RPA
Automate operations. Boost productivity.
RPA stands for robotic process automation, which means exactly what it sounds like: using robots to automate administrative work traditionally done by humans. This article outlining the basics of RPA in nice simple terms. We’ll also show you the RPA-powered services customer can get through our AMO service. Now, let’s look at how RPA will change the future.
INDEX
What is RPA
It’s easy to imagine a robot packing products instead of human workforce in a factory.
Well, the robot seems to have left the factory and found a new job in your PC.
This robot’s working in your PC, not at the factory. And it’s doing the work that you’d rather not.
Of course, it’s not limited to packing tasks.
The robot receives an order, creates a list, links data to your system, and send the order email to the shipping department.
Everything’s done in a minute.
Robots have finally come to your office.
This is where RPA comes in
For example, customer would have probably looked around office and thought,
“We are doing the same task again and again. It’s so time consuming...”
Or, “This is so simple though, we have a lot of things to choose from, causing frequent errors.” The good news is that we can probably automate this work with RPA. In general, RPA automates work with the following characteristics:
- Routine operations
- Duplications and repetitions
- Entry work across multiple applications
Think about the tasks in company. Do some of them fit the description above?
Many benefits
There are many benefits to be gained by automating operations with RPA, we’ve shortened that list to three for this explanation.
1. Work faster
The robot will do the work for you, so you can finish your work faster. Furthermore, robots do not get tired, so they can do a mountain of work without a break. In terms of numbers, robots are about nine times more productive than humans.
2. Reduce labor costs
The cost of RPA is typically much lower than the personal expenses per employee, and well below the minimum wage.
3. No mistakes
Robots work with extreme precision. They’ll never forget the work they’ve been programmed for.
In Japan, with its declining birthrate, aging population, and declining workforce, there is a need to transform the way people work in order to increase productivity per worker, and automation of operations through RPA is an inevitable step in many ways.
We hope that the basic information we have provided will help our customers better understand RPA.
If you would like to learn more about how to implement RPA, please see the “Related Information” section below.
A brighter future where SAP solutions meet RPA
We have launched an AMO service using RPA. We introduce the details of the service.
Extensive service lineup to meet customers’ budget and challenges
While there are certainly scenarios where end-user enterprises can use RPA tools to automate their processes, many enterprises are stumped for the following reasons: 1. they lack development skills 2. They cannot formulate operational management rules 3. They do not know which tasks should be automated with RPA. In order to solve these problems, we offer a full range of services to meet your budget and organizational challenges.
From consulting to system life cycle, our one-stop support covers everything
Our comprehensive support services don’t just cover SAP solutions-- We also support the implementation, operation, and maintenance of RPA tools.
And our RPA support is available to all current AMO customers to boot.
| What customers want to do | Services | Details |
|---|---|---|
| In-house trial | Trial version | License to measure effectiveness prior to implementation (with implementation training) |
| License sales | Yearly licenses for WinActor (full version allowing development, run-only version) | |
| Support for the implementation of RPA tools ①Implementation test support |
PoC support | Support you in validating the RPA tool for the tasks 1-2, measuring its effectiveness, and correcting any problems. |
| Implementation roadmap creation support | Support for development of a roadmap from trial implementation to full-scale implementation. | |
| Developer training | Technical training for intermediate-level menus enabling you to develop own WinActor robots | |
| RPA implementation support ②Support for launching operations |
Help to choose which operations to apply and how to evaluate their performance. | Support for operational evaluation to efficiently expand the use of RPA |
| Governance and operational design | Developing management policies for RPA and rules | |
| Implementation of WinDirector | Implementation and setup of WinActor management tool, WinDirector | |
| SAP solutions integration | Provision of scenarios (samples) for developing robot development and SAP solutions using SAP libraries | |
| Post-deployment support | Operation Q&A, remote assistanc | Technical support for WinActor via email or phone |
| Online technical support | WinActor on-site (OJT) technical support |
[Table] RPA services menu
Take a look at some case studies
We offer an exhaustive lineup of services, and we’re particularly skilled at helping customers integrate SAP solutions. Here are a few examples from our services to demonstrate some scenarios where we can help to integrate SAP solutions into customer’s business.
Processing flow using RPA with SAP solutions (inputting daily exchange rates)
Automatically obtain daily exchange rate fluctuations from the web and reflect them to the exchange rate table in SAP ERP database. RPA tools make it easy to automate processes across the web, Excel, SAP ERP, and multiple systems at will, even processes previously limited to one system.
- Access and retrieve foreign exchange quotations from banks over the internet.
- Refer to the target currency database and retrieve the information.
- Get the conversion coefficient for the target currency from SAP ERP.
- Update exchange rates on SAP ERP.
- Output and save the exchange rate processing results.
SAP solution integration flow (registering items in the SKU table)
While most companies with SAP ERP solutions register items in the SKU table, the flow of screens is usually quite complicated, and transitions differ depending on each SKU type. Many customers get upset with their RPA tool because of the complexity and number of tabs on these screens, but NTT DATA Global Solutions makes the flow easy with pre-set templates for efficient support.
- Obtain data from input data file (for new SKUs to register).
- Split the process based on processing status and switch to the appropriate view or tab.
- Register SKUs.
- Update exchange rates on SAP ERP.
- Once the values are set in all the views, save and set the processing status to “Registration complete” in the target record.
A combined GBMT and WinActor template
We’ve combined our knowledge of SAP solutions and WinActor to develop a comprehensive template incorporating GBMT--our most popular implementation template--with WinActor. Using this template, customer can quickly and efficiently implement SAP solutions and reduce the workload of manual entry. Customer will get all the benefits of using a standard SAP solution package and the operational advantages of WinActor.
Start small and grow bigger: BPO meets RPA
Operation-based optimization rather than task-based, reducing costs, or full-use of resources... we are here to support customer what organization needs are with: Business process outsourcing (BPO).
With BPO, customer outsources business operations and processes to a professional company. NTT DATA Global Solutions consultants provide the best solutions for enterprise, from reorganizing work processes through to company-wide optimization.
Although RPA is very useful, depending on the content, it may be better to use temporary workers or BPO than to use RPA.For example, temp workers are better than RPA at handling irregularities or jobs with frequent procedural changes. While some routine work might be suited to RPA, if customer cannot expect any return on investment, it could be wiser to have staff members dedicate a little time to it. NTT DATA Global Solutions support maximizes efficiency by identifying the best tool for the job, whether it’s BPO, RPA, regular staff members, or temps.
A picture of the near future: let humans do what only humans can do
The trend of automating jobs with robots will continue to advance. How will this change your current business?
In conclusion, NTT DATA Global Solutions predicts that a “division of labor” between robots and humans will become the standard for business operations.
Humans will focus on management tasks, making decisions and acting based on analytics of the data entered by robots.Since robots prepare all the materials for us to make decisions, humans can spend more time on tasks that require more intelligence and creativity.
Leave the simple tasks to the robots, and leave the tasks that only humans can do to NTT DATA Global Solutions.