admin Covid-19 Pandemic has come as a tremor which the world wasn’t prepared for The unprecedented lockdowns have redefined the way companies operated. Overburdened Management, employees or, housewives with no housemaids, all are rushing towards technology and labor-saving devices to their rescue. Automation was anyway gaining headways worldwide. But as organizations grapple with strained resources and uncertain markets, they are adopting Robotic Process Automation (RPA), rapidly, to seam through the demanding customers, streamlining operations, and reducing costs.
From Appliances→Kiosks→Robots, the journey has been hasty. One of the sources says India stands at no. 18 in the list of 25 countries showing readiness for Automation, and the Indian Industrial Automation Market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 11.6% during 2017-2023. But the global numbers are promising with three-quarters of organizations falling under the piloting or have already automated at least one business process.
While we wait and watch for the events to turn out in the coming year and wait for the numbers to reflect positivity on charts, let us look at some quick pointers, indicating what it needs for any Industry to be Automation ready.
Why Automation?
→ Reduced operation Cost
New automation techniques, such as RPA and cognitive technologies, are having a transformative impact. By automating manual and repetitive tasks, successful operations centers are reducing costs by 30 to 60 percent while increasing delivery quality.-source Mckinsey & company December 2019.
→ Improved Accuracy and on-time delivery
→ Reduced cycle time
→ Improved Deadlines and quality of service
→ Enhanced customer experience
→ Remote problem resolutions
When do you know you are ready for Automation?
- Identify potential for Automation- Is your business customer-centric or Process centric?
- Compare your operations cost now and after automation based on what business you are in and the level of maturity your processes have.
- How well do your company vision and strategies align with the kind of Automation you plan?
- Are your Business processes well defined?
- Analyze the risks involved in introducing Automation to any of your business processes.
- Is your Team enabled, both technically and psychologically to drive and cope up with Automation?
- Analyze the associated costs involved with automating and required training.
What will change once you decide to Automate:
- Manpower will need to learn new skills.
- Organization Restructuring may be required.
- Business Leaders will need to interact more with the IT to collaborate
- Interpersonal relations with Customers
How to plan Automation:
- Identify the subject matter experts within the organization who can take charge as the Drivers of Automation.
- Plan a short-term concept testing with one of the Business processes and see if it yields results.
- Most important is you communicate the planned Automation and its impacts through a formal Forum to avoid any misconception and grapevine.
Should you go at once or in phases?
Decide Which Business processes to begin with. Most commonly routine Processes which can be standardized like HR, Finance, IT, procurement can be the initiator. Once you freeze on the processes that need automation all you need is :
Detailed process Analysis→Process Map→ Blue Print →Development Plan.
Most recommended by industry experts is to plan the Automation for one of the whole business processes at once to evaluate the business value and ease of implementation.
Business Impact
Technology is fluid, and continuously evolving across the world. Any organization going ahead with automation must adopt a comprehensive yet flexible approach, that is open to a variety of solutions from mixed platforms. Since Artificial Intelligence is storming ahead with marvelous solutions in almost every business process, keeping it unbarred is advisable.
The Human Impact
Reaction and resistance to any change introduced are but human. So how will your employees react to the automation of processes? While this has been my subject of utmost interest and a decade of experience with it, it certainly is a matter which deserves focused attention from the management and use of science.
Every personality reacts to the change differently. while some may be vocal, some resent, some complain, some are charged up with innovation and technology, and of course the worriers.
Imagine sales managers disappointment when he does not get to meet his prospects in person or a data processor who is used to a well defined, structured, or organized work environment suddenly is shaken by a fluid surrounding. While these reactions are transitional, a communication and clear people strategy to introduce change to the different sets of personalities within the organization promises a swift sail without any grapevines or misconceptions about the management.
About the Author
Bharati Thakur has over a decade of professional experience in Behavioral Assessments, Executive Coaching, and Human Resources Consulting. She has extensively facilitated about 50 Management workshops and trained more than 200, middle, Senior Management, and C-suite executives from various client organizations, within India and Bangladesh. Bharati has a Master’s degree in Personnel Management from Pune University and has completed an Executive MBA from IIM Kolkata. She has been trained for Predictive Index Management Workshops by PI Worldwide, Boston, USA, and in the Selling Skills Assessment Program by PI Worldwide, Florida, USA.
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