RPA in Manufacturing

The manufacturing industry has been utilizing physical robots for a long time for various operational processes such as product assembly, testing, packaging, and more. While robots are great for helping the assembly line, the manufacturing industry still needs faster and simpler back-office processes.

At this point, Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is the right solution for improving business process management and boosting performance. As the problems generally stem from unskilled labor, time-consuming processes, outmoded supply chain management systems, and rapidly changing regulations, RPA provides full support by streamlining all related operations.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) helps manufacturing companies overcome pain points by automating complicated back-office operations such as report generation, vendor communication, payment processing, etc.

Furthermore, Deloitte conveys that RPA is helping manufacturers manage issues related to parts proliferation with tools and processes that can rapidly deliver strong ROI.

RPA can automate a range of operations across the manufacturing companies, and the most popular use areas are explained as follows:

• Automation of Administration and Reporting
• Bill of Materials (BOM)
• Invoice Processing

• Customer Support and Service Desk
• Data Migration
• Regulatory Compliance

• Inventory Control

The invoice processing procedure requires interaction between various parties. Thus, the people in charge oversee and confirm invoices’ policies in diverse formats and languages. As a result, misunderstandings and errors are highly possible while the concerned parties exert combined efforts while the task’s monotony weakens the employees’ focus.

Robotics Process Automation (RPA) can effectively address invoice processing, and the required data can be gathered without human intervention. In the end, the task is achieved successfully, having no room for error.

Customer service and support are significant elements of success in the manufacturing business. In the front office, an employee usually handles a customer while navigating multiple systems to access various data. Inconsistent customer management with manual client request handling causes erroneous data tracking and ineffectual business process management.

By deploying Robotics Process Automation (RPA), the employee can access multiple stored data in one place so that s/he can serve customers better and faster. Besides, it is possible to establish a self-sufficient portal or an integrated non-segregated chatbot application letting the customers interact with the customer services and support themselves.

Making steady and valuable improvements is necessary for the players in the manufacturing industry. Migrating data from legacy to up-to-date systems is essential for ensuring consistency in the production cycle of business methods.

Implementing RPA provides proper planning and execution of moving data from old to current systems, unlike traditional data migration, which brings a significant cost and time-saving. RPA also makes the execution faster and reduces errors, delivering more effective results.

The safety protocols constantly evolve in the manufacturing domain and the volume of regulations that organizations must face today makes RPA an efficient solution for compliance management.

Thanks to automation, companies can handle compliance issues smoothly across the organization, from the warehouse to the front office, to the back office. Companies in the manufacturing industry can make compliance part of their daily operations by using robots. In brief, RPA ensures world-class level compliance across multiple regulatory regimes and jurisdictions.

The back-office process for controlling and managing inventory is labor-intensive when performed manually. The employer should check on the stocks’ inventory, and another person must log in and check the availability of each item. Moreover, supplier delivery and customer demand variability complicate the process.

When RPA is deployed, bots are used to automate procurement processes, digitize paperwork, monitor inventory levels and customer demands, etc. In consequence, operational production is increased, costs are significantly reduced, and supplier and customer interactions are improved.

Businesses in the manufacturing industry can automate various time-consuming and labor-intensive processes using RPA while decreasing costs.

Administrative automation, invoice processing, inventory management, data migration, Regulatory Compliance, customer support, and communication management are some use cases of RPA in manufacturing. Businesses can effectively automate time-intensive and manual processes using RPA and lowering costs.

RPA is a significant facilitator of digital transformation in the manufacturing industry. Enabling automation of numerous business processes, RPA can optimize the core operations and enhance performance, speed, and quality. Moreover, manufacturers can realize an observable ROI within weeks.

Schedule a demo today to learn more about how Robusta RPA makes the digital transformation of manufacturing companies easy.