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Technological innovation has helped revolutionize the workforce. From the assembly line days of the industrial revolution to today’s world of automated processes.
In the past, Ford’s Model T car took 12 hours to build. Thanks to Henry Ford’s idea to install a moving assembly line, that time was cut down to 2 hours and 30 minutes. Today, with a fully automated system, it is estimated that the process could be cut down to mere minutes.
But what about automation outside of the assembly lines and factories?
More and more, we are seeing automation inside the office, as well and in different departments. From HR to Accounting, IT to Marketing, digital automation has helped increase productivity, decrease data errors, and overall work quality in various industries.
An example of one such solution is Robotics Process Automation (RPA).
RPA is a robot—though, to be more specific, it’s a software—that can be configured to follow rules for a particular task. RPA can be utilized to carry out repetitive tasks such as data entry. It can also be used in combination with other tools to automate more complex tasks, however.
RPA is on the rise, so much so that a report by Forrester estimated that the RPA industry will be worth around US$2.9 billion by the year 2021.
A survey of CFOs in Australia stated that almost half of the respondents stated that they plan to ready their workforce for the implementation of automation projects. They believe that by increasing automation in the workplace, they will be able to adapt to changes and create new opportunities.
RPA in financial services is also doing well—11% of respondents of a PWC survey of RPA in financial services reported that RPA has been adopted across their enterprise. And 19% of the respondents also stated that their company is heading to that same direction.
And there are numerous ways in which RPA can be implemented in the financial services industry.
The beauty of RPA, of course, is that it can be used in conjunction with another program. Royal Bank of Canada, for example, utilize RPA along with machine-learning in order to create chatbots that are able to improve their customer service.
Trade matching is one process that can be improved with RPA. In trade matching, trade details are exchanged and compared between client and broker. It is a long process, where communications need to be coordinated and data need to be investigated. Time is of the essence in this process and so is having the correct data. A high error rate will only serve to rake up costs.
RPA can also be used to automate document capture, which tends to be a time-consuming and dull task when done manually. That, along with customer registration and verification, which oftentimes involve having multiple screens and multiple applications and inputting data to multiple windows. Not only is the process lengthy, but the chances of errors are also quite high.
RPA can lead to improved compliance. The RPA robot will leave trails that will make things easier during an audit, for example. In terms of risks, RPA can reduce errors in data, ensuring the quality of the data. And use of RPA along with AI has even led one insurance company to reduce their backlogs in order to meet with government regulations.
One particularly important way that RPA in financial services would be very beneficial is in terms of security.
Certain tasks in the finance industry—like in other industries—have been outsourced to outside firms in order to meet the demands of the industry. These tasks can include customer service-related tasks or admin-level tasks such as data entry.
The drawback from this, however, is security. The company and clients’ information would have to be given to a third party. But by utilizing tools such as RPA, the information would remain with the company, with a lower risk of data breach.
As for concerns about the workforce, well, one of the potential benefits of RPA is actually an increase in employee satisfaction as well as productivity.
Tasks such as data entry and document capture are repetitive and high-risk and they are also terribly dull. Carrying out these tasks for hours and hours every day can be quite demoralizing for employees. With RPA, however, these workers can be shifted to more valuable and even motivating tasks that require human input and interaction.
Looking for an RPA implementation partner? Crubiks is a proud partner of UiPath and recognized as a Silver partner. We have expertise implementing RPA in retail, media, manufacturing, and financial institutions.