The industrial sector is no stranger to robotic technology, with industrial robots commonly used for material handling in factories and on the production line, but far fewer companies understand what Robotic Automation can do.

Both Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Robotic Desktop Automation (RDA) involve the application of software and algorithms to perform routine operations previously carried out by humans; RPA does it on a server processing level in a server room without humans, and RDA on a desktop level, alongside a human. So far, RPA has been used more widely in the manufacturing sphere, yet arguably RDA that has the most potential by truly opening the door to artificial intelligence.

COGNITION COMPUTING

RDA automates rule based processes, creating and designing software robots that manipulate other software like a human, freeing up employees to focus on other more strategic areas. What’s more, it is capable of a kind of ‘self-learning’ process to store more and more information, increasing the capability of the software to automate more and more complex tasks over time. RDA is not restricted to repetitive sub-processes, the goal is to make contextual decisions in order to truly shift the workload to machines. It mimics and supports humans as they perform a task so that the RDA logic becomes an assistant rather than just a tool.

BUSINESS IMPACT

From a manufacturing perspective, RDA has massive potential to increase both productivity and cost competitiveness. Experts predict that more than 15 per cent of administrative jobs could be automated within the next ten years and that doesn’t mean reducing the number of employees, but creating higher-skilled and better-paying positions, and also delivering a more streamlined service to stakeholders and customers. Order taking and fulfilment is one area where RDA can be used to great effect to minimise human error and ensure a smoother service from start to finish.

RDA is an agile approach to operational efficiency and the tools are easy to use, quick to implement and adapt. However, RDA is still only one part of the picture and it needs to be integrated properly with other elements and multiple systems in order to achieve the kind of ground-breaking results it is really capable of.

Main benefits of Robotic Automation are: increased efficiency; improved accuracy; increased customer experience; decreased operational costs (up to 80 per cent AHT reduction); higher employee productivity; improved data analytics; and agility and time-to-market.

Contextor is the European leader in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Robotic Desktop Automation (RDA) and its solutions are available in the GCC through Dubai-based partner Kleptika.