Article | 15.7.2021
How to secure post-corona business growth with automation
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Economic forecasts are looking promising, societies are slowly starting to open and demand is growing. During the corona crisis, major changes had to be made as operations migrated to remote connections. In this adjustment to “the new normal”, the development of core processes was left behind in many companies. Now is the right time to prepare for post-corona growth and build operative models that support the development of growth.
The development and streamlining of core processes should now be taken to the next level, and this will be achieved through digitalization. Intelligent software robotics and artificial intelligence are digital tools that enable the automation and operational efficiency of knowledge work. But how exactly does automation help to prepare for growth?
Automation boosts efficiency in operations and makes work more meaningful by eliminating monotonous routine work
Software robotics accelerates the transformation of knowledge work by reassigning numerous routine and operational tasks from employees to a machine. At the same time, the role of employees shifts more into the actual expert work which is interpretating and utilizing the information that the robot generates. Both employee and customer satisfaction typically improve when robots work side by side with employees, enabling faster and error-free service. For example, our customer Teosto used robotics to increase the efficiency of their operations, free up employees’ time for more meaningful tasks and improve the quality of processes. The automation of routine work also reduces risks and improves quality management.
Automation speeds up customer service and creates new opportunities for service design
The benefits of software robotics are often demonstrated in direct customer impact. Improving customer experience and satisfaction is an important result of software robotics. Robotics enable faster customer service, which in turn helps by reducing the need for additional contacts. Automation also alleviates pressure if the amount of work multiplies: robots can work tirelessly around the clock to unload peak natured workload, ensuring continuity of operations. Congested customer service teams can serve customers better when robots pre-process applications, orders, or claims.
Robotics can be utilized to develop ways to serve customers better – it can be used to quickly create new services or forms of communication for customers, as well as communicate to them more regularly and in a more targeted way. For example, our customer Y-Foundation used robotics to create a new service model for its customers, which improved customer experience, created direct cost savings and reduced the amount of receivables by 10–20% on a monthly basis. In addition, the foundation gained a cost-effective tool for communication, which has been used to inform staff, target customer communications and as an alternative medium instead of reminder letters for example during a postal strike.
Intelligent automation streamlines more demanding processes which include tasks that require consideration
By seamlessly combining intelligence, such as understanding and processing documents, image recognition, or prediction models (artificial intelligence), with software robotics, intelligent automation can be used to reliably serve even more demanding processes. Such processes often involve human-robot interaction, such as human acceptance or interpretation, after which the robot continues to work. Or it could involve processes that transcend an organization’s functional boundaries, such as order-supply chain management or invoice reconciliation and accounting. For example, we implemented an intelligent automation project for our customer, where we automated the company’s purchase invoice processing. As a result from the automation, the amount of manual work was reduced and operation models and data were harmonized.
Author: Paiju Koivula