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Robotic Process Automation and Intelligent Process Automation fill the void created by manual work processes in businesses today, along with some examples of use cases and industry trends. Businesses seek new opportunities to increase profits. Efficiency and optimization have become essential elements in business processes, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing an increasingly significant role. Big Data industries are pioneers in using this form of artificial Intelligence for improving business operations; machine learning algorithms may prove beneficial to small businesses. Artificial Intelligence can accelerate these processes or enhance efficiency.
Artificial Intelligence, often associated with science-fiction movies, often brings forth images of supersophisticated robots with plans to take over the world when hearing this term. Artificial Intelligence has long been one of the most controversial topics. Listening to some of the brightest minds in tech will demonstrate its contentious nature: Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and avid proponent of AI applications like social networks such as Facebook. Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook also speaks enthusiastically of AI applications in general. What does artificial Intelligence actually mean to business owners beyond its ongoing debates? Quite simply: process automation improvement. With AI combined with automation technology, the possibilities for improvement become virtually limitless.
What Is Business Process Automation?
Automating repetitive, manual tasks allows employees to focus their energy and attention on more pressing matters. Automating business processes reduces costs while improving efficiency while streamlining complex procedures. Business Process Automation should not be confused with Business process management; rather, this field entails overseeing complex processes across an organization using various methodologies and solutions.
Beyond Predefined Models
The predefined nature of traditional automation tools has been a significant drawback to process automation. Business automation is a specific process. As the system is not designed to handle this, if something changes in an automated process, it could cause different kinds of errors. The dynamic support needed for change is missing from traditional systems. Artificial Intelligence is at its best in this area.
Combining artificial Intelligence with business automation software can create systems capable of solving current business challenges. Artificial Intelligence lets systems adapt and evolve over time without having to program everything. As they learn on the job, their skills improve. Machines can acquire skills much more quickly than humans.
A System That Keeps Getting Better
Numerous tests demonstrated that machine-learning systems outshone human counterparts. Unfortunately, AI technology had only limited potential when still in its infancy stage. Machine learning algorithms were initially inadequate to comprehend complex processes; now, however, machine learning is capable of handling any job and outperforming human players in ESports competitions which can often prove complex.
Given the complexity of games, this marks an incredible feat in machine learning technology and applications. Facebook's founder is passionate about AI research; thus, it conducted extensive investigations of this industry and technology. Machine learning continues to advance at an impressive rate, making it more appealing than ever for businesses to invest in such projects - similar to having an employee who continually makes your company better and adds their contributions.
Improving Human Workers Performance
One of the biggest misconceptions surrounding automation technology in business is its purported aim of eliminating jobs. While AI combined with business process automation may appear dangerous to human workers' jobs, AI itself actually improves human workers' performances through enhanced business process automation capabilities.
Business process automation used to be nothing more than an automated chain reaction of automated responses when certain events took place; automated systems would take certain actions when specific conditions occurred - until predictive analytics became popular. This technology empowers systems to accurately evaluate situations, then recommend actions based on those findings. Following their advice will allow your employees to address similar situations more efficiently in the future; while providing faster business decision-making and learning processes.
Examples From Real Life
AI-powered automation of processes isn't some futuristic technology. Many companies are already using it to improve their processes. Here are two examples of how the biggest companies in the world are using this technology.
American Express
American Express boasts over approx 110 Million AmEx cards globally today and, therefore, can access an enormous amount of data that it needs to analyze to combat fraud. However, their traditional method would require them to hire hundreds of analysts 24/7 without producing much better results than before. Modern machine learning algorithms offer an alternative, automating and streamlining processes while saving labor costs. Fraud detection becomes ever more sophisticated as schemes proliferate further. The complexity of fraud detection algorithms used increases with each incident of fraud that arises.
Netflix
Have you ever found yourself curious as to the kind of investments Netflix makes? Look no further - big data could be the solution! Netflix utilizes artificial Intelligence (AI) to streamline this process and automate investment decisions. Instead of guessing which shows viewers will enjoy and selecting those to invest in themselves, Netflix's AI system automatically determines which new shows they should invest in by tracking members viewing habits across millions of members and providing recommendations of which shows to invest in.
Manual implementation can also produce results; however, their accuracy will likely suffer, and costs to your company could skyrocket significantly.
Business Process Automation Examples
Business Process Automation is the use of technology to automate manual and repetitive tasks within business processes. This results in increased efficiency, improved accuracy, and lower costs. BPA includes Employee Onboarding and Purchase Orders. It also covers Customer Service, Sales and Marketing, Finance and Accounting, and Data Entry.
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Here are some examples of how business process automation can be used.
Employee Onboarding
While hiring an employee may appear to be a simple process, there are many tasks involved. The hiring Process management involves a number of tasks, including filling in employee information forms and organizing training sessions.
The Entire Process Could Become Chaotic Without Automation And Lead To:
- No End to Paperwork.
- You may be missing out on certain tasks.
- Employee dissatisfaction.
- Low Productivity.
Business process automation will allow for smoother transitions between tasks, keep relevant employees informed and provide visibility on the progress of the process.
Purchase Orders
Most organizations have a recurrent process of requesting purchase orders. A form is filled out by the requesting group and sent to the buying team. After reviewing the request, the approving authority may reject it if the information provided is insufficient or if there are budgetary restrictions. The request is sent back to its requesting team. A purchase order will be created if the request is approved. Copies are then sent to both the inventories team and the supplier.
The Following Problems Could Arise Without Automation:
- Delay in PO approval.
- Productivity impacts.
- Complete records are not available.
- The PO is incorrect.
- Take delivery with errors.
Business Process Automation Platforms can improve accountability and transparency. They can also enable the accurate recording of data so that relevant stakeholders can access it when needed. The platform will retain any communication related to the process within the workflow, making it easier and quicker for users.
AI Examples In Business Processes
Automation For Business Process Automation
Automating any business process using computer technology often eliminates human interference in processes. Each company faces many repetitive, mundane tasks which must be automated; automation doesn't only apply to robots - software-based automation may also work just as well!
NASA is one of many examples of business process automation. They implemented RPA (Robotic Process Automations) systems (Robot Process Automations) to automate HR, payments, and spending tasks using Robot Process Automations, with positive results seen thus far. Furthermore, RPA systems proved easier to implement due to being less complex systems overall, oversaw their deployment, "it wasn't rocket science."
Artificial Intelligence For Cognitive Insight
Big data provides us with additional insight from seemingly basic data sets by applying machine-learning and deep-learning algorithms. Artificial Intelligence gathers user and customer data in most instances with the aim of increasing customer satisfaction by understanding what customers desire.
Cognitive insight is well-recognized. Amazon uses machine learning algorithms to mine customer information for insights that enable their uncanny accuracy when suggesting what you should purchase next.
AI For Cognitive Engagement
Cognitive engagement is the final application of artificial Intelligence used within the business. This type of AI facilitates interactions between employees and customers using natural language dialogues; machine learning algorithms combined with emotional Intelligence make this possible in real time; ultimately, this project seeks to simplify communication, data gathering, and customer interactions by streamlining all three.
For example, bots of customer service systems that can replace humans in part or completely include those capable of offering real customer interactions without giving away that it's an artificial intelligence-powered bot. It should appear authentic while showing emotional Intelligence.
Read More: How Is Big Data Analytics Using Machine Learning?
AI Can Optimize Business Processes
Artificial Intelligence can be used to optimize many business processes. Big data is all that's needed for deep learning and machine-learning algorithms to function. You can take advantage of its full potential if you have it. Artificial Intelligence is a powerful tool for your business.
AI For Sales Optimization And Marketing
Artificial Intelligence can boost sales. The technology can be used to help retail stores organize their stock, plan the layout of their shops, and even predict what customers will buy. It can assist sellers in determining which products they should put on sale. AI helps businesses target their ads for the right people, and it also helps them to understand the reasons behind the purchase.
AI-Based Content Generation
AI-CopyWriter is a new tool. The tool can produce engaging, informative content in a matter of minutes. Artificial Intelligence isn't just limited to writing. It can also create flyers, ads, and promo videos to increase your sales.
Artificial Intelligence In Manufacturing
Automation and robotics have long been widely employed in manufacturing environments. Although artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics are frequently discussed together, traditional robots do not feature AI technology at their core; traditional robots do not carry out big data analyses or adapt as they work.
Artificial Intelligence could revolutionize this situation. Machine learning and robotic process automation combine robots and humans in supply chains - also known as intelligent automation - for optimal production results. Humans and robots should work side-by-side within offices where both are present; computer vision allows robots to learn to work around people safely while safely interfacing with them, while intelligent automation opens doors to endless uses for robotic technology applications.
Recruitment
Imagine the number of job applications Google gets when it posts a new job! It would be impossible to read them all by hand. Artificial Intelligence is also a great help. Companies like Pymetrics, which specializes in artificial intelligence-powered recruiting, are a good example. Algorithms analyze data from all applications. It helps eliminate candidates who are not suitable. This can help save money and time by removing the subjective element from decision-making.
AI and Security
Security should also be considered in the supply chain. The use of deep learning can benefit a variety of business applications that are related to security. Businesses that deal with a lot of money need to ensure their data and money are secure.
AI is a great tool to help detect fraud and hackers. AI models are able to be trained to detect hacking or fraud attempts. AI systems will be able to recognize an attack and respond quickly When it occurs.
AI And Business: Future Applications
The future can be brighter than we imagine, no matter how far along we are. AI is a far cry from its early days, and there's still room for improvement. Companies that specialize in artificial Intelligence are developing new ways to help humanity. Silicon Valley firms like Google, Microsoft, and IBM are all examples. Here are some possible future applications:
- A Chip With AI
Applications like computer vision and natural language processing are growing in popularity. Silicon Valley companies will soon start shipping data analytics chips. Most algorithms can run in real time with enough computing power! Without AI, the supply chain would not exist.
- Combining AI With Other Emerging Technologies
The 5G technology is slowly spreading around the globe. These technologies offer the chance to transform app development and AI. AI is essential to the Internet of Things, which cannot exist without 5G. AI algorithms are able to be transferred to the data center to increase speed and keep your device idle.
Blockchain technology offers a decentralized, fantastic approach to sensitive processes such as finance and contracts. AI and Blockchain are still in the works, but future breakthroughs could be exciting.
Automation From End To End
An increasing number of products/tools have come out offering comprehensive automation solutions that span multiple systems and automate them end-to-end, Automating process management tasks and activities regardless of application location, such as on the Web, Desktop/Windows OS, or even in Virtual Environment. They even automate Excel files, PDFs, emails, databases, APIs, etc.
Robotic Process Automation tools fall under this broad umbrella of computer software which enables anyone to build robots that replicate human interaction within digital systems like computers. Robots are capable of understanding diverse applications and systems while being programmed with responses for repetitive tasks completed on computers.
Second, Intelligence (now added as an optional feature of RPA) remains at its initial stages of implementation. An intelligence feature introduced as part of RPA includes features that allow it to see images with computer vision capabilities as well as listen, interpret natural language processing results (NLP), produce natural language generation results (NLG), comprehend/understand texts/unstructured data such as extracting text from images with machine learning/deep neural networking technologies for comprehension/understanding text/unstructured data extraction/identify objects within them in images.
(comprehensive/understand/understand texts/unstructured data comprehension/understand text/unstructured data comprehension/understand capabilities in order to generate natural language generation). Intelligent Process Automation refers to automation technology utilized alongside NLP NLP technology with RPA technology; known by this acronym: IPA or intelligent Process Automation or Intelligent Process Automation is what's taken to leverage artificial Intelligence, cognitive technology combined with RPA technology: Intelligent Process Automation or IPA).
Use Case Example:
Imagine that you are a consultant who is responsible for the "onboarding process" of contractors. The following steps will be involved in the process:
- Steps in the high-level onboarding process.
- System 1 Windows application: Check for any Onboarding Request.
- Email the contract to ask for details like bank details, etc., and have them sign it.
- Perform police checks and check work rights in System 2.
- Access to timesheets and payroll in System 3.
- Create and send an email contract using System 4.
RPA Is A Powerful Tool For Automating Tasks
RPA can automate the steps above, partially or completely, depending on whether human interaction is required. RPA can be used to replace the manual clicking and perform tasks such as creating folders, downloading email attachments, and logging into System 1, System 2, System 3, and System 4 in order to automate the "onboarding process." RPA software includes hundreds of activities/tasks, such as the ability to upload/download files from/to the remote server. It also allows you to query databases, use Excel files for reading/writing, open Word documents and PDF files, and call APIs.
Use RPA For Intelligence
The "Intelligent Bots" can not only automate the steps above but also read emails, understand them, and then prepare an original response. Machine learning allows the bot to learn and improve over time. It can score and understand the sender's mood and categorize emails into urgent and non-urgent based on their content. These "intelligent bots" are backed by technologies like OCR (Optical Character Recognition), which extracts text from an image; NLP (Natural Language Processing), to receive voice commands and NLG (Natural Language Generation), to translate technical analysis stats to human readable grammatically-correct plain English sentences.
RPA Stats
These tools are appealing to businesses because they don't disrupt the infrastructure and do not require underlying systems to be replaced. Cost efficiency and compliance are no longer considered operational costs but rather a result of using these tools.
A recent study found that 72% of companies plan to implement RPA/IPA in the next two to three years. In the same study, it was found that enterprises that had adopted process automation saw tangible results in less than a year. They had an average of 20% full-time capacity equivalent provided by robots, 92% increased compliance, 90% enhanced quality/accuracy, and 86% improved productivity.
Use Cases for RPA:
- Assessment of credit.
- Fraud detection.
- Streamline operations across the department.
- Delivering insights.
- Screen scraping.
- Excel can be used to automate work without installing it.
- Automate your system without code
- Automate and streamline across all systems.
- Data migration.
- Updates on CRM.
- Installing software is a good example.
- Onboarding and hiring.
A recent report predicts that by 2021 there will be over 4 million robots performing office, administrative, and sales tasks.
Use Cases for IPA
- Cross-selling in Banking.
- Churn prediction.
- Automate common customer requests.
- Logistics can predict demand.
- Price optimization.
- Maintenance of data is a vital part of any business.
- Auditing.
- Social Media Marketing.
RPA combined with intelligent automation can handle unstructured data and exceptions, unlike RPA alone. It is inevitable that RPA will evolve into IPA, and these technologies and tools will be adopted by the industry.
Why Automate Business Processes?
Automating your business processes is a good idea for many reasons.
Digital Transformation: A Stepstone to Digital Transformation
Organizations that haven't started on the digital transformation path may find it overwhelming. The adoption of a culture that embraces continuous transformation can begin with business process automation. Start with processes in dire need of improvement and workup.
Clearer Clarity
Automation of business processes requires a degree of clarity in the design stage. You can't automate a workflow if you don't understand the processes and tasks.
Process mapping is also a great way to provide training and clarity for all staff. Analyzing an automated process will show you where your current business processes are lacking.
Streamline Processes
Simplified processes are one of the best outcomes of a system of process automation. It is easier to focus on tasks that are valuable and eliminate unnecessary activities with clear accountability, customized notifications, useful insights, and quicker turnaround times.
Get Compliance Records
Business process automation records every aspect of the business process. These details can be used to prove compliance in audits.
Standardize Operations
You can always expect the same standard results when you automate business processes. Standardization can make your company look more reliable and increase its customer base.
Boost Customer Satisfaction
In any business, customer satisfaction is the key to success. You can easily exceed your customers' expectations by focusing on operational and process excellence. Customers are more inclined to choose your business if you meet standards consistently.
What Business Processes Should You Automate?
Automation of business processes isn't limited to just a few functions. Automation can be indicated by a number of factors.
- The high volume of work.
- To complete a task, multiple people are required.
- Time-sensitive nature.
- Impact on other systems and processes.
- Audit trails and compliance are essential.
Automating your business processes is likely to be necessary if an activity matches all of the above criteria.
Here are some common automated processes that organizations use.
- Email and Push Notifications
- Helpdesk Support
- Creating customer case studies.
- Data migration and aggregation.
- Backup and restore.
- Requests for employee leave
- Procurement.
- Contact center services
- Sales orders.
- Tracking time and attendance.
- Payroll.
- Invoicing.
- Collections.
- Product launches.
- Lead nurturing.
Business Process Automation Software Has Many Benefits
You can reap multiple benefits once you automate your business processes.
- The cloud-based tools for business process automation will store all your data in a single database. You can access your data anywhere and on any device.
- Transparency will improve your business processes.
- You can also fix errors as soon as you notice them by monitoring processes while on the move. The performance reports provide you with the insights you need to take proactive measures in order to prevent recurring mistakes.
- You'll notice a faster turnaround time and a decrease in cost over the long term due to less manual intervention.
- The application can also help you to improve your workforce allocation, as it will take care of all repetitive mundane tasks. You can then redirect employees to tasks requiring human judgment and effort.
Last Words
Data scientists specialize in artificial Intelligence for business use. Profit should always be the main priority, thus justifying AI applications within retail and services settings such as retail; Google makes its money via advertising revenue alone! Artificial Intelligence helps enhance businesses' daily operations. Sales, marketing, and process automation are just a few ways it can assist. Artificial Intelligence could even speed up or streamline certain procedures within your operation in certain cases!
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Silicon Valley will likely raise its game in the future, taking full advantage of newly available technologies to use AI efficiently and cost-effectively. Although AI development costs can be prohibitively expensive for many businesses - some people simply cannot afford to rent or buy data centers and purchase information - once enough artificial intelligence firms form, their technologies will become accessible for use by everyone. Business process analysis alone can be beneficial; when combined with technologies like artificial Intelligence, it can take your business even further than you ever could imagine.
