Innovation Factory

How enterprise automation can help you take the step into the future

Acceleration through digitization: The flood of applications for short-time allowances, for example, made technology approaches such as Robotic Process Automation (RPA) urgently necessary. On the other hand, many companies stagnated during the last years, as the focus was understandably on stabilizing the core business. Investing financially and in terms of time in digital solutions was out of the question at that time. But now, at the latest, companies should address this issue. Why and how this can be done is explained below.

As a rule, companies want more flexibility and efficiency in order to be able to assert themselves in competition and adapt to changing market situations. The automation of work processes is usually seen as the right way to achieve this, as it offers several decisive advantages. It frees up employees, who can then concentrate on activities that really add value. Streamlined work processes ensure faster development of products, which increases adaptability on the market. And software robots also enable shorter processing times in the service sector. The result is better service overall, offering greater customer proximity and a more in-depth range of consulting services.

Although the technologies and know-how are sufficiently available, many companies were cautious about the topic for a long time. But what was the reason for this? Prejudices and respect for internal communication play a role here. After all, announced automation projects require the acceptance of employees, who often associate the promised relief through robotics with dismissal. For companies that rely on the use of AI, the quantity and quality of the data is also a challenge. These form the basis for establishing efficient AI technologies.

Public administration with digitization

However, before individual approaches to overcoming the automation hurdles are presented, public administrations should first be pointed out as a positive example of the implementation of RPA technologies. This is because while many companies are still in the planning phase for automation or are trying out initial smaller solutions, these are already one step further. Currently, these findings are being incorporated into the establishment of company-wide automation solutions.

The pandemic has shown that many public authorities have some catching up to do in the area of digital services. This is because some of the services offered are based on processes that involve a large number of manual steps. These many small manual steps take time and cause applications to pile up. With the use of RPA, on the other hand, software robots can take over the monotonous work and relieve employees. In this respect, public authorities are taking on an unusual role for them these days: they are leading the way in digitization and demonstrating the long-term benefits of RPA.

Anyone who is toying with the idea of automating their company but is reluctant about the scope of the project should also bear in mind that there are different degrees with different levels of complexity. It is recommended to proceed from a clearly limited area of application to the big picture on the basis of a proof of concept (PoC). This means that a process is first set up and tested. If this is subsequently approved by the company, the change can be marketed internally. Subsequently, further processes can be implemented and tested for their suitability in everyday business. In this way, a digital seedling slowly grows into a functional ecosystem that includes more and more processes. This results in new challenges: the establishment of new organizational units and regulations. In this respect, there is also a need within the company for new jobs that specialize in these fields.

Where does the data come from?

Another challenge is the often insufficient database. Many companies are asking themselves: Where do I get the information that the AI uses to acquire its knowledge? Companies that began successive digitization ten years ago and took the megatrend around big data seriously are now benefiting from a good starting position. On the other hand, many companies that are only now starting to digitize their data are also considering other solutions. This can be explained in more detail using an example from the insurance sector. 

In many insurance companies, vast amounts of paper information are stored in folders in the basement. It takes a lot of time and effort to digitize all of this. One solution would be to join forces in the form of consortia. This way, everyone would initially only have to digitize a fraction of their documents and transfer them to a collective database. The effect? A comprehensive knowledge database would immediately be available as the starting point for a large central brain that would develop in the direction of AI. But some insurers are concerned that this would expose potentially sensitive data and weaken their own competitive position. 

Enterprise automation with SAP

The automation of a company offers numerous advantages. For example, it creates greater efficiency by allowing standard processes to be taken over by software robots. In addition, the switch to smart enterprise technologies helps improve quality. After all, systematically captured application forms end up being free of errors and always have the same format. And last but not least, automation processes ensure greater transparency. The automated and immediate recording and evaluation of data makes it clear how quickly and efficiently a workflow is working and where there may still be potential for improvement.

The overarching goal of a modern company could ultimately be the hyperautomation of all internal and external processes. Hyperautomation is characterized by permanent optimization and the intelligent linking of automation technologies such as RPA, AI, machine learning or process mining. As a long-standing SAP Gold Partner, we support companies on this path and show which technology represents the solution to a specific problem. 

A number of SAP solutions are available to successively achieve the goal of hyperautomation. SAP Conversational AI, for example, provides a collection of services for natural language processing. In addition, the tool enables the creation and monitoring of intelligent chatbots in one interface to automate tasks and workflows. An AI-powered no-code solution for managing workflows and RPA solutions is provided by SAP Process Automation. It enables the aforementioned automation of routine manual tasks, integrates any user interface-level applications, and scales easily and quickly. As a result, more and more SAP core applications can be automated and also continuously improved through enrichment using artificial intelligence (Intelligent RPA).

Part of this "intelligent" service offering is grouped under SAP AI Business Services. They offer a variety of AI services and applications that automate as well as optimize business processes and improve the customer experience across the intelligent suite. One example of building a self-service customer experience is Service Ticket Intelligence. The service automatically classifies incoming requests to route them to the right agent. The agent is then provided with suggested solutions to improve operational efficiency. Another example of an AI service is the improvement of automated invoice matching in S/4 (SAP Cash Application), which captures customer and country-specific behavior. In this way, it is possible to prepare one's own company for the future with the help of a versatile toolkit of SAP tools, constructive advice and realistic objectives.

Conclusion:

In summary, it can be said that the crisis has led to a new and better understanding of digital technologies. By reacting quickly to external influences, companies and administrations have been able to demonstrate that good automation solutions can also be established relatively quickly and offer real added value in practice. Nevertheless, with all the technical possibilities and innovations, we should not forget the "human" factor: Automation technologies can make a significant contribution to optimizing processes - but they cannot (yet) replace personal interaction.