What is Process Automation?

RPA is the use of software robots or "bots" to automate repetitive tasks, streamline workflows and increase efficiency. RPA software executes specific rules-based tasks and eliminates the need for manual repetitive and tedious tasks, allowing humans to dedicate their efforts to more impactful tasks and higher-value work. For example, RPA in the manufacturing and automotive industries has resulted in the use of robotic arms to effortlessly assemble intricate components, reducing human error and increasing throughput.

What are examples of robotic process automation?

Several examples of business applications of RPA include:

• Data entry: Bots can extract data from various sources such as spreadsheets, emails and documents, and automatically enter it into relevant systems or databases. Automating your bookkeeping is a good place to start your company’s digitalization journey while reducing manual errors and freeing up human resources for more complex tasks.
• Invoice processing: Instead of manually entering invoice information into accounting systems, RPA bots can scan and extract data from invoices, perform validations and update the necessary financial records. This speeds up the process and reduces errors.
• Customer service: Chatbots powered by RPA can handle customer inquiries, answer frequently asked questions and assist with basic troubleshooting. They can also provide instant responses, saving time for both customers and support staff.
• Report generation: Bots can retrieve data from multiple sources, consolidate it, and generate reports automatically. This eliminates the need for manual data gathering and manipulation, allowing for faster and more accurate reporting.
• HR onboarding: RPA bots can assist with employee onboarding processes by automatically creating accounts, generating paperwork and sending out welcome emails. This reduces administrative overhead and ensures a smooth onboarding experience.
• IT support: Bots can perform basic IT tasks like password resets, software installations and system updates. This helps organizations resolve common IT issues quickly, reducing the workload on support teams.

RPA can be applied to many other areas where repetitive rules-based tasks are involved, enabling organizations to improve productivity, accuracy and scalability.

RPA offers many business benefits, making it a valuable automation solution for organizations to:

For more information about how to optimize and manage your enterprise workflows with SEEBURGER SAP capabilities and easily integrate workflows into any SAP ERP system, read our blog “Workflow Management Made Easy."

Gartner describes business process automation (BPA) as the automation of complex processes and functions that “run the business” as opposed to the tasks that “count the business.” Its primary purpose is to enhance operational efficiency, reduce manual efforts, and improve overall productivity so that employees can focus on more strategic and value-added activities.

BPA requires some programming to leverage its capabilities, such as reporting and custom workflows, because it requires knowledge of databases, middleware platforms and scripting languages.

Business process management lifecycle

With the Business Process Management (BPM) lifecycle, automation initiatives can be implemented incrementally in cyclical phases to reduce the concentrated workload of the above activities, from programming to documentation, reducing the workload on staff. The BPM lifecycle is therefore an orderly and continuous approach to process optimization and automation.

1. In the first phase, process identification, the key processes that contribute significantly to a specific problem are identified. It's important to consider the interdependencies between individual processes, as it's usually not just one process that is affected, but a group of processes. The phase concludes with an updated or entirely new process architecture.
2. During the process assessment phase, a detailed and realistic current process model is created to accurately identify which process components are causing the problem. The accurate process model must align with employee perceptions and serves as the basis for effective communication, whereby Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) can be used to establish a common language.
3. In the course of process analysis, key metrics are identified to quantify and evaluate processes based on current process models. Initial solution approaches are developed and relevant metrics are documented. The goal is to create a prioritized list of root causes for the identified problems, organized by urgency and feasibility along with initial solution suggestions and relevant metrics for future evaluation.
   Process mining supports the analysis phase:
   • Process analysis at the level of individual tasks and resources
   • Data-driven approach that uses facts and figures based on event log data for analysis, rather than mere assumptions
   • Existing processes and their potential for optimization and deviations between model and reality are revealed, so that models can be adapted, corrected and improved, resulting in accurate and realistic process models that provide an undistorted representation of reality
   Since the required data must be extracted and organized manually, an integration platform can help provide the data in a consolidated form from multiple sources.
4. In the process optimization phase, a target process model is created that specifically addresses the weaknesses of the current situation. Since there are many different improvement options, a careful assessment of benefits and costs is required to set priorities. It is important to keep in mind that new approaches and optimization methods may bring new challenges. The goal at the end of this phase is to select a solution or combination of solutions that most effectively addresses the problem while minimizing unwanted side effects.
5. During process implementation, the current process is replaced by the target process, and the dependencies of the individual processes must be taken into account.
   • Effective change management is essential. In particular, organizational change management prepares employees for the upcoming changes. In practice, this means adapting existing working methods to new processes. Resistance to change can be minimized through early involvement and effective, positive and transparent communication.
   • Another key topic is process automation. With the help of BPA and RPA, IT systems are used to fully automate (sub)processes or to provide automation tools that support employees in their tasks. With each cycle run, more components of the processes can be gradually automated, resulting in cost savings, less susceptibility to errors and higher customer satisfaction.
   BIS provides comprehensive automation capabilities for all relevant integration scenarios through its API integration and management capabilities and process engine. This allows business processes and associated data transfers to be transparently automated, so that the end user benefits from resource savings, increased process reliability and increased efficiency and productivity.
6. Finally, process monitoring completes the lifecycle. Even optimized processes require ongoing monitoring and evaluation. Metrics are used to measure results against the previously defined goals of the initiative. Over time, new challenges may arise or the requirements for the process may change. In such cases, the processes must be adapted in an agile manner to ensure continuous optimization and to achieve long-term maximum results and efficiency. If necessary, a new cycle run is initiated.

This structured approach, along with the cyclical nature of the projects, allows for a clean and thoughtful implementation of process optimization and automation. Below are some practical use cases for business process automation.

What are examples of business process automation?

Five popular examples of business process automation include:

• Workflow automation: With workflow management systems, businesses can easily automate repetitive and manual tasks. For instance, they can use drag-and-drop features to create workflows that automatically route documents for approval or notify team members about specific actions required, from submitting annual leave to submitting travel expenses. This streamlines processes, saves time and reduces the likelihood of errors.
• Customer service automation: BPA tools enable businesses to automate customer service processes, such as handling common inquiries or providing self-service options. Through chatbots or AI-powered virtual assistants, customer queries can be addressed 24/7, improving customer satisfaction and allowing human agents to focus on more complex issues.
• Reporting and analytics automation: Integration platforms can automate the generation and distribution of reports and analytics. Companies can create dashboards, set up scheduled reports and automate data analysis, enabling data-driven decision-making and real-time insights.
• ERP process automation: Enterprise resource planning (ERP) systems integrate various functional areas of a business, such as finance, human resources, supply chain and manufacturing. By automating tasks and workflows within an ERP system, organizations can enhance communication, eliminate errors and increase data accuracy. This enables faster decision-making and enables organizations to adapt to changing market demands more effectively.
• Compliance automation: BPA supports regulatory compliance by standardizing processes and providing audit trails. By implementing automated workflows for regulatory compliance purposes, businesses can ensure adherence to legal requirements, standards and procedures. Automated workflows simplify and expedite processes such as document management, auditing, reporting and record-keeping, allowing businesses to proactively meet regulatory obligations. BPA enhance increases transparency, traceability and compliance accuracy, thereby reducing risks and potential penalties.

Business process automation ensures that organizations can streamline operations without requiring extensive coding knowledge and empowers teams to quickly build and optimize business processes.

BPA offers organizations four key benefits:

For more information about how to optimize and manage your enterprise workflows with SEEBURGER SAP capabilities and easily integrate workflows into any SAP ERP system, read our blog “Workflow Management Made Easy."

Digital process automation (DPA) refers to the use of technology to streamline and automate organizational processes. It involves the design, implementation, and management of digital workflows, allowing businesses to reduce manual efforts and increase operational efficiency. DPA typically integrates various tools and technologies, such as artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, and data analytics, to automate repetitive tasks, gather insights, and drive decision-making. By automating processes, DPA helps businesses save time, reduce errors, and enhance productivity.

What are examples of digital process automation?

A range of use case examples for digital process automation (DPA) include:

• Invoice processing: Similar to RPA, DPA can streamline invoice processing and approval workflows. Instead of manually entering data from invoices into accounting systems, automation software can be used to extract data from invoices, verify the information and automatically update the necessary systems. This not only saves time and reduces the risk of errors but also improves efficiency by eliminating the need for manual data entry.
• Customer onboarding: Customer onboarding is a critical process for businesses, but it often involves repetitive tasks such as data collection, verification and documentation. Digital process automation can simplify this process by using software to automate data collection from customers, perform necessary background checks, generate required documents and trigger follow-up actions like sending confirmation emails. By automating these tasks, businesses can enhance the customer experience, reduce the time required for onboarding and increase operational efficiency.
• Blockchain technology: The role of blockchain in digital process automation includes conducting safe and secure transactions with cryptocurrencies. Blockchain technology in banks can make it easier to fulfill and document regulatory requirements, contracts and loan applications by enabling more comprehensive and secure verification processes. With blockchain technology, you can seamlessly trace the steps in any data transactions.

These automation use case examples demonstrate how DPA can optimize various business processes while improving productivity and customer satisfaction.

Digital process automation offers numerous benefits to businesses. Here are the top five:

DPA empowers businesses to achieve operational excellence, improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs and drive innovation, ultimately leading to increased profitability.

Examples of IPA, combining RPA and AI to enhance and automate business processes, include:

• Data entry and extraction: IPA can automate data entry and extraction by using optical character recognition (OCR) techniques to read and extract information from documents, such as invoices or forms. This eliminates the need for manual data entry, reduces errors and saves time.
• Customer service: IPA can be used to automate responses to common customer inquiries. Chatbots powered by AI can handle basic customer queries, freeing up human agents to focus on more complex issues, improving response times and enhancing customer satisfaction. In the retail industry, customer service chatbots provide instant and personalized assistance, improving the shopping experience and driving customer loyalty. Read our blog to learn more about the importance of intelligent systems integration in e-commerce.
• Fraud detection: IPA can assist in identifying and preventing fraudulent activities. By analyzing patterns and anomalies in data, AI algorithms can detect potential fraud in financial transactions, insurance claims, or online activities. This helps organizations proactively address and prevent fraud, saving money and protecting their reputation.
• Supply chain management: IPA can optimize supply chain processes by automatically tracking inventory levels, monitoring demand fluctuations and predicting supply chain disruptions. This enables businesses to maintain optimal stock levels and improve efficiency in the supply chain. Integrated retail inventory management systems, for example, can be used to automate stock monitoring, replenishment and pricing to ensure optimal product availability.
• Invoice processing and accounts payable: IPA can automate invoice processing by extracting relevant information from invoices, verifying invoices against purchase orders and initiating payment processing. This eliminates manual data entry, reduces errors and accelerates the accounts payable process.
• Workflow automation: IPA can automate workflows by intelligently routing tasks and documents to the appropriate individuals or departments. By analyzing process inputs and criteria, IPA can automate approval processes to improve efficiency and reduce bottlenecks.

IPA offers many benefits to help business stay competitive, including:

Data transfer automation involves transferring data files, documents or other information from a source to a destination, without manual intervention. It involves setting up pre-defined rules, workflows or schedules to initiate and manage data transfers.

Automated data transfer using MFT offers benefits such as increased productivity, enhanced data security, improved reliability and reduced operational costs. It allows organizations in the financial services industry, for example, to handle large volumes of data transfers efficiently and ensures that data is moved reliably and securely between systems.

API testing automation plays a critical role in the business world, particularly in the financial services and automotive industries. These industries heavily rely on APIs to connect various systems and enable communication between applications, making API testing automation a vital component for ensuring the reliability, accuracy and security of these interfaces.

In the financial services industry, APIs are typically used to enable secure and efficient transactions, provide real-time account information and offer corporate digital services for cash management. APIs also play a crucial role in “open banking,” in which banks and other financial institutions allow third-party developers to securely access customer data with the consent of account holders. By opening up their APIs, banks provide opportunities for innovative fintech companies, mobile apps and other financial service providers to create new products and services that improve the banking experience for customers. With API testing automation, business units within the bank can ensure that transactions are executed accurately, validate data integrity and promptly identify and resolve any issues before they impact the corporate customer experience or compromise financial information.

Similarly, the automotive industry relies extensively on APIs for various critical functions such as vehicle diagnostics, remote application control, software updates and integration with third-party services like navigation and entertainment systems. API testing automation in the automotive industry helps manufacturers and service providers ensure the seamless integration of these APIs and guarantee the performance, reliability and security of connected systems. By automating the API testing process, automotive companies can quickly identify bugs or compatibility issues and shorten product development cycles while delivering more robust and secure applications to their customers.

Partner onboarding, customer onboarding and employee onboarding can be automated and tailored to specific industries, simplifying the process of bringing new people onboard and fostering successful collaborations. For example, use cases in the retail and financial services industries for automated onboarding of partners, customers and employees include:

Retail industry use cases

• Customer and partner onboarding: A retail company can use automation to streamline the onboarding process for new suppliers, distributors, vendors and customers. This includes automated contract generation, automated account creation, digital document sharing and signing, self-service sign-up options, personalized welcome messages and tailored product recommendations based on customer preferences.
• Employee onboarding: Automation can help retail companies streamline employee onboarding processes, such as automating the creation of employee accounts, distributing onboarding materials, scheduling training sessions and tracking completion of new hire paperwork.

Financial Services industry use cases

• Corporate customer onboarding: Automated customer onboarding can be utilized by financial services institutions to simplify the account opening process. This may include collecting customer information, performing KYC checks and automating the approval and activation of new accounts.
• Employee onboarding: Financial services companies can save time and resources by automating the employee onboarding process. This can involve automating background checks, creating employee profiles in HR systems, organizing training schedules and automating the provisioning of system access.

These are just a few examples of how automation can be applied in the retail and financial services industries to expedite the onboarding of partners, customers and employees.

Financial institutions can eliminate manual errors, reduce processing time and enhance data accuracy with automated workflows for sharing and signing contracts, agreements, and other legal documents. Furthermore, an integrated ecosystem with automated KYC (Know Your Customer) processes for identify verification and automated fraud detection capabilities can help combat financial crimes and support anti-money laundering (AML) processes.

Industrial automation plays a crucial role in today’s manufacturing industry, as it enables the automation of production. IIoT technologies and RPA work synergistically to improve efficiency, productivity and overall operations. IIoT technologies connect physical devices, including edge computing devices, sensors and machinery to a network, enabling them to collect and share data in real time. This data can be used for monitoring, analysis and decision-making. RPA, on the other hand, involves the use of software robots, or “bots,” to automate repetitive tasks and workflows. These bots can mimic human actions, interact with digital systems and perform tasks more quickly and accurately than humans.

When the two are integrated, IIoT and RPA can create a powerful combination. IIoT sensors and devices can collect vast amounts of data about manufacturing processes, equipment performance and supply chain logistics. This data can be fed into RPA systems, which can then use the data to trigger automated actions, such as adjusting process parameters, initiating maintenance requests or optimizing production schedules. The combination of IIoT and RPA can enable predictive maintenance. By continuously monitoring equipment performance through IIoT sensors, potential failures or maintenance needs can be detected in advance. RPA systems can then automatically generate maintenance tickets or schedule repairs, minimizing downtime and optimizing equipment utilization.

With the help of robotic process automation in the automotive industry manufacturing line, manufacturers can automate tasks like the assembly, welding and painting of vehicles. Robots can be programmed to perform repetitive tasks with high precision and efficiency, leading to improved quality, reduced production time and increased cost savings. For example, robotic arms can be used to precisely weld various components of a car body, ensuring consistent quality and eliminating the need for manual labor. This not only speeds up the manufacturing process but also minimizes the risk of errors or defects.

Optimizing supply chain processes and inventory management is another significant automation use case in the automotive industry. Automotive manufacturers deal with a wide range of complex components and parts, making efficient inventory management critical. By implementing automation technologies like barcode scanners and tracking systems, manufacturers can effectively monitor and control inventory levels. Automation facilitates the real-time tracking of parts and materials, matching them with production schedules and automatically reordering parts when stock levels run low. This ensures that the manufacturing process remains uninterrupted, reducing the risk of stock-outs or excess inventory.