization projects.
According to a Gravity market survey with regards to supply chain digitalization, close to half of the businesses stated that faster speed to market is among their top priorities. To achieve that, 45% of organizations have incorporated ML software or some other form of artificial intelligence.
With almost half of the business world relying on AI-powered RPA in one way or another in the digitalization of supply chains, it’s safe to say that half of these achievements wouldn’t be possible without RPA.
4. It improves propensity model accuracies
Another important goal of digital transformation is strong lead generation.For that to be a success, the project needs to first work out the buying power of its market, as well as the taste and preferences of target customers.
To achieve both goals, RPA can play a huge role in terms of predictive analytics. It can determine customer persona and what kind of products would do well within a certain range of demographics.
With the inclusion of RPA, companies can achieve better digital transformation success rates by crafting accurate propensity models.
A propensity model is a statistical analysis of past customer trends to predict future actions. The first step to an effective propensity model is data preparation, and RPA software finds purpose here, enabling accurate data collection by eliminating human error.
When new data angles and samples are necessary, RPA software, specifically intelligent data systems, can easily filter data quickly and as frequently as needed.
By automating certain aspects of data science, RPA accelerates the race for digital maturity.
5. It lowers manufacturing conversion costs
What are some of the primary objectives of digital transformation in the manufacturing sector?Well, most manufactures will tell you that it’d be perfect if they could lower conversion costs. RPA-driven digitalization has been substantiated to be effective at doing just that.
Take the word of this Boston Consulting Group’s market analysis as proof. BCG’s research quantified RPA’s impact in manufacturing digitalization, discovering that AI can contribute to a 20% conversion expense reduction.
So how does AI-driven RPA help achieve conversion cost reduction?
For one, RPA tools take into account process efficiency and material input to automatically optimize operation parameters. With fluctuating input, manufacturing software can adjust according to changing conditions to ensure conversion spending is always optimal.
Additionally, some aspects of manufacturing digitalization would be hindered as well without the involvement of AI-powered RPA.
For example, computer vision robots that aid in defect identification would have to rely on inferior technology, or would not be in existence in the first place. The same goes for RPA tools that lend a hand in automated guided vehicles.
Conclusion
So is robot process automation a driver for digital transformation?
YES.
The numbers don’t lie, and neither do the real-world use cases we’ve discussed today.
From lead-converting chatbots and intelligent document processing software to autonomous warehouse assistants and propensity generating models, RPA has become an immense and irreplaceable force of digitalization.
While digital transformation is possible without RPA, it certainly would be half as successful without it. According to a Deloitte Global RPA survey,72% of companies are on their way to digital transformation via the implementation of RPA strategies.So it’s not just hype, because the majority of industries are bowing to the RPA revolution due to its numerous business applications.
Is your business tapping into the power of RPA for digital transformation?
Well, there’s no better time to start.
