Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is steadily taking over the business world. As more organisations use RPA for streamlining their SAP related processes, it’s only a matter of time before RPA becomes the new norm. And while the term ‘Robotic’ may conjure up images of a mechanized assembly line, RPA is not about physical robots at all.
But what is RPA then? And what does it have to do with SAP? These are the questions we are going to explore in today’s post.
RPA Simplified
A lot of regular business tasks can be categorized as systematic, that is to say they follow a predetermined set of steps towards completion. RPA is a process in which such routine tasks can be automated by software ‘robots’. Much like their physical counterparts, such soft bots can perform the tasks they are designed for with untiring accuracy and precision.
And this very fact makes RPA an excellent technology to use in SAP.
Advantage of RPA Integration for SAP
Everyone knows SAP for its classic ERP implementation. And while the popularity of SAP is dominant in the business world, automation of SAP processes using RPA is gaining greater prominence for enterprises. A number of procedures in SAP fall under the category of routine, repetitive and time intensive. Involving human users to complete these tasks uses up valuable time, which if freed can be utilized for matters of greater business importance.
One can use RPA to effectively automate these mundane processes. RPA capabilities can augment Both on-premise and cloud modules of a SAP implementation. RPA tools effectively complete the tasks as if a human is implementing them. Thus, RPA frees up human users from routine and repetitive jobs and allows them to focus on innovation.
SAP Use Cases involving RPA
A number of use cases in SAP can apply RPA with great results. Some of these are as explored below.
Finance And Accounting
RPA can be put to excellent use in automating SAP finance and accounting functions. One prominent utility of RPA in accounting can be in the robotic handling of invoices. Robots can easily carry out tasks such as data extraction and digitization of invoices. Checking data for consistency is another of the repetitive tasks undertaken in accounting. This process too is an excellent candidate for RPA. An RPA program can be deployed to automatically verify the consistency of financial data and also send periodic reports to those concerned.
Sales
Your sales team spends a large amount of time in handling routine tasks such as data management, error correction and sales ordering processing. RPA for SAP can help by effectively automating these routine tasks. One of the best examples of Sales RPA can be in the processing of sales orders. Correct processing of sales orders is essential to proper product delivery. Manual inputs, no matter how expertly handled, always leave the possibility for errors. SAP RPA can eliminate this risk by allowing robots to do the task in an error free manner. This leaves the sales team to do what they do best: improve sales for your company.
Logistics
This is yet another SAP module where RPA can be put to good use. Logistics operations include a number of routine tasks such as invoicing, shipment scheduling and tracking. RPA can successfully automate these processes for independent execution. This translates to better workflow patterns and enhanced customer services.
Procurement
By nature, procurement is a transactional process, and hence it can be a prime candidate for automation. Using RPA to augment procurement tasks such as billing, invoicing and contract generation streamlines the entire SAP procurement process and makes for faster execution and quality results.
Final thoughts
From the above use-cases it is evident that RPA can significantly boost the performance of any SAP implementation. At this point, distinction must be made between ERP automation and RPA. While ERP automation is more concerned with streamlining ERP systems to achieve better performance, RPA involves reducing human intervention and automating tasks for superior execution.
These are only some of the use cases of RPA in a SAP environment (on-premise and cloud). FlinQ Automation has proven capabilities in implementing RPA for multifarious operations. RPA and SAP can work together to create improved process flows and faster execution times. With FlinQ Automation, you are guaranteed to get your desired results, and more.