How to Calculate ROI for RPA

Sunflower Lab
5 min readAug 18, 2021

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So how can your organization capture optimal ROI with RPA? Let’s find out!

What is Robotic Process Automation?

Robotic process automation (RPA) is the use of software with artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning capabilities to handle high-volume, repeatable tasks that previously required humans to perform. These tasks can include queries, calculations and maintenance of records and transactions. RPA technology, sometimes called a software robot or bot, mimics a human worker, logging into applications, entering data, calculating and completing tasks and logging out. Robotic process automation software is not part of an organization’s IT infrastructure. Instead, it sits on top of it, enabling a company to implement the technology quickly and efficiently — all without changing the existing infrastructure and systems.

Why choose RPA?

RPA can help in automating processes, thereby not only executing transactions faster but also with a higher degree of accuracy resulting in higher customer satisfaction. In the field of data management, RPA has a tremendous ability to collect, integrate, analyze, and process the torrents of data generated in today’s commercial world. robotic process automation can be used to tackle the repetitive, easy tasks that plague customer service representatives, thereby freeing them to deliver a higher-quality experience to customers. RPA can update customer profiles, pull up billing data, and other mundane tasks that would otherwise consume customer service reps’ time. Here’s a quick look at the benefits of robotic process automation:

  • Cost Savings

One of the important advantages of robotic process automation is the quick reduction in the cost it can deliver. Software robots also cost less than a full-time employee.

  • Increased Employee Productivity

As RPA liberates the employees from everyday tasks, they can focus more on clients’ connection, relationship management and can perform other such activity which they are excel at.

  • Quality & Accuracy

Robots reduce the cases of re-work and enhance quality. The vital part is that robots follow rules exactly thereby producing 100% accuracy. Software bots aren’t prone to human error and they don’t get tired or distracted. There are no typos and no entries going in the wrong field

  • Improved Customer Experience

By distributing RPA, one can liberate high-prices resources from additional routine and repetitive tasks and set them back on the bleeding edge by helping customers.

  • RPA is scalable

With the help of robotic process automation, companies can make adjustments based on seasonality and can easily scale up or down operation as needed.

  • No Down-Time

Software bots can work all the time — 24-hours a day every single day of the year — at 100% capacity.

  • Fast Implementation

Implementing a new RPA software system certainly happens much faster than training a new person. For e.g. — You can have data entry software bots up and running in just days.

RPA Fast Facts

Accelerated transformation

Among global executives, 63% say RPA is a major component in digital transformation. — PEGASYSTEMS SURVEY

Major cost savings

Companies across industries and around the world report that robotic process automation drives rapid, significant improvement to business metrics. — IT CENTRAL STATION: KEY DRIVERS OF TIME TO VALUE IN RPA, UI PATH

Greater resilience

robotic process automation robots can ramp up quickly to match workload peaks and respond to big demand spikes. — LEARN HOW RPA HELPED SCALE COVID TESTING, UI PATH

Higher accuracy

57% say RPA reduces manual errors. — “IMPACT OF RPA ON EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE,” FORRESTER

Improved compliance

92% agree RPA has ‘met or exceeded expectations’ for better compliance. — “3RD ANNUAL RPA SURVEY” 2018, DELOITTE

Boosted productivity

68% of global workers believe automation will make them more productive. — SURVEY OF 4,500 GLOBAL WORKERS, UI PATH

More value from personnel

60% of executives agree robotic process automation enables people to focus on more strategic work. — “IMPACT OF RPA ON EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE,” FORRESTER

Happier employees

57% of executives say RPA increases employee engagement. — “IMPACT OF RPA ON EMPLOYEE EXPERIENCE,” FORRESTER

What Companies are Using RPA?

Walmart, Deutsche Bank, AT&T, Vanguard, Ernst & Young, Walgreens, Anthem and American Express Global Business Travel are among the many enterprises adopting RPA.

Walmart CIO Clay Johnson says the retail giant has deployed about 500 bots to automate anything from answering employee questions to retrieving useful information from audit documents. “A lot of those came from people who are tired of the work,” Johnson says.

David Thompson, CIO of American Express Global Business Travel, uses RPA to automate the process for cancelling an airline ticket and issuing refunds. Thompson is also looking to use robotic process automation to facilitate automatic rebook recommendations in the event of an airport shutdown, and to automate certain expense management tasks.

“We’ve taken RPA and trained it on how employees do those tasks,” says Thompson, who implemented a similar solution in his prior role as CIO at Western Union. “The list of things we could automate is getting longer and longer.”

But with many more CIOs mulling robotic process automation, CIO.com asked some consultants for advice on how IT leaders can tackle the technology.

How to Calculate ROI for RPA

ROI, or “Return on Investment,” is a project’s expected return in percentage terms. ROI is a critical tool for measuring the impact of your RPA investment with real data. With an understanding of your robotic process automation initiative’s ROI, you can:

  • Justify the initial investment to business leaders with data-driven evidence
  • Make strategic decisions about the technology during planning
  • Plan and build support for subsequent investments like expanding your RPA solution
  • Improve and scale your RPA solution more effectively for better results
  • Feel confident that your solution is performing at its highest potential and delivering optimal value to your company

It is important to remember that there is more than one way to look at how robotic process automation benefits a business. There is the financial benefit, of course, but there are also more intangible benefits such as employee morale or vendor relationship management. In order to get a complete picture of the ROI of RPA, we must look at the financial costs, potential benefits, and how to factor in the human part of the equation.

Other Factors to Consider When Calculating ROI for RPA

  • Employee Satisfaction
  • Customer Service Availability and Quality
  • Better Business Agility
  • Full Time Equivalent
  • Process Lead Time
  • Hours Back to Business
  • Business Continuity Impact
  • Savings from Increased Accuracy
  • Elimination of downtime risks

To Evaluate the ROI in RPA — we Compare the Return vs Investments. All the factors mentioned above are considered to be the Return.

Factors that Account for Investment

  • RPA software cost — Automation tool
  • Implementation cost — Infrastructure
  • Annual maintenance
  • Training for Employees and Experts
  • The cost of development;
  • The cost of monitoring and maintenance

Choosing an RPA for your Business

Are you looking to save time and money on your business operations? Are many of your business processes rule-based, repetitive, and flow at high volumes? Do you want to utilize your employees for more valuable tasks to elevate the quality of your outputs? If you answered yes to any or all of these questions, your enterprise may be a great candidate for robotic process automation. We can help you take the next step towards your automated future. Reach out to one of our RPA specialists today to get a free quote!

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Sunflower Lab
Sunflower Lab

Written by Sunflower Lab

We are a fast-growing, award-winning digital product and innovations agency with offices across North America.

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