How do companies scale their RPA environment?

Kryon recently sponsored a round table discussion in Amsterdam, giving us a chance to learn valuable lessons from businesses that have either begun implementing RPA or plan to do so in the near future. Our thanks to the Heliview team for moderating the event and helping us organize it.

We were especially interested in learning about the ways these companies choose processes to automate, the ways they scale up (or plan to scale up) their use of RPA, the automation-related challenges they face, and the ways they handle these challenges. Perhaps our team’s most interesting takeaways of the event stemmed from our realization that most of the participating companies were still in the early stages of their RPA journeys.

Here are a few of our key takeaways:

1.          Subjectivity

Companies typically choose to automate processes that they assume will;

•           save time and money

•           improve the quality of the products and services

•           increase customer satisfaction and employee morale.

Most companies tend to start with the “low-hanging fruit” processes that have a repetitive character and are relatively simple and therefore easy to automate. The ways these businesses determine which processes fit their criteria may include workshops or observations, or they may rely on more of an instinctive sense. Either way, this decision-making process is very open to interpretation and often does not provide an unbiased and detailed version of the truth.

2.          The Organizational Impediments to Scaling RPA

When asked about the hurdles they must overcome in order to realize the full potential of RPA organization-wide, the participants tended to point to aspects of their organizational dynamics. Specifically, the main challenges they pointed to included:

•           The time involved in automating processes.

•           A struggle to find enough RPA developers with sufficient experience and expertise.

•           Their coworkers’ relative lack of awareness of RPA and eagerness to implement it.

•           The difficulty of finding processes to their company’s RPA pipeline.

3.          Scaling Up Starts with Communication

While it may be easy for high-tech companies to think of scaling up RPA as a matter of adding more robots, the reality is that there’s a lot of work to be done before a company is ready to add those robots. And at the heart of that work is intra-organizational communication.

That communication may involve demonstrations showing colleagues how to work with robots; an effort to convey the business value that RPA brings; and even an emphasis on the powerful effect RPA can have on employee morale, as it allows workers to focus on more creative, strategic, and rewarding projects. But this communication is not only about increasing awareness of the benefits of RPA; it’s also about planning, governance, and strategy – underscoring the value of having a robust center of excellence.

In conclusion, this round table was an excellent reminder of the value of open discussions such as these to share tips and best practices – After all, the more we know, the more successful we can be!

And on that note, please feel free to share your experiences or ask questions in the comments below. For example, what change management strategies did you use to promote RPA in the organization? How did you choose the best processes for automation? How have you scaled RPA?

For more information about Process Discovery you could also contact Maartje.vanZadelhoff@kryonsystems.com or call Maartje at +316 37154031