Process automation as a foundation for company growth

Automation should be embedded in every organization’s growth strategy, with the understanding that its implementation is a long-term process. Initial RPA deployments allow for the acquisition of knowledge and competencies that will facilitate the achievement of long-term robotization goals. Automation based on RPA tools is cited by analysts as one of the highest priorities for the coming years. Increasing the speed and efficiency of processes is just as critical to competitiveness as creating innovation. As many as 57% of CEOs surveyed by PWC for the “What’s important to CFOs in 2023” report believe that without implementing changes, their companies will cease to be profitable, which is why 64% of them are planning investments in automation. It is no surprise, therefore, that the RPA market is constantly growing. According to Strategic Market Research, its value will exceed 24 billion USD by 2030, with a CAGR of 27% during the forecast period. Process automation in a company is a way to eliminate unnecessary costs and facilitate work without increasing headcount. According to analysts, savings obtained from process robotization can reach as much as 30%. This is of great importance, especially now, in times of recession, budget constraints, and difficulties in recruiting specialists in many fields. By eliminating tedious, manual processes, automation improves employee satisfaction, reduces turnover, and ensures better customer service quality. It also facilitates business scalability and regulatory compliance, thanks to the ability to fully track completed tasks.

How to choose processes for automation?

What is business process automation? It is a series of related activities and tasks performed by software according to specific rules and structures. The first step toward implementing so-called software robots, once the decision to implement them has been made, is selecting activities for automation. One should choose processes that are not complex, result in concrete savings, and can be automated by at least 70%. There are exceptions to this rule, but the organization must be aware that it will wait longer for a return on investment. This selection is very important because these will be the first pilot projects that will allow for the acquisition of necessary competencies. The future of automation in the enterprise may depend on their success. Candidates for automation will be processes that are:

• repetitive;
• rule-based;
• high-volume;
• low-exception;
• low-variability;
• mature and stable (documented, with known operating costs);
• complete;
• providing concrete benefits to the organization.

Based on the above criteria, a list of about 20 potential candidates should be created, from which 2 or 3 processes with a precisely calculated ROI should be selected for initial automation. These implementations should be completed within no more than 12 months – within one year, it will be easier to control the budget and estimate the benefits of the investment. During this time, the benefits of implementation should already be visible, and the team responsible for Robotic Process Automation will develop competencies – which will shorten implementation time in subsequent deployments. These 12 months are also a time to increase employee awareness through workshops and training. This may result in the creation of bottom-up initiatives and the identification of further activities for automation.

How to plan an automation strategy?

  Automation should not be treated as a one-off implementation, but as a long-term enterprise development program, assuming that wherever robots can be used, they should be. Therefore, it is worth creating an automation plan, a roadmap that will serve as a guide on the path to change in the long term, no longer for a year, but for example, for 5 years. To this end, a so-called business scan should be performed, i.e., carefully looking at all departments, including sales, marketing, finance, debt collection, logistics, IT, customer service, and production, and finding activities there that are suitable for automation. Usually, it is possible to identify about 40 such processes. In this way, a long list of processes is created, from which, based on collected documentation and ROI calculations, subsequent items are selected for robot implementation. For example, these could be processes such as:

• recruitment, payroll, data entry – in HR;
• order to cash, orders, “White List”, commission programs – in the area of finance and accounting;
• inventory, invoice and contract management, shipments and returns – in the supply chain;
• software deployment, routine maintenance and monitoring, password management, email processing and distribution – in IT.

   

Barriers delaying the robotization process

As with any change, there are various types of blocks that delay the decision to implement RPA or even make the automation process impossible. These barriers are:

• Employee resistance – people lack knowledge about what software robots are and worry about their jobs. Unjustifiably, because although most transactional processes can be automated, the best RPA solution will not invent an improved product formula. Furthermore, automation frees employees from boring, routine tasks, increasing their creativity.
• IT fears losing influence and its position, because often teams implementing robotization are located in departments
• It is not clear who within the organization should be responsible for process analysis.
• The decision to implement RPA is dependent on headquarters’ approval.
• Difficulties in identifying candidates for automation.
• Too many ideas for candidates.
• Initial cost. Automation projects, i.e., the implementation itself, are not very expensive, costing around 30,000 PLN. A bigger problem is the license itself, for which one has to pay 25,000 PLN for one year. Implementing more robots will work in favor here, which will allow for maximum utilization of the license cost.

   

CFO as an automation leader

Over the last decade, the role of the CFO and the entire finance department has expanded, as they increasingly have oversight of tasks that traditionally did not fall within their scope of responsibilities. Already in 2018, in a study conducted by McKinsey, four out of ten CFOs stated that they had created value for the organization through their strategic leadership and performance management. Automation is an opportunity to further strengthen the CFO’s position by reducing process costs while increasing their efficiency. Robotization usually begins in the area under the CFO, as financial and accounting functions are ideal candidates for automation; processes here are organized and standardized, and the volume of data is large. It is also easy to demonstrate concrete benefits here. For example, processing invoices converted to digital form, a mass process based on fixed rules, enables 60% savings. The second reason for starting automation in finance is the lack of specialists in this area, which companies are beginning to feel painfully. Demographic trends are relentless; due to an aging society, there is no one to replace people leaving the labor market, and this situation will not change. The second issue is qualifications. As experts estimate, 74% of people working in accounting are poorly prepared for the accounting profession, and those who are well-prepared are usually not loyal to the company. In this situation, automation is a way out of this difficult situation, because it can replace missing resources without incurring the costs of hiring them. Automation starting in the finance department and showing a quick increase in benefits is an opportunity for the CFO to gain the position of a robotization leader and create a center of excellence in the company. It is they who can initiate further changes, perform a business scan of the entire organization to look for processes for automation, and from the candidates for such projects scattered throughout the organization, select the most profitable ones for RPA implementation, using the experience already gained for implementation. Thus, the center of excellence that began its operations on a micro-scale begins to work for the benefit of the entire organization. According to PwC, areas focused on looking into the future and centers of excellence using the latest technologies, including RPA, still constitute a small percentage in the structure of the financial function of Polish enterprises. It is worth being at the forefront of change.