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We can deploy various types of robots in your company

With Robotic Process Automation (RPA), i.e. software robots, we can streamline and speed up many business processes while reducing the error rate to a minimum. When deploying a specific type of a robot, it is essential to clearly describe the processes in which the robot is to be involved and to define the exact criteria it should follow. The following examples will show you what types of robots are available and what kind of tasks they can handle either with or without human assistance.

A robot: your trusted colleague

One of the simpler software robots is an On-Demand Robot that works only when you need it. Let’s take the example of a contact centre. If a customer calls the contact centre with a request to cancel part of a purchase order, you as the operator then type in the purchase order number; this initiates the robot, which will find the necessary information about the customer and the ordered goods across various systems. The inquiry takes a few seconds. You then verify the information with the customer and modify the purchase order as requested. A more sophisticated solution is an Attended Robot working in tandem with you as the employee. Once the robot is running, you do not wait for the result and you can fully focus on the customer and other activities. The robot works in the background and notifies you when everything is completed. These types of robots function as virtual assistants, helping you when you need them, and are especially suitable for back-office tasks at Finance, HR, IT, and many other departments.

More work for the robot means less for the employee

By combining the two previous types of robots, we get a Hybrid Robot. This is particularly useful if the work takes a little longer to complete. An operator or other employee at the contact centre provides input data to the robot, which will check the original purchase order in all the necessary systems. This part is relatively fast, and the customer can stay on the line and be immediately informed that their request is ready to be processed. As the operator needs to continue using this robot, the collected data is sent to another robot that works independently. After working hours, or at a specifically chosen time, the second robot launches the completion process of things like cancelling all collected orders. When finished, it sends a notification about the job completion.

The robot can also work Partially Unattended, and hence you do not have to wait for the outcome. For example, if a company needs to refund a customer, a Finance Department staff member enters this request into a file (such as an Excel spreadsheet). At a specific time, the robot automatically activates itself, reads the file, checks the data, and then processes all the refunds. Similarly, this type of robot can also be utilised by IT departments for the onboarding of new employees, or for another process where you can enter specific input data and do not need to immediately work with the outcome of the robot’s work; in this case, the IT specialist only enters the necessary data, and the robot orders new devices for the new employee or generates access to the company’s systems. If a new hire is replacing a leaving employee, the robot revokes access for the offboarded employee and then generates access to the same applications and orders the same devices for the newly onboarded employee.

For processes that can be fully automated, you can use a Fully Unattended Robot. These robots need no assistance or activation. Whenever the robot detects a new request, it activates itself and performs the tasks based on predefined criteria. Flawlessly. We know from our own experience that the robot works reliably without any fluctuations according to the way we and our clients jointly set it up. If a new invoice arrives in our accountant’s e-mail, the robot opens, reads, processes, and books the invoice in all the required systems and we only get the final notification. We have used full automation for our clients to do things like process power supply disconnection and reconnection requests, generate various regular reports, and execute GDPR compliance processes where the robot’s task was to delete sensitive customer data.

Even though many business processes can be partially or completely automated, there are activities where the human factor is necessary and irreplaceable. Processes that cannot be completely automated include those where the robot does not have clearly set-up criteria for it to work reliably, where a decision or approval of a physical person is required, and where several departments need to be involved in the process: for example, a handwritten document can be digitised, but the robot cannot guarantee the collection of all the necessary data from it unless it is a structured document. A loan approval may require an assessment of the applicant’s current income and liabilities, but another important factor is the applicant’s behaviour during their interactions with banking staff. In such cases, we deploy Long-Running Robots combining the work of a human with various types of robots. When the robot completes part of its work and the next step requires human involvement, the robot creates a task for the human, clearly specifying the expected outcome, and waits for the task to be completed. It then resumes the automatic task processing.
The robot can therefore help with the processing and preparation of all necessary information, do the necessary checks, and display all the relevant information to the human employee. The task for the employee is to make a single-click decision about the next steps. The robot then completes the job.

Flawlessly and with a quick return on investment

Robots work exactly the way they were set up. If we enter the right criteria together, the robot makes the right decisions. It accesses systems based on how we have set it up. It never gets tired or stops working due to being bored of repetitive processes. It is not a problem even if the system is overloaded or if it crashes. The robot reopens the system and resumes working where it left off because it continuously logs all completed operations. If you decide to invest into partial or full automation, the return on your investment depends on the size of the automated process. It may vary from three months for simpler solutions to one or one and a half years for automating more complex processes. The robots will also save you labour costs and eliminate errors. If you need advice on how to start or extend process automation and digitisation, we will be happy to help you, analyse options, and prepare a strategy for your company. Getting all the necessary licences will not be a problem for you either. We can rent them (RPA as a service) or get them for you. The benefit of renting is that you get all the updates as well as the IT support and service. At Soitron we take care of the robot completely. If you decide to purchase a full licence, we can train your specialists and provide them with all the necessary information.

5 basic questions that need to be answered when choosing an RPA supplier

VIKTÓRIA LUKÁČOVÁ BRACJUNOVÁ

Digitalisation, robotisation, and automation have become an essential part of the strategic thinking of all managers and entrepreneurs who look for ways to improve performance of their companies so that they do not miss the boat and lose their competitiveness.

Anyone who has learned about the benefits of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and decided to use this technology to increase people’s productivity, reduce costs, speed up processes, and improve efficiency and customer service is inevitably faced with the dilemma of choosing a supplier.

Since process automation solutions can be based on several different technologies, and companies that implement RPA systems may be very different in nature, choosing the right supplier can be quite challenging. Soitron consultants have suggested five questions that need to be answered carefully when choosing an RPA supplier.

What technology will we use?

For robotic process automation, it is necessary to choose a supplier who will implement the RPA solution as well as the software technology the solution will be based on. The most frequently used tools include UiPath, Automation Anywhere, and Blue Prism.

Naturally, each of them has its pros and cons that make it more suitable (or unsuitable) for certain cases. They differ in what options they offer, the ways they are used, their abilities to collaborate with existing systems, and in their licence pricing.

This is why if the decision on which RPA to use is made by a company’s business department, it is advisable to also consult IT specialists or choose a supplier who is a partner of several RPA tool manufacturers, who can thus recommend the most suitable technology to each customer based on practical experience.
What type of supplier should we choose?

Today RPA solutions are offered by a plethora of different companies, such as consulting firms, software houses, and system integrators. There are pros and cons associated with each type of supplier.

Companies who have a core business of consulting may emphasise that they have a good understanding of business processes and have extensive experience in optimising them. On the other hand, technology companies may highlight the technical know-how needed to acquire digital data from various systems and integrate the RPA with the existing IT environment.

The ideal choice seems to be a supplier who has the consulting capacity for optimising business processes as well as strong development and integration skills that allow it to overcome potential technical issues and make automation work well with existing information systems and applications.
How are we going to operate the RPA?

In addition to choosing the tool and the supplier when implementing a robotic process-automation solution, it is necessary to decide how you intend to operate the software and how you want to pay for it. One option is to purchase all the necessary licences and install the RPA in your own IT environment.

However, a good supplier will also allow its customers to use software automation as a service. This option may be especially suitable for companies that do not have strong IT departments, or who lack the time and human resources to dedicate to automation.

Moreover, few companies have processes that require a non-stop robot usage. Some companies need to activate automation for no more than one to two hours a day. In such cases, it may be more cost effective not to purchase licences but rather to pay only for the time that the robot actually works.
How do we maintain and further develop the RPA?

Software process automation solutions are not off-the-shelf software. That is why it is better to avoid suppliers who approach RPA implementation as a one-off project which is completed by signing the acceptance protocols.

The way a supplier suggests handling the implementation says a lot about their approach. There is a world of difference between blindly following a customer’s assignment and striving to understand and analyse in detail what impact the automation will have on other related processes. It is equally important to test the solution in different scenarios before handing it over.

Thorough documentation and testing of the automated process reduces the risk of the solution not working properly. However, a fair supplier will also monitor the process in its live operation for some time and then guarantee support for possible changes in the future.
Will data be handled in compliance with legislation during automation?

Due to strict data protection legislation, companies must be extremely careful when handling data, including data processed by software robots.

That is why when choosing an RPA, one should inquire if the supplier can prove what activities the robot performs during the process and if they can support this with corresponding documentation if necessary. It is also important to make sure that companies involved in the project have developers who are certified according to the standards of the technology being used. Moreover, the supplier should guarantee that no data is permanently stored anywhere where it could be exposed to the risk of misuse or of being leaked without the customer’s knowledge.

Before handing the solution over, a meticulous supplier goes through the source code with the client and transparently explains what the software robot does in individual steps, what data is accessed by the robot, and how it is handled.

Viktória Lukáčová Bracjunová

Business & New Technologies Products Development Manager
viktoria.bracjunova@soitron.com

Three questions to answer before RPA deployment

If you have ever been interested in Robotic Process Automation (RPA), you are most likely familiar with its benefits, which include increasing productivity and efficiency as well as reducing cost.

A software robot never sleeps, which saves a lot of time and speeds up processes; it also relieves people of time-consuming and routine tasks. This results in improved services for customers and the general public as well as higher employee satisfaction.

But even RPA technology cannot do everything. For it to be successfully deployed, some necessary prerequisites must be met. Here are the three basic things to keep in mind before implementing RPA.

1. Nothing is done without input data

RPA needs digital data; it cannot handle paper documents. If you want the software to automate things, such as the processing of written customer complaints or invoices arriving by traditional mail, these documents need to be digitised first.

Ideally, input data should be “structured”, i.e., organised in a predefined way. The data available in companies and organisations (such as emails, audio recordings, videos, and images as well as digitised handwritten forms) is often unstructured, which may seem to be a major obstacle to the effective implementation of RPA.

However, having data in a form inappropriate for robotic processing is not an insurmountable problem. Today, paper documents can be quite reliably “read” using Optical Character Recognition technology. Similarly, there are solutions for transcribing audio recordings from contact centres and turning them into text files.

2. A software robot has no brain

Robotic software can process anything it was programmed to do, but it is not intelligent enough or able to learn on its own. So you cannot expect it to answer questions that have no clear answer to them. Such questions require careful consideration by humans and cannot be outsourced to robots.

For example, when approving loans or any other type of application where an applicant may meet some yet not all criteria, an automatic rejection could possibly mean the loss of business or an unhappy customer. This is why the automated application approval process should be complemented in some cases with the expert opinion of an experienced person which may be partly based on feelings.

However, the need for human judgement and decision making at some stages of the process does not automatically mean that the activity is not suitable for automation. It only means that the automated process conducted by a robot may sometimes require the involvement of a human. This can be done, for example, by a window popping up on the screen of the person in charge whenever the robot is unable or unauthorised to do something on its own.

The lack of RPA intelligence can also be dealt with by incorporating artificial intelligence and machine learning elements. In such a combination, the software robot is able to adapt and learn to make decisions based on the broader context as well as past experience.

3. Necessary integration

For RPA to be effective, it may sometimes be necessary to process large amounts of data in a variety of formats from multiple sources. For example, accounting departments tend to receive invoices from multiple vendors in a variety of formats, with individual data being located in different parts of the document. For the software to be able to read the data, it is necessary to either unify the format or adapt the robot to be able to read the data from any required form and shape.

As with the previous points, the diversity of formats and data sources is not an insurmountable obstacle. It is merely a complication to consider when determining the total labour intensity and making a costs-benefit analysis when deciding which processes are cost effective for automation and where the return on the investment may no longer be adequate.

When considering limitations and possible obstacles to the implementation of RPA, it is worth remembering that a software robot will not fix an essentially faulty or inefficient process. This is the reason why we at Soitron analyse the affected processes and, if necessary, propose how they can be improved using business process management tools before the automation.

To sum it up, when considering RPA, it is essential to find a partner who knows the prerequisites for the successful implementation of automation very well and who provides a wide range of services (including integration and process management) that may be critical for the effective use of RPA.

Robots take the robot out of the human

VIKTÓRIA LUKÁČOVÁ BRACJUNOVÁ

I borrowed the title from Professor Leslie Willcocks of the prestigious London School of Economics, who made this powerful statement for the Financial Times portal. Indeed, the greatest benefit of artificial intelligence is that it makes work less boring or, in other words, more enjoyable. And takes the robot out of the human.

How many robots are there around the globe? I don’t know the exact number, even though I live and work with them every day. I’m much more aware of their presence around me than most other people. That’s because I develop robots that do not have a physical form. Sometimes they are referred to as software robots, but in the business world, where they are the most widespread, they are best known under the abbreviation RPA – Robotic Process Automation. Watch a video on how we employed the robot in Soitron.

Companies with thousands of robots

There are companies (especially large global corporations) that nowadays use thousands of robots, even if no one has ever seen them. These are software codes running on servers or somewhere in data centres. For example, when the HR department needs to onboard a new employee, it enters such a request to an application – let’s call it ‘Newcomer’. It will take care of all tasks that would otherwise have to be done by an HR manager or an IT staff. For example, it will create a user account with necessary permissions depending on the new person’s position, create a pass to access the company premises, generate an order for necessary devices (a mobile phone, computer, etc.). In short, Newcomer takes care of a million little details that take up a lot of time.

Robotics glossary

Industrial robot – a machine most often used in an industrial environment for assembly and handling purposes.
Software robot – a software that performs tasks based on preset instructions and is able to collect and combine information, data and technology from other software and devices.
RPA – Robotic Process Automation is a technology used to produce software robots. Its job is to perform repetitive tasks normally done by humans – such as generating a purchase order or an invoice.
Bot –or a ‘chatbot’, is usually a software robot whose primary task is to answer simple questions through chat, social media or web beacons.
AI – artificial intelligence, is a more advanced type of robot that attempts to simulate human thinking, usually with the ability to learn (either directly based on human instructions, by observation, or based on its own trial and error).

True pioneers in the use of software robots are financial sector companies. With the present level of competition, banks, insurance companies and savings banks cannot afford to raise their prices and therefore have to look for savings on the others side of the equation. Financial operations typically include a large number of small repetitive tasks, in which precision is of key importance. Considering that the robot works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, does not sleep, does not have to eat or take a break and its performance is virtually consistent, its performance is theoretically equal to three people in a three-shift operation.

Precision and tirelessness are the benefits that will make software robots eventually more attractive to companies in other industries as well.

As simple as a robot

The fact that software robots do not need to be physically manufactured makes their development relatively simple and fast. Creating a new robot from scratch takes approximately one and a half to four months. Payback time can be as short as six months. However, coding is not the most important part of the development process. The first phase is key, in which company processes are analysed, and the infrastructure and existing applications are mapped. Actual coding and testing begin after two to seven days.

Virtually any company, small or large, a manufacturing facility or a business centre, has the potential to use software robots. How to learn where? Recall any instance of a colleague complaining about a boring task that he or she has to do over and over again. An ideal opportunity for automation.

How long and what does it take to develop a software robot?

Analysis of the environment, processes, IT infrastructure and existing applications
– 2 days to a week

Design and coding
– 2 to 10 weeks

Testing and finetuning
– 2 to 3 weeks

Software robots have mainly been used in an office environment, i.e. administration and project management. When contacting a customer centre, you may come across a so-called “bot” – software able to answer simple questions from customers, such as opening hours. With the gradual deployment of technologies like AI or IoT in the manufacturing processes, RPA capabilities are also growing. In short, robots are able to learn more about the physical world around them, analyse it, evaluate it, and use it as an input for their calculations.

Since processes work a little differently in every business, software process automation is mostly tailor-made (even though some “parts” can be readily purchased online). The robot needs to be “told” even little things, such as whether or not a new employee should get an automatic email with the phone book of all colleagues. Unlike industrial robots, where any change in the process requires production downtime, software robots can be taught new things and updated within a few minutes (even remotely).

When a software robot takes over the work of a human, that person usually does not end up as “unemployed”. Quite the contrary. Robotic automation is an opportunity for employees to step up the career ladder. In countries with a shortage of skilled labour, this allows companies to solve their problems due to a lack of people.

in the Czech Republic there are only 0.7 applicants per every vacant position available.

Source: Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs of the Czech Republic, January 2019

Finally, I dare say that perhaps we will eventually be grateful to robots for having more free time.

The US Senate Committee had calculated over half a century ago that by the year 2000 people would only be working 14 hours a week.

Rutger Bregman, a historian and the author of the book Utopia for Realists (published in 2016)

With the Internet and the digital economy offering many new challenges, the result was the opposite of what experts had anticipated. Perhaps our new virtual colleagues will remedy this..

Viktória Lukáčová Bracjunová

Business & New Technologies Products Development Manager
viktoria.bracjunova@soitron.com