RPA Case Studies: Tangible Gains and the Effects of Automation

As various case studies demonstrate, robotic process automation delivers a vast range of benefits to companies. Besides improving business efficiency, these include reducing costs and making full use of employees’ potential. What exactly can you learn by reading RPA case studies? This guide explains.    

What are case studies?

  What are case studies? A case study is a detailed analysis of a specific project completed by a particular organization. For companies specializing in the implementation of RPA (Robotic Process Automation), it is an in-depth analysis of a project involving the implementation of RPA solutions. Why read case studies? A case study explains the initial situation and the problem that had to be solved. It also describes how the problem was resolved and which tools were used. Detailed information about the results of the work is another very important part of every case study. A case study is therefore a detailed account of a particular project that was completed successfully. Creating case studies is an excellent way to increase interest in a company’s services among potential customers and business partners. How should a case study be prepared? It must be produced carefully and contain as much information as possible about the benefits obtained by the project’s beneficiaries. In the case of RPA, these are the benefits of introducing robotic automation in a specific area.    

What can you learn from RPA project case studies?

  Companies have a vast number of options for implementing RPA. The particular solutions used to robotize selected areas depend on the company’s industry, scale of operations and financial capacity. Reviewing case studies based on RPA projects can reveal, among other things:

• what returns companies achieve from robotization,
• how long an RPA investment takes to pay for itself,
• how RPA accelerates purchasing processes,
• how customer-service levels improve after RPA implementation,
• whether a company using RPA solutions has acquired new customers,
• how RPA implementation has affected warehouse-management efficiency,
• how the company’s supply-and-demand planning has improved,
• how the preparation of invoices and other documents has been optimized,
• how much order fulfilment times have been reduced,
• how RPA has been used in data analysis and reporting,
• how robotization has been used to monitor overdue payments from customers and contractors,
• whether robotic automation can bridge an integration gap,
• how the potential of employees freed from routine and time-consuming activities has been used.

Every case study contains somewhat different information because robotization can take different forms. RPA is introduced in different departments and at different scales. On our company blog, we have published detailed company references containing case studies of RPA projects completed by our company. They describe how RPA was implemented in the companies working with us. One of those companies was Scania. It used RPA to accelerate administrative processes, improve their quality and make better business decisions. The first robot launched at Scania Polska was relatively simple. Its task was to update the accounting journal in the iScala system. Every night, thousands of documents flowed into the company’s ERP from external systems. Each morning, an accountant started an update process that sometimes took as long as an hour. This was lost time because the accountant could not use the system while it was running. The improvement was immediately visible after RPA was introduced. At night, after receiving the appropriate signals, the robot updated the journal independently. When the accountant arrived in the morning, they could begin their assigned work immediately instead of waiting for the system update. Other RPA implementations delivered by Mindbox involved the following companies:

• Danone Polska. The company is currently developing an intelligent-automation programme using UiPath Robotic Process Automation tools. More than 100 robots have been launched to date, while the list of potential process candidates contains 500 items.
• A large insurance institution. In 2022, 12 software robots were launched as part of the cooperation. The first automated process implemented by the insurer’s internal team in cooperation with Mindbox experts was reporting vehicles without mandatory third-party liability insurance.
• LINK. The company automated the posting of cost invoices received from transport companies using a solution introduced in cooperation with Mindbox, based on Abbyy OCR (Optical Character Recognition) technology and UiPath robots. A total of 6 processes were robotized.
• Credit Agricole . The bank uses RPA tools to accelerate credit-decision processes. Analysts consequently do not need to perform manual, routine activities related to collecting and verifying data.

   

What are the benefits of creating your own case studies?

  What benefits does preparing your own case study offer? Above all, it can persuade customers to use your services. Before making a final purchasing decision, most people try to learn as much as possible about a particular company. A properly prepared case study is an excellent tool for achieving this objective because it contains a wealth of information about the benefits of a particular product or service, encouraging a purchase. Companies that share information about completed projects in case studies are also very often perceived as industry experts. A case study provides evidence that the company has an established market position and has successfully delivered numerous projects for a broad range of customers.