What are the most frequent errors when implementing RPA?

most frequent errors when building RPA Robots

Robotic process automation is one of the fastest growing technologies in the corporate world.

According to Gartner, 85% of organizations will implement RPA this year. It is an attractive solution to maximize efficiency and improve the quality and accuracy of repetitive workflows that support business operations. 

The main candidate areas for RPA implementation are:

HUMAN RESOURCES
  • Payroll, personnel administration
FINANCE, ACCOUNTING AND ADMINISTRATION PROCESSES
  •  Portfolio, invoicing
  • Orders and sales registration
  • Portfolio management
  • Accounting reconciliation
  • Stock management
  • Digitization of documents
INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY
  • Application integration
  • System migration
  • Service level reports
  • Application integration
  • Help desk service
  • Incident management
CUSTOMER SERVICE
  • Call Center Processes
  • Customer records management
  • Management of orders and inquiries
  • Claims processing
  • Handling of requests
And in all these units implement RPA projects:
  • It is highly profitable
  • Generates substantial time savings
  • Humanizes the worker’s experience, freeing them from “robotic” tasks.
  • Reduces costs

However, it is very common to go from enthusiasm to frustration when process automation or RPA is NOT managed in the right way.

Learn about the most common mistakes
Project definition

The wrong process is chosen, either because it is not sufficiently repetitive, so it does not generate the expected return, or because it is so complex that it becomes unmanageable as a first experience. With RPA, it is better to scale gradually, automating simple processes that allow gaining experience, and then undertake more complex processes.

Design

Failures due to bad practices in the design of the process flow and its interactions. The various cases are not considered.

Governance

Many failures in RPA projects are due to management and oversight errors. Process automation requires a balanced leadership that does not devote excessive energy and resources, nor does it require losing sight of fundamental aspects in early stages of the project that can be very costly to resolve later on.

 For example, using RPA in a decentralized way and without policies or standards that determine a coordinated direction among the different areas of the business. Generally, a process impacts more than one unit, more than one team and several resources. Failure to build consensus among the parties, define expectations and maintain aligned communication regarding the most efficient flow of the process will inevitably result in problems that can jeopardize the success of any automation initiative.

Incorrect tool

 It is key to know how to choose a tool that facilitates the construction of flows, that allows the participation and interaction of the owners of the processes and that generates efficiency in their maintenance. In this aspect there is a world of options, from open source tools that require the hiring of specialized resources, to commercial tools that have little or no programming. The latter being the most user-friendly and ultimately less expensive.

What is important to review is the return on investment (ROI) of the solution and the manufacturer’s support.

Financial

It does not meet expectations. It may be that it does not express a result or commercial value, i.e. its implementation does not impact the results or an adequate ROI study covering all the variables was not carried out.

Operational

Wasted operational expectations, such as scheduling bots to run at times when the systems they need to access are unavailable.

Security

Creation of bots that require a level of security access that the company’s policy excludes, or that need access to systems that the organization does not allow due to privacy protocols.

Infrastructure

Failure to adequately estimate the inputs, architecture or equipment required for the most appropriate performance.

Technicians

Functional failures of the software that have an impact on the correct data processing.

If you want to approach the automation of your company’s processes in a sustainable way and with a friendly tool within your budget, get to know STELA RPA and write us to schedule a meeting.

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