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Why Are Your Teams Slowed Down in Their Work?
Every day, your administrativeteams spend hours copying and pasting data between your order system and yourERP.
Manually processing invoices.
Checking inventory.
Entering the same informationinto three different systems.
Repetitive tasks that take up alarge part of their day and are sources of costly errors.
Meanwhile, your skilledemployees can't focus on what truly creates value: serving your customers,growing your business, and improving the organization.
This is exactly the problemthat robotic process automation is designed to solve.
RPA Definition: What is Robotic Process Automation?
It's a technology that uses softwarerobots to perform repetitive tasks normally done by humans.
These software robots mimic theactions an employee would take on their computer: clicking, copying andpasting, filling out forms, extracting data, and navigating between multipleapplications.
It's a technology that's verypopular because it addresses a critical need: freeing up team time so they canfocus on value-added tasks.
RPA vs Artificial Intelligence: What's the Difference?
Here's the fundamentaldifference between RPA and AI.
The RPA software robotfollows predefined rules and fixed processes. It does exactly what it's told todo, nothing more, nothing less.
Artificial intelligence, on theother hand, learns and adapts from data.
A concrete example tounderstand the difference between RPA and AI.
You receive 200 invoices permonth by email. An RPA automation robot can open each email, downloadthe PDF invoice, extract the important information (invoice number, amount,date), and enter it into your accounting system.
It does this by followingprecise rules that you've defined.
AI could analyze handwritteninvoices or invoices with completely different formats and learn to processthem even if it has never seen that format before.
In practice, many companiescombine both technologies. RPA automation is used for structured tasks,and AI is added when unstructured data needs to be processed.
How Does an RPA Robot Actually Work?
Think of your TV remotecontrol.
It allows you to control yourTV with different buttons. You press the "Power" button to turn it onor off.
An RPA automation robotis pretty much the same thing.
It interacts with yourapplications using their graphical interface, exactly as a human would. Itdoesn't need direct database access or require an API integration.
This is a huge advantage for automatingyour processes.
This means you can automaterepetitive tasks without touching your aging ERP, without asking yoursoftware vendor for a custom development project, and without risking breakinganything.
The RPA robot isinstalled on top of your existing applications and uses them just as anemployee would.
The 3 Types of RPA for Automating Your Business Processes
There are three main types of RPAautomation robots, each suited to different needs in process automation.
Attended Robots: Your Virtual Assistant
Attended robots work alongsideyour employees at their workstations.
Imagine an employee processingcustomer orders. They receive an email with an order, open the PDF, enter theinformation into the ERP, then send a confirmation.
An attended robot can automatethe repetitive parts while the employee focuses on complex cases.
The employee triggers the RPArobot when needed, like calling an assistant.
Unattended Robots: 24/7 Automation
Unattended robots operatecompletely autonomously, without human intervention.
They can work according to yourneeds: at night, on weekends, 24/7, 365 days a year.
A typical example in themanufacturing sector:
Every morning at 6 AM, the RPArobot logs into your inventory management system, checks stock levels,identifies products below the critical threshold, automatically generatespurchase orders, and sends them to suppliers.
All of this while your team isstill asleep.
According to industry studies, softwarerobots perform tasks 3 to 5 times faster than a human and reduce dataentry errors by 90%.
Cognitive RPA: When AI Meets Automation
Cognitive automation combines RPAsoftware robots with artificial intelligence.
This allows automatingthe processing of unstructured documents, reading emails in natural language,and analyzing handwritten invoices.
It's more advanced and moreexpensive, but it opens up possibilities that a traditional RPA robotcannot handle.
For example, a cognitive robotcan read your customer service emails, understand the request, extract theimportant information, and automatically create a ticket in your system withthe right categories.
5 Concrete RPA Applications in the Manufacturing Sector
Enough theory. Here areconcrete examples of RPA automation that generate measurable results inthe manufacturing sector.
Automating Supplier Invoice Processing and Exception Handling
You receive 200 supplierinvoices per month. Each invoice must be downloaded, validated against thepurchase order, entered into accounting, then sent for approval.
Before RPA automation: 40 hoursof work per month.
After RPA automation: 7 hoursof supervision only.
82% reduction in processingtime.
The RPA robot downloadsinvoices from emails or the supplier portal, extracts important data withintelligent OCR, automatically verifies they match purchase orders, detectsdiscrepancies and exceptions, enters everything into the accounting system, andsends a notification for final approval.
No more invoices sitting aroundfor weeks. No more late payment penalties. Manufacturing companies thatimplement this automation achieve savings of 25 to 50% on this specificprocess.
Intelligent Grouping of Maintenance Work Orders
Your maintenance techniciansspend their day running from one piece of equipment to another. Meanwhile, yourbacklog of work orders keeps growing.
Before automation: a plannerspends 2 hours per day manually reviewing urgent work orders, scheduledmaintenance, and overdue items to try to group them intelligently.
An RPA robot automaticallyanalyzes multiple data sources: reported emergencies, upcoming preventivemaintenance, accumulated backlog. It even consults equipment manuals toidentify opportunities to group interventions on the same equipment or in thesame area.
Result: your technicianscomplete 30% more interventions per day. Your backlog shrinks visibly. And yourequipment availability rate increases by 15%.
No more time wasted onunnecessary travel. No more missed grouping opportunities.
Critical Parts Inventory Monitoring with Automatic Alerts
A missing critical part canparalyze your entire production line for hours, even days.
Currently, someone manuallychecks stock levels every week. Between checks, a part can fall below thecritical threshold without anyone noticing.
An RPA robot monitors yourstock levels in real time, 24 hours a day. As soon as a critical part reachesits reorder threshold, it automatically generates an alert report, creates thesupplier order with the right quantities, and sends it directly.
Result: zero stockouts oncritical parts. Zero avoidable production stoppages. And a 20% reduction inyour average stock levels because you order at the right time, not "justin case."
No more overstocks tying upyour capital. No more stockouts paralyzing your production.
Claims and Warranty Automation
Every customer claim orwarranty request follows the same process: receiving the request, validatinginformation, checking eligibility, creating the file, approval, thenprocessing.
Before automation: your teamspends 3 hours per day manually processing these requests. Customers wait 5 to7 days for a response.
An RPA robot receives therequest, automatically extracts customer and product information, checkseligibility in your system (purchase date, warranty conditions, history),creates the pre-filled file, and sends it for approval with a recommendation.
Result: response time reducedto 24-48 hours. Customer satisfaction up 35%. And your team gets back 15 hoursper week for higher-value tasks.
No more frustrated customersfollowing up three times. No more incomplete files sitting around.
Automated Compliance and Sustainability Data Collection
Environmental regulatoryrequirements are only increasing, and this creates a lot of administrative workfor your team. From energy consumption to emissions to waste management: youmust document, compile, and report.
Currently, someone has to spendseveral hours per month extracting data from your various systems (meters,energy bills, production records), compiling them in Excel, calculatingindicators, and preparing compliance reports.
An RPA robot automaticallyconnects to your data sources, extracts energy consumption and emissionsinformation, compiles them according to required regulatory formats, detectsanomalies or threshold exceedances, and generates reports ready to submit.
Result: X hours per month freedup. Zero calculation errors in your reports. And most importantly, proactivealerts when you're approaching a critical threshold, before it becomes acompliance issue.
No more surprises duringaudits. No more sleepless nights compiling data before a regulatory deadline.
The Benefits of RPA Automation for Manufacturers
Beyond the concrete examples,here are the general benefits that robotic process automation brings tomanufacturing companies.
ROI and Measurable Savings
Return on investment in RPAis typically achieved in 6 to 12 months.
For simple processes, settingup an RPA robot can take between 3 and 6 weeks. No need to wait 6to 12 months like for a complete system overhaul.
A software robot works24/7, 365 days a year, without breaks or fatigue errors.
According to the World EconomicForum, virtual machines could work more hours than humans by 2025.
You quickly recoup yourinvestment through time savings and reduction of costly errors with RPAautomation.
Error Reduction and Quality Improvement
A data entry error in an ordermeans an unhappy customer, a delivery to redo, and time lost on corrections.
Industry studies show that RPAautomation reduces data entry errors by 90%.
A software robot doesexactly what it's told, exactly the same way, every time.
No errors because it's tired,distracted, or misunderstood.
Result: better quality ofservice, fewer corrections, more satisfied customers.
Freeing Up Team Time
This may be the most importantbenefit of this technology.
According to Harvard BusinessReview, most organizations adopting robotic automation have promised theiremployees there would be no layoffs.
On the contrary, employees havebeen redeployed to higher value-added tasks.
They can focus on processimprovement, customer service, complex problem solving, and innovation.
Team morale improves becausethey're finally doing interesting work that uses their skills.
And your company becomes morecompetitive because your talent focuses on what really matters.
RPA Automation Risks and Limitations: What You Need to Know Before GettingStarted
Robotic process automationis not a magic solution that solves all problems. There are risks andlimitations to understand.
Security Challenges
An RPA automation robothas access to your systems, just like an employee.
It can log into your ERP, yourorder system, your accounting.
If someone malicious gainsaccess to your software robot, they could cause significant damage.
That's why security must bethought through from the beginning of the implementation.
Robots must have secureauthentication, logs recording all their actions, and strict access controls.
Suitable vs Unsuitable Processes
Not all processes are goodcandidates for RPA automation.
The best cases are repetitiveprocesses, based on clear rules, executed frequently, involving multipleapplications.
However, processes requiringsubjective judgment or complex human interactions are not suited for roboticautomation.
A concrete example tounderstand which processes to automate.
Processing 200 invoices withthe same format each month: excellent candidate for RPA.
Negotiating payment terms witha supplier based on context: not suited at all.
Maintenance and Scalability
An RPA automation robotmust be maintained.
If you change the layout ofyour ERP, the software robot will need to be adjusted. If you updateyour order system, you'll need to verify everything still works.
It's like an employee who needsto be trained when processes change.
The good news is that theseadjustments are generally quick and inexpensive. Much simpler than modifyingcomplex API integrations.
Just be aware that RPAautomation is not "set and forget." It requires a minimum ofsupervision and adjustments over time.
How to Implement RPA in Your Manufacturing Company?
You're convinced that RPAautomation can help your business. Now, how do you actually proceed to implementRPA?
Identifying Processes to Automate with RPA
Don't start by automatingeverything at once.
Identify one or two processesthat are really causing problems: frequent errors, a lot of wasted time,frustration in the team.
Ask yourself the rightquestions to implement RPA.
Is this process repetitive?Does it follow clear rules? Does it involve multiple systems? Do we do itoften?
If you answer yes to thesequestions, it's probably a good candidate for RPA automation.
An important tip: start smallwith a simple process. You'll generate quick wins with RPA, prove thevalue of automation, and build your team's confidence.
Then, you can automatemore complex processes.
Choosing the Right RPA Solution
There are several RPAautomation tools on the market: UiPath, Blue Prism, Automation Anywhere,Microsoft Power Automate.
Each has its strengths andweaknesses for process automation.
Some are perfect for largecompanies with complex needs. Others are more suited to SMBs looking forsomething simple and affordable.
The choice of RPA tooldepends on your situation: budget, technical skills of your team, systems youuse, complexity of your processes.
Ready to Free Up Your Teams' Time?
As you've seen, roboticprocess automation (RPA) is no longer a futuristic technology reserved forlarge corporations.
It's an accessible, provensolution that generates measurable results in a few weeks.
And contrary to what you mightfear, RPA automation doesn't replace your employees. It frees them fromrepetitive tasks so they can focus on what truly creates value.
Are you wondering whichprocesses in your manufacturing company could benefit from RPA automation?
How to identify cost sources?
If you want to learn about thepossibilities that automation can achieve, I invite you to fill out this ROIcalculator.
You'll be able to identify yourprocesses that should be automated first.
