Future-Proof RPA Delivers Long-Term Improvements

Date published: 12-2022 | Category: Our work

Challenge: striving for automation excellence

Our client had identified Robotic Process Automation (RPA) as a major potential lever for automation and cost-saving within customer service. These effects were expected not only in front-end agent transactions, reducing handling times, but also in back-end activities and online customer touchpoints.

In addition, the aim was that RPA would serve as ‘bridge technology’ to different digital transformation initiatives and would also sustain performance or temporary workarounds in application development.

Solution: a scalable technical solution & cross-functional RPA CoE

We supported our client through a thorough analysis of different RPA solutions, the technical selection, and implementation based on the following criteria:

• Flexibility/scalability => virtual setup
• Security/maintenance => cloud-based infrastructure in the EU
• Easy steering/management => automated controlling/use case management by RPA supervisor software solution

To achieve the best operational and financial results, the setup of a cross-functional and agile RPA Center of Excellence (CoE) team was forged, defining and prioritizing the potential use cases to be automated, with a focus on the overall benefits to the client’s company.

Additionally, automated processes, policies, procedures, and workflows were established to identify new use cases within the company, validate and verify the assumptions taken, prioritization of use cases, track results and thus support the financial analysis of the effects (budget reductions) across the respective company divisions.

Results: establishment of RPA as a cross-company solution

Over four years of continuous evolution, the implemented RPA solution has demonstrated significant benefits and operational results:

• Implementation of more than 150 use cases
• Over nine million transactions per annum
• Savings of more than 300k working hours per annum, in customer service alone
• Savings of more than eight million Euro per annum in non-customer service areas (like HR and Finance)
• Average ROI <6 months

Due to the RPA CoE cross-functional setup, the delivery focus has been expanded beyond just customer service, contributing to increasing financial and non-financial effects.