Robotic process automation in the banking sector involves using advanced RPA tools to automate numerous repetitive and mundane manual processes. According to McKinsey, 43% of banking processes can be automated. RPA helps to increase productivity, reduce the number of human errors, and enable employees to focus on customer interactions. As a result, RPA can exponentially increase operational efficiency and become a first step toward digital transformation in banking. Everest Group revealed that 50% of surveyed financial enterprises got more than $1m in cost savings from automation.
Top 10 RPA use cases by industry and their real-life examples
April 13, 2023
Robotic process automation (RPA) is used across various industries, including banking, financial services and insurance (BFSI), healthcare, real estate, telecom, manufacturing, logistics, and IT. Robotic process automation also streamlines numerous business functions, including accounting, human relations, and communication.
This overview covers the major robotic process automation use cases in different industries and highlights some RPA service implementation tips and best practices.
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RPA adoption by industries
The BFSI – banking, financial services, and insurance sector – accounted for 28.89% revenue share, the largest among other industries implementing RPA solutions, according to Grand View Research. It helps to automate various business processes, including account and deposit opening, customer onboarding, know-your-customer (KYC), and anti-money laundering (AML) procedures. Pharma & Healthcare is the second largest segment due to the rising demand for RPA to automate hospital management systems and due diligence processes.
Robotic process automation in the communication, media, and education sectors is mainly used to facilitate connection and interactions across various channels, save costs, and improve customer experience. Meanwhile, the telecom & IT sector uses automation to support a product’s entire lifecycle and better cope with regulatory compliance. In general, RPA contributes to cost optimization, enhancing speed and operations efficiency. In addition, robotic process automation significantly contributes to overall enterprise digital transformation across different sectors.
Chart title: Global robotic process automation market by application, 2021 (%)
Data source: grandviewresearch.com — Robotic process automation market size, 2023 – 2030
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Top 10 RPA use cases and examples
Customer onboarding
Compliance
Loan processing
Customer service
Accounts payable
Credit card processing
Fraud detection
Know your customer
Account closure
General ledger reconciliation
RPA use cases in banking
Real-life example: Heritage Bank
UiPath, Itransition’s partner and leader in RPA implementation, built an RPA platform for Heritage Bank, the largest mutual bank in Australia. The solution helped to automate 80 customer-facing, back-office, and middle-office processes and 90% of the data mining transactions when generating living expense reports.
Robots can streamline fiscal procedures and help manage many other financial and accounting tasks. Besides, they never get tired and can work 24/7, performing high-volume standardized functions, like data entry and processing, faster and more accurately than humans with a close-to-zero error rate. According to UiPath, robots can take up 98% of sales order workload, achieve 80% faster reconciliation time, and have 2x greater transaction processing capacity. Meanwhile, McKinsey said that approximately 60% of financial services companies implemented AI-enabled RPA solutions in their operations.
P&L reporting
Investment and asset management
Reconciliation
Accounts payable
Accounts receivable
Tax reporting
Payroll
Inventory management
Travel and expenses
Financial planning and forecasting
RPA use cases in finance
Real-life example: Thermo Fisher Scientific
Thermo Fisher Scientific, a global enterprise with over 90,000 employees, wanted to streamline invoice management and payments for vendors. The RPA solution implementation resulted in a 70% reduction in invoice processing time and significantly lowered the workload of full-time employees, managing 824,000 invoices annually. All-in-all, 53% of all invoices were handled automatically.
Insurance companies are overwhelmed with a massive volume of time-consuming and repetitive paperwork, traditionally handled manually. RPA technology can delegate numerous tasks to bots, eliminating the need for human intervention and enabling employees to concentrate on high-value and more motivating responsibilities, including data-driven decision-making, business data analytics, and customer relations. According to an Accenture report, robotic process automation can lower the cost of underwriting and claims processing in the insurance sector by 30-40%.
Claims registration and processing
Underwriting
Policy administration and servicing
Policy cancellation
Regulatory compliance
Sales and distribution
Finance and accounts
Fraud detection
BI and analytics
Customer service
RPA use cases in insurance
Real-life example: PZU
One of the top insurers in Europe, PZU, implemented RPA to improve the customer service experience for both their customers and agents. Having automated multiple repetitive tasks, PZU managed to eliminate human errors and reach 100% accuracy of entered data. The company improved the efficiency of work with a 15% increase in the number of claims decisions per employee shortly after the solution’s implementation.
The healthcare industry segment is projected to rise at the fastest CAGR during 2022-2029, according to Fortune Business Insights research. This doesn’t come as a surprise considering the growing need for smart hospitals to manage massive volumes of patient data. Powered by RPA, healthcare BPM solutions can streamline healthcare services by matching patient appointment requests with the actual availability of physicians. Meanwhile, RPA-enabled pharmacy automation helps to accurately monitor the treatment cycle.
Appointment scheduling
Claims administration
Post-discharge management
Electronic records and data sharing
Data analytics and diagnostics
Healthcare inventory management
Medical trials
Regulatory compliance
Self-kiosk check-in
Streamlined data management
RPA use cases in healthcare
Real-life example: Helse Vest
Helse Vest, the regional health authority in Norway, deployed RPA to reduce the administrative burden on its doctors and nurses and enable them to spend more time with patients. The project resulted in $550,000 of savings on postage alone and saved 14,000 working hours for medical professionals annually.
RPA in retail
80% of retailers expect intelligent automation, including AI-enabled RPA solutions, to become mainstream, according to UiPath. It also claims that 60% of critical consumer and retail activities are automatable. Therefore, automation solutions can speed up the digital transformation of retail companies and create personalized experiences for customers, contributing to retail business growth and customer satisfaction.
Order management
Inventory management
Supply chain management
Marketing and promotions
Customer loyalty programs
Sales analytics
In-store planning
Product categorization
Invoice processing
Customer support
RPA use cases in retail
Real-life example: Foodstuffs
New Zealand's biggest grocery distributor, Foodstuffs, implemented a RPA solution and scaled it across 200 stores. The robotic process automation project resulted in 11 successfully automated processes and 9,000 hours freed for Foodstuffs employees to use for more cognitive tasks.
RPA in telecom and IT
According to a UiPath survey, 60% of telcos consider automation a critical driver for digital transformation for the next five years. Implementing RPA technology can reduce the time of human interactions by 40% by 2027. No wonder 87% of telecom and tech leaders defined automation as their top business priority. RPA technologies enable telecom companies to automate labor-intensive and time-consuming tasks, saving time, cutting expenses, and leveraging business growth.
Streamline applications and infrastructure
Automated network management
Invoice and purchase order processing
Customer onboarding/ offboarding
Efficient queries responding
Data transformation
Expense control
First call resolution (FCR)
Debt collection
Regulatory compliance
RPA use cases in telecom
Real-life example: Orange
The European telco operator Orange created a Robot Factory that uses the RPA platform to streamline processes and save money. Under the project, the company launched over 400 robots. It mainly focused on cutting CapEx and OpEx expenses, having saved over €34 million over two years. Today, the company has 250 RPA-trained employees and 24/7 fast and efficient customer service.
Companies from various sectors have human resource departments. HR managers serve as the first point of contact between an organization and its employees. However, taking care of an employee's life cycle, from talent acquisition and new employees onboarding to payroll processing, and exit management, involves numerous time-consuming tasks that can be automated. According to the Hackett Group, 65% of companies have already implemented RPA solutions for their HR services in 2022. Meanwhile, the Kofax study suggests that 78% of companies plan to automate their employee onboarding process.
Recruiting and hiring
Onboarding and training
Employee data management
Payroll management
Attendance and absence management
Expense management
Compliance and reporting
Performance management
Shift allowance calculation
Employee exit management
RPA use cases for HR
Real-life example: Itransition
Within the R&D program, Itransition developed an RPA proof of concept (POC) for automating the addition of new candidates to the HRM system. The solution significantly increased process efficiency and reliability. As a result, the solution enabled four times faster candidate processing with 0% errors and ensured a 3% cut in human interactions.
RPA in manufacturing
While physical robots are transforming the plant floor, RPA takes care of other workflows and processes in the manufacturing sector. Manufacturing automation can streamline operations and supply chain management, improve employee productivity and customer engagement, boost revenue and cut operational costs. It can also help to create accurate production reports to support data-driven decision-making. According to the Global Lighthouse Network, automation in manufacturing, including RPA, AI, and IoT technologies, can result in 30%-90% faster time to market, up to 200% higher factory output, and 10%-40% lower operating costs.
Production tracking
Bill of Materials (BOM) management
Contract and order management
Invoice processing
Inventory control
Supply chain and freight management
Supplier onboarding
Performance reporting
Data migration
Regulatory compliance
RPA use cases in manufacturing
Real-life example: Schneider Electric
A global specialist in energy management, Schneider Electric decided to cut down the number of time-consuming tasks with no added value and streamline the supply chain. The RPA solution decreased the order processing time from four hours to two minutes, with all the potential errors spotted and flagged.
Today, auto manufacturers can produce thousands of vehicles every day. The speedy process involves numerous use cases for automating repetitive tasks, aiming to cut operational costs and streamline workflows. The scope of automotive operations that could be improved with the use of RPA goes far beyond the assembly line, enabling automotive companies to deliver more affordable cars and high-quality customer services. According to Technavio, the automation market size in the automotive industry is projected to grow by $1.95bn from 2021 to 2026.
Order management
Production tracking
Payment processing
Shipping and logistics
Inventory management
Supply chain management
Anomalies detection
Analytics and reporting
Regulatory compliance
Telematics
RPA use cases in the automotive sector
Real-life example: Constellation
Constellation Automotive Group (CAG) sells more than 1 million used cars annually, which involves many complex operations. The company automated 30 processes in 2 years. As a result, RPA manages around 1.1 million transactions monthly. The project saved 126,000 hours for employees to focus on their most critical customer-related duties.
Robotic process automation in real estate aims to replace or equip human employees with bots that can take on numerous time-consuming and repetitive tasks. Processing a plethora of real estate data, RPA can improve visibility, validate data accuracy, and provide brokers and client-facing professionals with more valuable and faster insights on properties. In addition, predictive analytics in marketing campaigns can help real estate agents better target potential customers based on their preferences and interests.
Tax billing and reporting
Lease contract processing
Resident communication
Tenant onboarding
Maintenance and cost management
Bank and account reconciliation
Accounts payable and receivable
NAV calculations
Virtual assistants
Marketing campaigns
RPA use cases in real estate
Real-life example: Avison Young
A commercial real estate services company Avison Young used RPA to help them get a complete, 360° view of their customers and offer them actionable insights into their real estate portfolios. As a result, RPA bots automated back-office administrative operations equivalent to 125 full-time employees.
RPA implementation best practices
What to do before starting? Although RPA can act like humans – even faster and better – to perform a wide range of repetitive tasks, it cannot think like humans. With these limitations in mind, we compiled a brief list of best practices for picking the right RPA use cases and preparing your employees for implementation.
Choose business processes worth automating
Traditional RPA lacks the analytical and cognitive abilities of humans or AI. Therefore, the best candidates for automation are rule-based processes, which follow well-defined patterns with relatively few exceptions.
Another critical parameter when selecting RPA use cases concerns their potential ROI. Processes with a high FTE are better suited to be automated because this will ensure more significant savings.
Also, consider the overall impact of these processes on your business workflow and performance and keep in mind their potential scalability to further enhance RPA benefits.
Combine RPA with AI
RPA can successfully merge with other technologies to maximize performance. RPA augmented with artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities is often called intelligent automation.
For example, artificial intelligence can complement RPA's capability of extracting data and compiling reports thanks to its enhanced analytical features. This way, data is accurately collected and interpreted to provide insights or make predictions.
Alternatively, the automated sending of emails and notifications on behalf of customer service and marketing departments can be combined with machine learning-based pattern recognition. This integration allows for greater personalization based on customer data analysis and preferences.
Reskill your workforce: the rise of CLD
Every crucial technological innovation, especially in the automation field, involves significant changes in the labor market. However, instead of causing job losses, automation can trigger workforce reskilling. So how can organizations keep their people engaged with intelligent automation-enabled transformation?
The concept of citizen-led development (CLD) can help reskill tech-savvy employees. CLD enables non-IT employees to use low-code/no-code platforms to develop low-complexity automations within their function.
Although the CLD framework is relatively new, Gartner's 2022 survey showed 59% of respondents have already started implementing CLD or are planning to adopt it in the next three years.
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RPA trends in 2023 and beyond
What are the key trends shaping the automation industry today and tomorrow? UiPath has identified seven top RPA market directions.
1
Automation is a new way of operating for enterprises
1
Automation is a new way of operating for enterprises
Enterprise-wise automation results in 40% greater productivity and efficiency improvements. Elevating the scale of automation, companies re-imagine core strategies and growth plans.
2
Businesses ramp up automation to mitigate the growing labor and inflation pressure
2
Businesses ramp up automation to mitigate the growing labor and inflation pressure
Executives rethink workforce issues. 78% are ready to invest in RPA to close staffing gaps, while 85% think automation can reduce employee turnover and attract new specialists.
3
CIOs step up their role, boosting automation to meet new goals
3
CIOs step up their role, boosting automation to meet new goals
90% of chief information officers admitted their role has expanded into new areas like ESG, analytics, sales and marketing, and talent acquisition. CIOs believe RPA is the new core tool to streamline the company's workflows.
4
Process mining and automated testing become RPA “must-haves”
4
Process mining and automated testing become RPA “must-haves”
82% of executives believe process mining drives better automation outcomes. Automated discovery tools can help identify bottlenecks and opportunities to improve workflows and systems.
5
Low code becomes a top priority to streamline RPA and AI adoption
5
Low code becomes a top priority to streamline RPA and AI adoption
29% more processes become automated when companies implement citizen development programs. They allow business non-IT users to automate their job-related processes using drag-and-drop visual interfaces rather than complicated programming.
6
AI-powered innovations push automation’s boundaries
6
AI-powered innovations push automation’s boundaries
RPA can successfully merge with AI-enabled technologies such as advanced communications mining, natural language processing (NLP), optical character recognition (OCR), intelligent document processing, and data validation control to unlock new automation opportunities.
7
The changed nature of work leads to redefining employee roles
7
The changed nature of work leads to redefining employee roles
Some roles within an organization will disappear, and new ones will emerge. IT and HR departments will work together to attract, train and reskill employees to streamline the shift from repetitive to high-value tasks.
A multifaceted tool for digital transformation
RPA is a multitasking tool that can be deployed for various applications in different industries. Although it lacks analytical skills in its pure form, it can cope with many repetitive tasks faster and more accurately than human employees. Therefore, RPA can become an effective solution to boost your organization’s productivity and growth, allowing your employees to focus on developing purely human cognitive skills such as problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking. RPA adoption could become a solid step in your digital transformation strategy, and Itransition’s experts are always ready to help.
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