If you have not yet implemented Robotic Process Automation, it might be difficult to get a solid understanding of its possibilities. These examples represent just some processes which can be effectively automated by a manufacturing company, leading to cost savings, improved lead times and delivery accuracy.
Supply Chain
Quote management / costing: read process sheet for a part, cross reference with financial information and part information from ERP system, calculate part cost and load it back in ERP system (Applications: SAP, Excel, Outlook, PDF).
Inventory storage reporting: pull open ticket data from systems related to inventory shortages, sort the data based on location and part number, determine target supply location and create supply notifications (Applications: WMS, SharePoint).
Bill of material validation: access bill of material in the ERP system, verify that the required parts have been ordered, create and distribute a report (Applications: ABAS ERP, Outlook).
Procurement
Order confirmation processing: download order confirmations from email, validate order confirmation against order entry in ERP, update ERP if required (Applications: ERP, Outlook, PDF).
Delivery date monitoring: access indicated delivery dates in ERP, cross-reference supplier contact details, send out confirmation requests for delivery date confirmation (Applications: ERP, Outlook).
Procurement analysis: identify invoices where contracted price and terms are more favorable and adjust payment to reflect contracted items(Applications: ERP, Excel, PDF, Outlook).
Finance
AP Invoice processing: download invoice from email, read invoice details, cross-reference invoice details with the order confirmation in ERP, enter invoice details into ERP for payment, save invoice (Applications: Outlook, ERP, PDF, SharePoint).
AR collections: open AR listing, sort by date of outstanding payment, cross-reference customer details with the ERP system, generate and send reminder email, enter reminder date into ERP (Applications: Excel, ERP, Outlook).
HR
Master data management: update and validate all relevant data in required systems (security, benefits, etc.), including establishing electronic files and translating current data into electronic files, if applicable, for all new hires (Applications: HRIS, PDF, Outlook).
Offer letter creation: Access applicant tracking system, populate template according to business rules, generate e-signature package, email to candidate (Applications: application tracking, HRIS, DocuSign, Outlook).
IT
Account management: create and delete user accounts (Applications: Active directory, ERP, Exchange, etc.)
Testing: create automated testing processes to enable accelerated project lifecycle within ERP upgrades and deployments to new businesses (Applications: SAP, JDA, Ariba etc.)
Service delivery: automate Level-1 internal ticket handling, including NLP-based automatic ticket assignment (Applications: ITSM, Outlook).