Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the Financial Sector by Mario Smeets & Ralph Erhard & Thomas Kaußler

Author:Mario Smeets & Ralph Erhard & Thomas Kaußler
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9783658329747
Publisher: Springer Fachmedien Wiesbaden

Determining the business criteria is not always easy. Process handling times, frequencies and costs are not always available. The costs can, for example, be determined by means of frequency-based costing—i.e. by multiplying processing time, case frequency and an adequate personnel cost rate—or are already available as process unit costs (for example, in the case of outsourced processes). However, the difficulty often lies in the basic work, namely measuring exact processing times and determining the frequencies. In this regard, reference is made to Fischermanns (2015), for example. If an exact determination is not possible, approximate estimates can be made by the process owners, which can be collected in expert discussions or workshops.

Alternative Approach to Process Selection

Lacity and Willcocks (2016, pp. 30–31) describe an alternative approach to selecting automatable processes. They show that Telefónica O2 uses the potential saving of at least three FTE by RPA as a decisive criterion for process selection. This means that only those processes are automated that (mathematically) replace at least three FTE p.a. To estimate the number of FTE, the number of process runs is determined and multiplied by the process handling time (this is called process complexity—whether this actually means the process handling time or something else remains unclear).

Figure 5.5 illustrates this approach graphically. The axes can be assigned any values. Lacity and Willcocks (2016, p. 31) assign a value range from low, <4 min, to high, >30 min per process run for the process handling time by a human on the horizontal axis. On the vertical axis, the process volume, that is, the number of process runs, ranges from low, <30 per month, to high, >1000 per week. The figure illustrates that it is not only processes with high volumes that enable automation that makes sense from a business management perspective. In addition to a process P1, which is run 1000 times a week and takes only a few minutes, for example, a process P3, which is run only a few times a day and takes 60 min, offers equally large savings potential. Process P2 would also be suitable. This process has a high process volume and a high level of complexity. P2 needs a correspondingly large number of FTE.2 Process P4, on the other hand, is neither carried out frequently nor is it sufficiently complex. Therefore, it is not suitable for automation with RPA in the approach presented here. In principle, all processes above the diagonal dividing line—i.e. those that lie within the grey-shaded area—are suitable for RPA following this approach. Figure 5.5 is to be understood as a sketch. In particular, the value ranges are freely definable and can be adjusted according to the size of the company, but possibly also according to individual automation costs. The approach is therefore only suitable if extensive (organisation-specific) experience with RPA has been gained.

Fig. 5.5Alternative approach to process selection for Telefónica O2 (based on Lacity and Willcocks 2016, p. 31)

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