Automating business processes using software robots or digital workers is called Robotic Process Automation. More and more manufacturing companies are using RPA to automate their business processes for faster and error-free performance. 

Here are the five most common ways manufacturing companies use automation to stay competitive.

1. Data Entry

Data entry is one of the most tedious and monotonous tasks performed by employees in any organization, including manufacturing companies. The primary purpose of data entry is manually entering data into different programs or applications. Companies can instead use a bot to extract data from various sources, including spreadsheets, databases, and applications, and then feed it into other applications or systems automatically. RPA saves the employees' time and effort and eliminates human error caused due to manual data feed.

2. Reading and Processing Emails 

As an increasing number of organizations rely on emails for communication, reading, and processing, emails have become an essential part of the job profile of any employee, including those working in manufacturing companies. Bots can read the contents of emails, detect keywords from them, categorize them accordingly and then route them to their respective departments for further processing. Not only improving efficiency but also reducing the workload of employees significantly.

3. Performing Calculations

Performing complex calculations is another task that needs to be updated. A bot can do the math, so this process consumes minimal employee time. RPA helps manufacturing companies automate their estimates so that these numbers are fed into other applications or systems automatically without any issue related to human error — helping increase efficiency and reduce mistakes simultaneously.

4. Duplicating Forms and Documents

While companies rely heavily on documents for different purposes, such as approval or rejection of goods or services offered, employees often need to catch up with the pace at which these documents come in because they are monotonous tasks to perform and not exciting in any manner whatsoever. To tackle this issue, companies can use bot to automatically detect and then duplicate documents when necessary without any delay or effort on the part of the employee concerned - helping improve efficiency. This saves a lot of time manually copying these forms or documents.

5. Automating Business Processes Through Integration with Other Systems

Many organizations use various systems such as Salesforce, SAP, Oracle, and other software to perform different sales management and accounting functions. If a company can integrate multiple business processes with these systems effectively, it can all be viewed on a single dashboard. Manufacturers can now automate their business processes seamlessly with other systems without much effort from the employee's side.

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What is the future of automation?

When looking at the future of this technology, it is hard to imagine what will be possible in the short and long term. This is an exciting time to be part of this industry as we see more businesses realize the value of automation and begin implementing this technology across their organizations. However, beyond replacing manual tasks with bots, there are other ways that automation can help businesses in the coming years. 

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Here are some other uses for automation technologies.

Insight into Critical Operations

With RPA, a business will have insight into how its core operational functions work — allowing the company to understand the day-to-day operations and find efficiencies in the process. Using ML and AI with RPA, a business will get insight into its most critical tasks and better understand what employees do daily.

Real-Time Reporting with Actionable Insight

AI with RPA can enable a business to generate real-time reporting with actionable user insight. For example, a user may want to know if accounts receivable are trending higher than expected or by whom. With real-time reports available anytime, managers and decision-makers can take action before an issue becomes problematic.

Data Visualization

Data visualizations provide essential insights into operational performance and workloads. The ability to visualize data in meaningful ways offers valuable information about how an organization is performing and what actions should be taken next. With data visualizations available through RPA, users can gain valuable insight into critical data elements that may impact their operations moving forward. Automation of Complicated Processes

Businesses know that they need to automate complicated processes to reduce errors and save valuable employee time. Through machine learning and artificial intelligence, a bot can simplify complex operations such as regulatory compliance or tedious financial reports so that employees can focus on higher-value tasks.

Increased Employee Productivity

Businesses want their employees to be as productive as possible to meet organizational objectives related to revenue generation, growth initiatives, innovation activities, and more. By deploying bots throughout an organization to handle repetitive tasks, employees are free to tackle more significant challenges with a greater focus on innovation efforts and improved customer service levels through quick resolution times for customer requests.