In the face of rapidly changing work and operational environments during the COVID-19 pandemic, organizations are increasingly turning to Robot Process Automation (RPA) to become more agile and adaptive. RPA implementation is seen across all floors and industries, from managing demand and supply to powering a remote workforce.

The effects of COVID-19 have not discriminated in any manner– industries of all scales and domains have been affected to varying capacities. The travel industry has been massively hit by immigration and shelter-in-place restrictions; restaurants are shutting down to avoid crowd-gathering. Both of these have impacted supply chains from machinery to raw materials.

The entertainment industry has suffered after parks, cinemas and entertainment areas have been forced to slam doors. Retail has also taken a massive hit; brick and mortar stores are faring poorly, and their online counterparts have also found their hands tied. Hospitals and healthcare services, on the other hand, have been working in overdrive to carry out testing and isolation of cases.

RPA use cases in healthcare have shot up in recent weeks, not least because healthcare workers are better used on the field rather than in the back offices. RPA has been used to automate test reports and automate backlogs and the ebb and flow of patients.

RPA has also been deployed in the financial segments of all industries to assess risk levels, evaluate where funds are being used, comparing revenues and expenses, and setting up remote work stations.

How does RPA Help Tackle COVID-19 Challenges?

For businesses that already have RPA in business processes, the transition to remote working and maintaining steady levels of productivity may be easier to achieve. The same can’t be said for those who haven’t leveraged technology and continued to function in a more conservative operational setup.

Here is how RPA can tackle operational challenges in all industries:

Maintaining Business as Usual

On both an operational and psychological front, creating some semblance of ‘business as usual’ is critical to maintaining steady levels of productivity and quality output. RPA can help achieve this by:

• Automating back-office activities

• Enabling the setup of secure remote working networks

• Using front office bots or chat assistants to maintain customer service

• Automating the supply of products based on demand

• Updating data automatically, with minimal manual intervention

• Setting up automatic responses to pitches and emails through sales automation

• Distributing and securing relevant resources

• Monitoring analytics to identify problem areas or potential new markets

Establishing a Digital Workforce

Enabling a digital workforce is critical to companies adapting to current situations. All stakeholders must be allowed to collaborate over digital platforms, access required data, and software to keep themselves productive. Video calling platforms and project management apps are on the rise because of the convenience and accessibility across the team.

Businesses must also prioritize capacity management to ensure output and available resources are maximized despite the less-than-forgiving environment. A digital workforce allows for maximizing productivity, all environmental conditions considered, with minimal resources at their desks. Digital setups also allow for better collaboration and more subject matter experts being involved without the need to account for seat costs or office space.

Tackling Drops in Productivity

By automating mundane, repetitive tasks, top talents can be deployed to more meaningful roles, which increases productivity and decreases the chances of burnout. Focusing on higher-value work is beneficial for the company and puts to use talents who might otherwise prove expensive is they’re relegated to menial tasks. This works both ways– employees are also much happier to tackle challenges that are right up their alley, rather than carry out tasks that make them feel under-used.

If there are drops in productivity, RPA can create actionable reports on problem areas and also provide insights into how best to tackle such falls. RPA for small businesses is especially useful since constricted budgets mean every penny must be spent wisely. Using RPA for business process automation maximizes efficiency, removes employees from task silos, and puts them to better use in acting on insights and achieving critical business goals.

Reducing Operational Costs

As revenues across industries plummet, many businesses have been left gasping for air and holding purse strings close. Operational costs have become all the dearer to businesses of all scales; RPA can help bring these costs down. This is done by automating processes or tasks, which in turn negates the need for human intervention.

Businesses also have to account for training and settling-in of new hires– this isn’t a necessity with RPA, which requires one-time training and adapts to situations from there. By reducing the need for manual intervention across processes, businesses can cut down on taxing resources and retain key talents who do work that cannot be automated.

How Does CONTUS Help with RPA for Business Transformation?

CONTUS offers tailor-made RPA solutions to empower businesses of any scale and industry. The remarkable automation techniques on offer can increase performance, productivity, and operational efficiency from the get-go. CONTUS provides end-to-end RPA solutions, running the gamut from defining strategies and identifying problem areas to deployment and automation support.

CONTUS’ innovative RPA solutions are secure, scalable, and based on years of industry expertise. The solutions provided can be adapted to the following industries:

Healthcare

In the face of the COVID-19 onslaught, CONTUS RPA solutions can transform parts of a healthcare system into an agile digital workforce. Processes such as pharmacy stock management, healthcare data analysis, customer care, and creation of reports can be easily automated. This shifts essential workers to the front of the battlefield without worries of back-office systems collapsing.

Manufacturing

RPA advisory services can be implemented with ease into back-end operations, reducing operational expenses by a whopping 40%. RPA in manufacturing can be used to automate data migration and order processing, reduce BOM and payroll errors, and keep a trail of supply chain processes for transparent auditing. As a result, manufacturing units become more auditable and compliant, negating risks, and downtime in case of mishaps.

Utilities and Energy

RPA can be used to automate repetitive tasks and leverage predictive analytics for actionable business insights. In the utilities and energy sectors, RPA can be used to simplify customer setup and transfers, manage complaints, automate billing and settlements and validate meter readings.

Banking and Finance

RPA can be used in financial institutions to reduce manual efforts and chances of human error in order to increase regulatory compliance. It is also used to mitigate risks on any level, without increasing operational and setup costs.

The Final Word

RPA implementation is the key to making organizations of any industry and scales responsive, adaptive, and agile in future landscapes. CONTUS RPA implementation services go a long way in freeing up critical workers and automate processes to minimize losses and maximize productivity. Now is the best time to go digital to prepare for a changing future.