Looking for some discussion points on Robotic Process Automation / Intelligent Automation
Hey all,
I’ve been working in the Robotic Process Automation (RPA) / Intelligence Automation field since graduating in 2017. I’m currently based in Belfast, Northern Ireland where there seems to have been a ‘small’ boom in demand for such developers – especially among Big-4 consultancy firms (potentially a dangerous trend).
I’ve made it a goal of mine, during lock-down, to get more involved with the online community both here on Indie Hackers and further afield for a few reasons.
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It’s my believe that automation, in all its various forms, will be a highly disruptive force on the future world economy and workforce. No field will be totally safe from intelligent software which can mimic logical decision making normally attributed to the human brain, even those who program such software (singularity anyone?). People should be aware of the direction things are heading, so the appropriate action can be taken now and minimise the potential negative effect associated with automation.
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I’d like to get some ideas from you all on topics which could help bridge the knowledge gap – Any questions around RPA, AI or automation in general, with the aim of writing some posts and answering questions. I’m by no means an expert, I’ve only been working professionally for 4 years, so this is also a way for me to go out and learn my trade. I would eventually like to take the leap and start-up my own small business, I’ve a few ideas already – But great ideas come from conversation.
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The narcissist in me doesn’t want to end up becoming a faceless developer, locked away in a dark room with nothing more than a laptop, energy drinks and a 2L bag of Doritos.
I recently achieved my first milestone and joined @ajascha on his podcast Automation-Masters, which was a lot of fun and I highly recommend anyone interested in this topic to keep an eye on that space.
So please leave any comments/questions below – I’ll attempt to answer as best I can! Or if there are any fellow Indie Hackers working in the same field, don’t hesitate to get in touch, I’m keen to connect.
Finally – Through discussions online and with colleagues’ - I can see an understandable fear surrounding automation. I highly recommend ‘The Rise of the Robots’ by Martin Ford for an insightful look into how, if planned correctly and in advance, this automation revolution has the potential to create a workplace-renaissance whereby we can employ armies of robots to automate menial/boring tasks not suited for humans, freeing up our creative minds to focus on meaningful work and solving pressing world issues – But we must be ready!
How Does Robotic Process Automation (RPA) Work?
Consider the process of onboarding a new employee. This process often involves tasks such as entering the new employee’s data into a system, setting up their email account, and creating a user profile. All of these tasks can be automated using RPA software.
RPA software can be programmed to automatically enter data into a system, create email accounts, and set up user profiles. It can also be used to automatically generate reports, format documents, and process invoices. In short, RPA can automate just about any task that can be performed manually.
How to embrace RPA for better Business Performance? Check out this article: https://bit.ly/3oe9Csv
For more interesting topics: https://bit.ly/3AKiP3q
Thanks @djon for your detailed thread and honestly I am very much interested in RPA nowadays. I have a few questions about RPA related to its use for different fields. First of all, I would like to clarify that I am not an intelligence automation expert and only got surface-level information from sources like these https://www.automationanywhere.com/rpa/robotic-process-automation & https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/robotic-process-automation-rpa.asp. My initial question is about the use of RPA in customer services. I can understand that RPA software can mimic like a human in the form of chatbot but what is about when comes to precise questions? Actually, I have been used many hosting customer services, where I noticed that bots could only answer fundamental questions. When it comes to something complicated, the service becomes tough to communicate.
I found this article https://medium.com/@scarlett8285/how-rpa-helps-to-improve-customer-service-7fe0abc9b810 helpful to understand the use of PRA in customer services, but what about if the goal of any company is not only about speed, accuracy and increasing production. Yes, I want 100% customer satisfaction with retention. Probably the customer recognition and useful human-like answering could be helpful. Do you think RPA can address such requirements? What technicalities the operators or managers must have in hand to run such automation? Or simple get services any expert like you?
On the other hand, my second question is about the use of RPA in the current situation. Can we use RPA in the HR department to overcome our expenses because everyone is working from home and I don't think companies need big workforces? Or it would be unfair to employees?
Hey @djon, we're currently working on a browser RPA tool at BrowseAI.com . I'd love to show you what we've built and hear your thoughts given your experience and interest in the topic.
If you're interested, please enter your email on the site and I'll reach out when the product is ready within about 4 weeks.
Hi Ardalan -
Sounds great, I've subscribed for early access - Looking forward to hearing more.
Awesome. Thanks John! I'll be in touch.
Hi John. From what I've seen RPA usually means automated interactions through a UI - e.g. recording and replaying user actions. Sure it could be more than this but that's where I current pigeonhole RPA. Again with my limited knowledge I understand BPM as automated workflow with decision points and there is my question for you. What's the best/preferred way to enable end-users to embed their decision making logic in a RPA/BPM solution? Yes we could have a discussion about what magic AI could bring but I'm really asking about what's the recommendations for today. Maybe that's not what you meant. Maybe that's not the discussion you are after. But hey ho, maybe I'll bite on the 'if planned correctly and in advance' later.
Hi Rab,
Firstly, great question and all questions are fair game – I’m just trying to spark conversation!
Hopefully I’m understanding correctly, but if by –
You mean how can an individual or company take a labour intensive / repetitive process suitable for RPA/BMP (ignoring more complex process which would require AI/ML for now) and begin to create automation solution for those processes – This is what I would do.
Identify as many internal business processes that are time-consuming, repetitive and do not require complex, human-like decision making. The simpler the better.
Try to break these processes down into smaller sub-processes. For example, if a process is going to take 10 weeks to develop, then it’s going to take 10 weeks before you see any benefit. If you can break that process down into 5 steps, each taking 2 weeks to develop – you are reaping benefits every 2 weeks, almost like compound interest.
Additionally, building one large automation solution means that if any one of the cogs in the machine fails, then the whole automation fails. Trust mean, RPA robots are temperamental and WILL break occasionally.
Rank these processes in order of simplicity and value saved. I use value ambiguously, it may be money, time, consistency etc. . To0 many times I’ve seen companies select the fanciest process for automation they can find, just so they can write how they are innovating on their website…. Most of the time these fall by the wayside as develop time, development cost and performance don’t meet expectations.
If you have the means, upskill you staff or investigate starting a dedicated internal RPA team. It only needs to be one person to begin with, and they don’t even have to be fully dedicated to RPA initially. It’s very costly to always hire external developers / consultants, which will massively reduce the benefits achieved via automation. You can request free trials from most RPA vendors for training purposes and there are many resources online to get started.
There is of course a learning curve, but with these workflow-based solutions such as UiPath/Blue-Prism it is achievable for most to get a strong grasp with little to no programming/technical background. Some of the best UiPath developers I’ve worked with studied theology, business management and english literature. I studied Physics myself…..
I use the analogy that RPA is like bandaging an amputated leg – You’ll stop the bleeding short term, but you can’t leave it like that long term. RPA is NOT the ultimate solution; it is a means to address your immediate business needs. Therefore, I believe it’s important to also look long term, use the time/resources being saved to improve the process such that RPA is not required, invest in new solutions and you’ll reap far more benefits.
I’ve feel that I’m perhaps writing far too much on this post, but I’m full of ideas and unfortunately don’t think I can help myself! Hopefully this answers your questions?