Popular RPA Use Cases & Innovation Ideas

With Robotic Process Automation (RPA) accelerating through business at breakneck speed, it can be hard to keep up with where RPA is leaving the most innovative impact. We’ll explore some popular RPA use cases, innovation ideas, and how/where this technology is being put to use most.

As robotic process automation continues to develop into an intelligent, data-driven, and end-to-end technology platform, RPA innovation strategies and implementation solutions are getting more dynamic. Automation is making a sizable impact in both tech-driven and non-technical industries, and empowering business decision makers alongside IT-savvy personnel to transform rule-based processes.

In 2024, automation is one of the pillars of both digital and business transformation. Adoption and investment of RPA is increasing rapidly in multiple industries and is being implemented to streamline various functions in both rule-based and complex processes. As a report indicated, RPA spending is predicted to exceed at least $25 billion by 2024. So how and where is this innovative technology being implemented?

RPA Use Cases for Accounting & Finance Operations

From the beginning, RPA has made a sizable impact in the accounting and finance industry. Processes in accounting departments encompass various repetitive tasks that consistently rob human workers of precious hours that could be spent on innovative/thought-provoking tasks.

An RPA innovation strategy and implementation gameplan helps close digitization gaps present within these areas, which can reduce lost time, employee turnover and increase ROI. This implementation also allows accounting personnel to play a role in an organization’s RPA Center of Excellence, which can impact customer facing tasks in these departments. Here’s some practical RPA use cases:

  • Invoice Processing: Vendor invoices and purchase orders can be extracted and processed without human intervention.

  • Tracking Compliance: As compliance mandates change, bots can ensure reporting remains accurate.

  • Start-Finish Payment Processing: Payment validation and reconciliation can be streamlined, all while staying notified of important changes.

RPA Use Cases for HR & Administration

Existing tasks within the human resources and administrative department are becoming increasingly repetitive. Therefore, HR is becoming less “human”, which takes away the crucial focus from existing and new employees.

An RPA implementation alleviates the manual strains existing within these departments, freeing them for more human interaction, talent acquisition, and keeping them engaged as the people-facing front lines of the business. Through hyperautomation capabilities, even end-to-end tasks, such as employee onboarding, can be fully automated. Here’s some areas where RPA is impacting HR and administrative processes:

  • Employee Onboarding: Assigning licenses, paperwork, and benefits can be streamlined through automated workflows.

  • Recruiting Efforts: When free from repetitive tasks, HR can aid recruiting in the talent acquisition process.

  • Internal Initiatives: HR can spend more time strengthening unique business initiatives, like internal training, when free of repetitive tasks.

RPA Use Cases for Sales & Marketing

In both B2B and B2C companies, RPA is making a sizable impact in sales and marketing processes, especially pertaining to business-critical platforms. Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems for example are one of the primary forms of account management and cross-channel communication among sales and marketing departments, which are prime candidates for RPA integration. Here are some ways RPA can exist and strengthen sales and marketing CRM systems:

  • Automate Suspensions/Rejections: Both sales and marketing teams can be notified of suspension and rejections in real-time through automated triggers.

  • Enhanced Contract Management: With RPA continuously monitoring contact and document exportation dates, lost opportunities due to missed deadlines can be eliminated.

  • Streamlined Data Entry: Data entry in CRM systems is often prone to error, but it can be seamless when handled by RPA bots rather than humans.

rpa use cases salesforce

As a Salesforce partner, we can pair RPA solutions with one of the most prevalent CRM platforms on the market today.

RPA Use Cases for Supply Chain & Manufacturing

Though the processes present in supply chain and manufacturing businesses seem “industrial,” there are various “digital” candidates for RPA. Various back-end processes in these organizations require human intervention to complete, which strains both time-sensitive initiatives and the employees.

Through RPA innovation, these organizations are also prime candidates for scaled automation initiatives, such as Natural Language Processing (NLP) integration, data-driven UX functionalities, and hyperautomation for streamlining rule-based tasks from start to finish. Here are some practical RPA use cases present in the supply chain and manufacturing industry:

Do you have any other ideas where you can truly innovate with RPA?

Oftentimes, these processes can result in much better ideas as a team, rather than independently. Technology partners such as UiPath and Microsoft’s Power Automate are making it easier to collaborate with your coworkers to uncover places where RPA will truly shine. UiPath Automation Hub helps you crowdsource ideas and work towards development, all while setting up the idea for success with structured documentation. It’s a place where you can really feel like ‘no idea is a bad idea’! With Power Automate’s AI Builder, you can easily execute process mining.

  • Comparing Prices for Customers: Prices can be automatically searched and matched when addressing customer inquiries.

  • Managing Inventory: RPA bots can track and manage various sized inventory quantities, and notify stakeholders when necessary.

  • Multi-Channel Viability: Through pairing AI with RPA, multiple channels present in supply chain industries can be monitored, and provide key insights to management.

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