CUSTOMER CASE | SERVICE INDUSTRY
Scaling automation supports Etteplan’s rapid growth
Author
PAIJU KOIVULA
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Technology service company Etteplan has leveraged automation to streamline its internal operations for several years. Automation and robotics support Etteplan Group’s rapid growth and help the organization achieve more with the same resources. Etteplan has doubled its automation production in just one year, and the goal is to have over 80 UiPath automations in production by the end of this year.
Etteplan invests in automation and actively expands its’ use in business development.
“Automations streamline the company’s internal functions such as finance, HR operations, and the maintenance and user management of internal applications. The largest automations are related to finance and HR processes,” says Samuli Koskinen, Application Manager at Etteplan, who is responsible for the company’s automation strategy.
Etteplan is a global group with operations in seven countries in addition to Finland. About half of the automation solutions serve the entire organization, while the rest support Finnish operations. The goal is to develop solutions that can be utilized group-wide.
“The use of automation has expanded steadily – we’ve doubled our automation production in a year. There are now around 75 UiPath automations and 15–20 implementations built on Power Platform, totaling about 100. Our aim is to deploy all possible automations globally,” Koskinen continues.
Automation is used to develop and streamline processes, improve employee satisfaction, and free up time for strategic work
Etteplan utilizes automation to streamline and enhance its processes while making employees’ work easier. When robots handle manual, repetitive tasks, the number of human errors decreases and process quality improves.
In the finance department, automation has eased peak workloads, especially during month-end closing periods, improving job satisfaction – a key outcome sought through automation.
“Automation has reduced the month-end workload in finance and achieved significant cost savings,” Koskinen explains.
Etteplan’s UiPath robot already works 15 hours a day, and the number keeps growing – even more during month-end.
“In addition, we’ve been able to harmonize internal group processes, bring more structure to work, and reduce unnecessary email exchanges,” Koskinen adds.
Above all, automation frees up time for more strategic, value-adding work as repetitive tasks are handled by robots.
“Automation and robotics are changing the nature of work – instead of downloading reports, we now spend time analyzing them. New ideas emerge more easily when there’s time to innovate and think about how things can be done better,” Koskinen describes.
The collaboration began when Etteplan was looking for a partner to maintain its automation production
Etteplan chose Sisua Digital as its automation partner in 2023, when the company was looking for a partner to maintain its automation production. So far, Sisua has developed two UiPath automations for Etteplan’s finance function.
The first automation is related to time entry invoicing and helps project assistants by ensuring that time entries are completed on schedule.
“The automation reduces manual workload, speeds up the billing cycle, and frees up time during the busy month-end period,” Koskinen explains.
The second solution automatically processes interest invoices each month.
“This automation brings significant benefits since the process can now be executed regularly without manual effort,” Koskinen says.
Additionally, the automation has had a positive impact on cash flow, while customers benefit from timely invoicing.
The importance of maintenance services has grown as the number of automations has increased
Sisua is responsible for the maintenance and refactoring of Etteplan’s automation production. Outsourcing maintenance enables more efficient internal work for the company.
“We only have one internal developer. It’s a big task for one person to define processes, develop, and maintain them all. We wanted to outsource maintenance so we could focus more internally on defining and developing new processes. It’s great to have a partner that can also support our development work,” says Koskinen.
“The partnership with Sisua has become increasingly important as the number of automations has grown and maintenance plays a larger role. Sisua has managed change requests for existing automations, such as adding new countries or business units to processes. This has allowed us to expand the number of global automations,” Koskinen continues.
In maintaining and developing automation production, Sisua has leveraged its international service center, enabling 24/7 support and development. Additionally, Sisua has provided extra capacity from its Robotics-as-a-Service (RaaS) model during peak periods.
“The collaboration has gone really well. Everything we’ve requested has been delivered on schedule, and development has progressed flexibly. Maintenance work has been professional and fast. New developments have been of very high quality, and the Sisua team has responded to requests promptly. We’ve also started working together on maintaining our Power Platform production,” Koskinen says.
Etteplan plans to continue expanding its automation initiatives
“Technology plays a key role in our group, and we continuously seek to expand its use. As the company has grown through acquisitions, automation has enabled us to integrate new operations using the same resources – this way, automation directly supports our growth,” Koskinen explains.
Etteplan plans to continue investing in automation.
“There’s still plenty to automate in finance and HR. Our goal is to eliminate large, time-consuming manual processes and further accelerate the busy month-end cycles,” says Koskinen.
“Our goal is to have 80 UiPath automations in place by the end of this year. We have many ideas for new automations and continuously find opportunities to enhance internal tools with Power Platform. We’ve also held workshops exploring how AI could be used to make processes even more efficient,” Koskinen concludes.
What was achieved with automation
Key benefits
- Time savings
- Reduced manual workload
- Fewer errors
- Improved process quality
- Eased peak workloads
- Cost savings
- Increased employee satisfaction
- Greater efficiency
- Improved cash flow
- Scaled automation supports company growth
- Outsourcing maintenance frees time for development
About the company
Etteplan
Etteplan is a growing technology service company that connects people and technology to make things better. Together with its customers, Etteplan builds a world where systems, processes, and products are smarter, more efficient, and more sustainable. Etteplan’s customers are among the world’s leading manufacturing companies. In 2023, the company’s revenue was EUR 360.0 million, and it employed around 4,000 people in Finland, Sweden, the Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Denmark, and China.
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