When to implement RPA

Digital transformation is a concept that we have been hearing or incorporating for years, but in the last 12 months, it has taken us on a full-speed journey of no return.

Everyday actions are now taking place in virtual worlds, where digital is the main protagonist and technologies such as robotic process automation - RPA - are growing exponentially in companies.

Did you know that, according to Gartner studies, in the next 2 years a global RPA growth of 72% is expected, and that 53% of the companies in the world will start implementing RPA?

This means that more than half of the companies are already considering the possibility of doing so. Is your company in the half that is considering it?

However, we have observed that many companies in Latin America have certain reservations or failed experiences with the introduction of RPA. On the one hand, there are those that think that automation is a candidate only for large companies and there are others that plunge into building bots, just for the sake of riding in the era of transformation, without having a structure or a well-established digital culture. The point is that automation is not a trend exclusive to large players and much less, is to be taken lightly, it must be approached strategically and with good governance.

When is it time to consider RPA in your company?

When the following scenarios occur:

1. It is required to handle large volumes of data. RPA increases accuracy, speeds up data processing and minimizes risks and failures caused by poor information management.

2. When clear rules of an operation can be defined.

3. When the process is repeated frequently. For example, constant manual work and the same procedure: using data, generating information, notifications or alerts, to then determine an action in one or more systems.

4. When there is no time or resources, i.e., information processing needs to be expedited and there is an overload of work and a lack of personnel to perform such tasks in the required time and manner.

RPA allows companies to reduce their costs between 30% and 50%. It is a smart investment, if applied in the right process and especially if it is well managed, it can significantly improve the organization's results as it positively impacts profitability and also quality and continuous improvement indicators.

How to approach Process Automation - RPA?

The implementation of RPA requires a strategic vision and the management of a corporate culture open to change. Change of work and operating models. As well as roles; it demands a high component of acceptance and understanding on the part of the resources, regarding the coexistence and productive interaction with technology.

In order to approach process automation, it is important to consider the following aspects:

1. Determine what are the expectations for the level of automation? In other words, define the gaps between the current state of the processes and the results expected with RPA. To do this, each of the processes is analyzed with its variables: actors involved, execution times, errors, inputs, results, costs, etc. The knowledge of the current situation and the expected goals will allow you to achieve a solid management, which will propitiate the potential ROI of your initiatives.

2. You need to ensure that all stakeholders are involved in the process and have a stake in the project. You need an operational strategy that has a collaborative, comprehensive and cross-cutting approach across the organization.

3. Governance. Introducing automation without clear corporate visibility and oversight is dangerous. Bots are a workforce that, like any other, must be managed and well led to maximize their effectiveness.

Automation tools. For an automation project to generate as little rejection as possible, it is advisable to use user-friendly tools that allow the interaction of functional profiles.

Many companies choose to start with RPA using open source tools, as they have no upfront licensing fees and it is a valid way to get started. However, it is common for the enthusiasm at the beginning to plummet drastically over the course of the project, as they may require additional implementation costs, hiring of specialized resources, longer than expected setup times, and you will need to rely on the open source community for support and updates.

In fact, open source tools are generally more expensive to implement than commercial tools and may increase risk.

Además, para escalar la RPA , necesitas personas capacitadas para escribir los scripts y mantener los bots. The need for trained RPA engineers in open source automation environments can be costly and becomes increasingly crucial as companies understand how they can automate other areas of the business and the demand for RPA grows.

In that sense, getting to know the RPA STELA platform, is a good way to be introduced to the technology. Its approach is based on the construction of robots using a natural language, i.e. CERO CODE,, which can be operated by people who do not know how to program, by functional profiles, or those who perform and know the process, so it is possible to integrate the teams in the implementation and obtain a very good profitability by saving resources and time. It is a tool that provides speed and simplicity in the creation of automations, facilitating the maintenance and scalability of the RPA. It is developed in Latin America, so its training and support are in Spanish.