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Process Mining and RPA: The automation power couple
So far, we’ve looked at how Process Mining can be used to maximize the value of RPA by showing where and how RPA can be applied to deliver the greatest returns.
But what does that mean in reality?
First, it’s useful to recap the many benefits of using RPA as a standalone solution. When it’s used to automate repetitive, mundane tasks like data entry and batch file re-naming, RPA can:
- Deliver value fast: Time to value with RPA can be as little as days or hours, as bots can be created quickly and easily with low-code RPA tools.
- Eliminate human error: A bot performs its allotted task correctly each time, eliminating the human error associated with copy and paste and data entry activities.
- Increase productivity: Intelligent bots can perform labor-intensive tasks at a much faster rate than humans and can perform them 24/7 with no loss of performance.
- Boost employee engagement: AI-powered automation frees humans from mundane tasks and allows them to focus on higher-value, more enjoyable work.
- Beat labor shortages: Bots can perform tasks for which the organization previously had to hire people, supporting business continuity in a time of chronic labor shortages.
When RPA is used together with Process Mining, these benefits increase exponentially. The two solutions used together enable the organization to:
Process Mining identifies candidate tasks for RPA across the whole organization, massively increasing its strategic potential.
Task Mining – a core element of Process Mining – surfaces all of the tasks that can be automated with RPA, rather than relying on individual employees and departments to spot them.
An incomplete view of processes across the organization often leads to the wrong things being automated. Process Mining highlights the tasks that will most benefit from automation.
Ad-hoc automation of one part of a process can often create problems elsewhere. By providing the big picture, Process Mining ensures task automation is applied in the most effective way.
When Process Mining is integrated with RPA, bots can be automatically generated from the Process Mining tool, saving even more time.
RPA is often applied once to the lowest-hanging fruit and then forgotten about. Process Mining continuously searches for new automation opportunities, maximizing the long-term value of an RPA investment.
As Process Mining continuously monitors organizational processes as they change, it can predict when a change to a process risks breaking an existing automation. That enables the organization to modify the automation and avoid risks like compliance breaches caused by failed processes.
Process Mining and RPA together create a robust technology foundation for continuous optimization and automation. That foundation can form the basis of a dedicated center of excellence to ensure the value of Process Mining and RPA is fully leveraged throughout the organization.
Here are a few examples of organizations that have unlocked substantial value with Process Mining and RPA:
ROI-driven process improvements at Max Mara Fashion Group
Global luxury fashion group Max Mara was experiencing bottlenecks in its fulfillment processes that were negatively impacting order-to-cash cycles, especially during seasonal sales spikes. It wanted to understand these bottlenecks at a granular level so it could not only identify where the problems were but also understand which fixes would yield the highest ROI.
Max Mara looked for a process discovery tool that combined implementation flexibility with granular process modeling capabilities. Of the tools it evaluated, IBM Process Mining emerged as the most comprehensive foundation for data-driven process optimization. The IBM tool was put to work to visualize order to cash processes and identify optimization opportunities.
Today the IBM tool is used to analyze complex processes across the business and to model and understand the ROI of process changes and automations. One automation surfaced by IBM Process Mining, for example, enabled Max Mara to reduce customer service resolution times by 90 percent and average cost per resolution by 46 percent.
Read the full story: Redesigning Order to Cash for a better buying experience
Multi-million dollar savings at Credito Emiliano S.p.A
Italian regional bank Credito Emiliano (Credem) started its digital transformation journey in 2013, aiming to optimize both the customer and employee experience.
Initially, individual departments automated their own small processes or parts of processes, but the company knew it could unlock much more value by taking a more holistic approach. It chose to implement IBM Process Mining and IBM RPA to analyze and automate internal processes, including back-office processes and critical customer-service-related processes.
In one case, it identified an opportunity to automate parts of its credit card checks and approvals processes, shortening the approval time from four days to one and saving approximately EUR 500,000 (USD 521,000) per year. In another, it was able to reduce the time employees spend processing loans by 70 percent. Overall, the bank was able to implement 91 automations to date, resulting in multi-million-dollar savings in operation and service costs.
Read the full story: Transforming the customer and employee experience
Streamlined order to cash at a large Multinational Manufacturing Company
Due to the complexity of its far-flung operations, a large MMC was having trouble finding the root causes of delays occurring in its logistics activity that were impacting its order-to-cash cycles. Logistics managers tried repeatedly to minimize delays, but corrective action was hamstrung by incomplete and disconnected information.
After reviewing a proof of concept (POC), the MMC implemented IBM Process Mining to create a digital twin of the organization to uncover the problems. Using Process Mining together with RPA, the company has been able to tackle bottlenecks and inefficiencies throughout the order-to-cash process, unlocking hundreds of thousands of dollars of cost savings and reducing lead times by days.
Read the full story: Advantage AI – How to streamline and optimize workflows