What is Robotic Process Automation?

When Robotic Process Automation is mentioned, images from a futuristic science-fiction world—where physical robots are integrated into human business processes—may come to mind. However, in Robotic Process Automation, the ‘robot’ refers entirely to a virtual software technology that exists solely in the digital realm.

According to a study, office employees who use computers spend 65% of their daily working hours on manual tasks that can be automated. Robotic Process Automation refers to robots performing tasks that people carry out on computers based on predefined rules—doing so faster and more accurately than a human can. In other words, we are talking about digital robots that automate business processes by handling employees’ routine tasks. RPA (Robotic Process Automation) enables routine, non–value-added tasks to be performed by software robots, freeing employees’ time to focus on more creative work and activities that contribute to a company’s future vision. At the same time, by eliminating errors, RPA ensures that processes run faster and more efficiently.

RPA does not only enable the automation of existing processes; while it executes assigned processes flawlessly, it also supports continuous improvement by leveraging artificial intelligence to allow the system to learn and evolve over time. RPA also records, monitors, and reports all operations it performs. In addition to production processes, this system can handle office tasks such as issuing invoices, sending emails, and using office applications, becoming a key resource in reducing labor costs that can hinder business growth. Sensitive to data security and not performing data manipulation, RPA is also capable of communicating with all other digital systems, databases, and applications within an organization.

WHAT ARE THE ADVANTAGES OF USING RPA FOR BUSINESSES?

A well-designed RPA implementation optimizes business processes in many ways by delivering multi-layered benefits to both employees and organizations.

Repetitive and manual effort–intensive tasks are automated; as a result, businesses save time and reduce labor costs. The same operational processes are carried out with far fewer resources while minimizing human error. In this way, consistent outputs are achieved, ensuring standardized data accuracy and process quality.

RPA technologies also directly contribute to employee satisfaction. By effectively delegating manual and repetitive tasks, employees are able to focus on more strategic and creative work. As repetitive tasks decrease, employee motivation and job satisfaction increase.

Robotic Process Automation technologies work seamlessly with ERP, CRM, accounting tools, and many other systems without the need for additional development. Low IT dependency shortens the RPA deployment time. As business volume increases, the number of robots can be easily scaled up, allowing the system to quickly adapt to seasonal and periodic workload fluctuations.

RPA also plays a critical role in security and compliance with legal regulations. In RPA technologies, transaction records are transparent and traceable. At the same time, auditability is ensured through authorization and logging capabilities.

RPA AND THE GROWING MARKET

Robotic Process Automation technology had a market size of USD 2 billion in 2019. This figure is expected to reach USD 23 billion by 2026. Examples of the reasons behind this rapid growth in the RPA market include:

• Companies are competing to become faster, more flexible, and more efficient in order to survive.
• Digitalization has evolved from a competitive advantage into a necessity.
• RPA is one of the technologies that delivers the fastest return on investment (ROI) in digital transformation initiatives.
• The rapid increase in transactions across digital channels makes manual management difficult, while RPA provides scalability for rule-based processes.
• Skilled employees do not want to be tied up with repetitive tasks.
• Through artificial intelligence, RPA enables document reading, email analysis and processing, and acts as a decision-support mechanism.
• It naturally addresses regulatory compliance and auditability requirements.

HOW IS RPA EVOLVING & DEVELOPING?

RPA technologies are evolving beyond being merely automation tools into intelligent automation solutions that encompass end-to-end process management. Their ability to operate in an integrated manner with artificial intelligence, machine learning, and OCR/NLP systems indicates that RPA will evolve into a multi-layered structure capable of providing intelligent support even for organizations’ decision-making processes. Single, task-based automations will give way to process mining–driven approaches that deliver valuable insights for analyzing and optimizing entire processes. Instead of fragmented automation, processes will be examined holistically through comprehensive, end-to-end automation. With the adoption of local cloud and SaaS-based RPA solutions, infrastructure costs will decrease while deployment times will accelerate. Another critical development is that non-technical users will be able to easily use RPA technologies through low-code or no-code platforms. Moreover, with advanced adaptation capabilities that monitor and optimize their own actions, RPA bots will bring the concept of self-healing automation to life.

In conclusion, in the near future RPA technologies will go beyond providing speed and cost advantages; they will become sophisticated IT tools that sit at the center of decision-making processes, are self-monitoring and self-optimizing, can be easily used by non-technical employees through no-code platforms, and deliver end-to-end process automation. Considering the capabilities RPA already offers and those it is expected to provide in the future, stating that it will evolve from being an option into an essential necessity for businesses is not a prediction, but rather a reading of a future whose signals are already clearly visible.

Kafein Technology recognizes the future of RPA technologies we have described and enables its stakeholders to integrate them into their business processes today. Contact us to learn more about our RPA services.