Before you dive in – are you looking for more information about what RPA is and how it can benefit your organization? Click here first.
5 Industries Prime for Robotic Process Automation
Before we jump in to these industries, we should identify the prime use-cases for Robotic Process automation. These use-cases form the backbone of most RPA implementations and are how we determine if industry-wide practices are easily automatable.
- High volume processes
- Multi-platform tasks that require human input across the platforms
- Repetitive tasks
- Digital processes
- Multi-step tasks
- Any other task with a clear opportunity for automation
Robotic process automation implementations should unlock efficiencies and help modernize practices without the burden of implementing a new core system and getting full adoption. Digital transformation is hard - RPA can help you get there easier, faster, and more efficiently. These 5 industries have processes that satisfy many or all of the criteria above and are prime for RPA implementation. It certainly doesn't end there though - if you find your organization hung up on processes that can be categorized as any of the ones above - there's a strong chance that RPA can save you time and energy that can be better spent on more productive tasks.
Higher Education
Get your faculty back to where they can make the most impact - working with students.
Higher education still relies on a huge volume of paper based processes. They can be found across admissions, grant administration, and internal processes relating to HR and finance. By implementing RPA, higher education institutions can adopt modern financial, information technology, and human resource practices. This frees up those resources to reallocate their time to student facing activities, dramatically improving the amount of time that faculty can spend dealing with special cases and directly interacting with their students.
We've been able to implement systems designed to match prospective students with opportunities based on potential career pathways. Learn more about this system, its capabilities, and how it combines modern technology with historically paper-based practices.
Healthcare
Get the most out of your employees and technology, while driving improvements to the patient experience.
Healthcare has historically been heavy on paper forms and processes, and quick to adopt innovative technology. These factors make healthcare prime for RPA implementation, while fully utilizing RPA's cross-platform utility, healthcare organizations have the potential to leverage aspects of tools they've already implemented but have been historically unable to use to their full potential. Experts have estimated that 36% of healthcare processes can potentially be automated. From member enrollment to processing patient records - RPA can lead to process improvements that change the way healthcare organizations work - allowing them to redirect more of their time to providing care and driving innovation - improving their business practices and the patient experience.
Government and the Public Sector
RPA is ready to digitize and automate decades old processes.
RPA has already seen massive traction in government work, this is poised to continue as more and more paper-based easily automated practices are identified. Many government programs and processes have been in place for decades and as a result are highly paper based, by harnessing the full power of RPA you can automate these processes and bridge previously unlinked systems. RPA robots help effectively eliminate human error and help you remain compliant and prepared for any audits government organizations face. RPA helps government organizations keep up with volume with 24/7 function and availability, allowing you to refocus key employees to higher value tasks.
Manufacturing
Why stop on the assembly line? Software robots are here to unlock efficiency in the office.
Manufacturing and robots go hand in hand and yet somehow the industry as whole struggles with outdated back-office and operational practices. RPA can help redirect resources away from data entry, inventory management, and payment processing. Instead freeing up valuable employees to provide high quality customer service to key accounts, secure new business, and easily monitor key production metrics. Many organizations are finding that they can automate close to 80% of repetitive tasks - any organization that deals with lots of transactions, invoices, and inventory monitoring can benefit.
Legal
Digitize documents and automate processes so you can deliver on promises ahead of schedule.
The legal system is built on paper and as a result is prime for the benefits of RPA. Automating digitization of records immensely improves searachability and the ease of which legal professionals can assess the facts of cases. Not only does this process make legal professionals' jobs dramatically easier, it also allows them to more closely follow data security regulations and recommendations and adopt best-in-class practices. RPAs defining characteristic is its ability to remain technology agnostic and work across multiple systems, bridging outdated legacy systems and modern technology. With more and more legal organizations embracing new tech it will be imperative to have a way to bridge the systems and also easier methods of populating data within them in the first place.
The Future of RPA
Almost all industries suffer from some of the major applications for RPA we identified earlier. As the capabilities RPA has increase, it will provide more and more value for all industries. If your industry doesn’t currently have a clear path for RPA – keep an eye out, the tech is getting better and better every day.
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About the Author: Cameron Avrigean
Cameron Avrigean is a Marketing Coordinator at fivestar*. Cameron is an analytics fanatic with a penchant for copywriting and social media. He works with the marketing team to create engaging content, and is looking for the next big thing. Cameron holds a B.S. in Business Management from Point Park University.