Automation has numerous definitions, depending on the context in which it is employed. The general definition of automation refers to the technique of making a process, apparatus, or system operate automatically. There are many types of automation employed all across the globe for numerous aspects of life. From health to education and business, automation has found a place thanks to technology and its rapid advancement. With automation comes reduced manual errors, cost efficiency, time-saving, and many other benefits. This article studies what automation is, the different kinds used in business, and their numerous benefits.
What exactly is automation?
Automation can be defined as the creation and utilization of technology in varying ways ultimately to monitor and control the production of products or services and their delivery. Since we’re looking at automation in businesses, we look at robotic process automation, or RPA for short. RPA refers to the practice of using pieces of code or software bots to automate certain tasks in an organization that might otherwise take valuable time from your human worker. Robotic process automation is used by businesses typically for highly repetitive tasks that need to be done without error. The system is available 24/7, enabling the human employee to focus on other aspects of the organization that require a higher level of thinking.
Robotic process automation is used in many aspects of business, from human resources to retail and health care. In health care, for example, RPA software is used to process large volumes of patient data, enabling health care personnel to make medical decisions faster. In retail, RPA software helps predict future sales, purchase order systems, and manage supply chains with ease.
No doubt, the ability to deliver efficiency is something every business yearns for, and with robotic process automation, you can achieve this and more. In fact, many businesses saw the benefits of robotic process automation during the COVID lockdown. Organizations like airlines had to find a way to cancel bookings, address customer queries, and process refunds as the entire world went into lockdown. Thanks to robotic process automation, some airlines could do this quickly and more effectively than others, improving their customer experiences and customer satisfaction.
Why is it important?
Firstly, automation offers heightened visibility for better projections. Before going into automation for your business, you’ll need to tag every business process and task. This makes it easier to set the automation in motion. The tagging process increases the visibility of everything within your business, allowing you and all stakeholders to have a clearer picture of what’s in your business.
Once all assets, tasks, and business aspects are visible to everyone, you can employ your chosen RPA tool. Many of these platforms allow you to track every resource and asset all the time. This means you always have precise data sets and don’t require any form of guesswork to make accurate predictions for future business revenues.
Another benefit is that automation encourages integration and digitization and reduces waste. Certainly, businesses need to take advantage of the fact that every paper document can be digitized, and with digitization comes many benefits, like having a permanent easily stored record of all your data. This enables you to save money that would’ve been used in document warehousing, and it makes your search for vital information less time-consuming.
In digitization, you can also detect all unused resources. It might be something as simple as a work phone unused by an old employee or work printers that aren’t in use anymore. A good RPA bot allows you to identify all these unused items and repurpose them if possible.
Automation professionals do more than save us a few bucks: They also play a crucial role in enhancing our quality of life, ensuring constant improvement in all businesses, higher efficiency, reliability, and even safety. Without these automation systems, advancing our organizations into the future is close to impossible.
