The global economy is taking massive blows with organisations’ ability to function being affected considerably across various industries while it remains unclear as to when the business, as usual, will come into operation. From travel and tourism to retail, and logistics, companies are suffering the onslaught of a global pandemic.
However, the world is in a better position to address a global healthcare crisis today as compared to previous outbreaks. Businesses can operate disruption free and improve operation resilience with ready technology that automates the business process. Though many companies already have a time and cost-efficient process automation technology in place, those who don’t can adopt one now.
How Does Automation Help in the Time of Crisis?
While the organisations across a wide range of sectors are working from home, nuance of setting up work from home and keeping an eye on level of productivity is being experienced by many. Those organisations that already had an automation process in place are likely having an easier time dealing with it.
Investing in enterprise automation solutions like Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can help businesses weather these turbulent times by reducing dependency on local remote workforce.Public sector institutions can also automate their processes to ensure efficient distribution of funds to needy, update public health data in real-time and scraping online inventories. Schools and universities can leverage automation for efficient class scheduling, activating in bulk licensing of remote video conference tools for online classes etc.
With bots being deployed by many organisations to tackle rising challenges caused by the pandemic, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is being proven in real-time as a vital tool. Using RPA, businesses can create and train a virtual workforce of software “bots” on various tasks such as copying, pasting, comparing information between applications and checking information against various regulations and business rules. A typical bot completes a specific amount of repetitive work five to fifteen times faster than a full-time employee, which can help an organisation focus on higher-value tasks that require human creativity.
Cost and Time Efficient
In challenging times like the ones, we are going through; businesses look for ways to reduce operating costs. RPA, apart from being so advantageous, is also a scalable option as businesses can easily add or remove bots to match variable workloads. Additionally, bots can be trained to perform a variety of tasks with near-perfect accuracy in a short span of time. They can be re-trained just as easily when the business processes need to be changed.
RPA is an efficient, scalable, affordable and flexible tool, reasons enough to justify that it can help businesses maintain uninterrupted operations, especially during a sudden skill shortage or unplanned workplace closure.
Summing It All Up
All of us will agree that the business world is increasingly full of uncertainty, yet enterprises are required to maintain high profits while keeping costs down. This requires the adoption of innovative technology to automate as many processes as possible, thus cutting costs. RPA is one of the best resources that help to maintain productivity and lower costs during both normal and challenging times.
However, it is critical for companies to be proactive. As it takes time to adopt, implement and incorporate an RPA solution, companies should not wait for tough times to rear their ugly head and instead adopt one now.
Views expressed in this article are the personal opinion of Alok Bansal, MD and Country Head, Visionet India.
