Wolfsburg, in Lower Saxony, is home to the world’s largest car factory. More than 60,000 workers toil there, aided by 5,000 robots that pick parts from inventory, apply gloss coats and install engines. It’s a delicate balance between business process automation (BPA) and robotic process automation (RPA) that produces nearly 4,000 Volkswagens a day.
For most companies, their automation efforts aren’t as obvious as a robotic arm. They work behind the scenes through software and apps to increase productivity and efficiency.
So what is the difference between these small business email list two vital strategies, BPA and RPA, and how do they work together?
What is Business Process Automation (BPA)?
Business process automation (BPA) transforms the step-by-step tasks of a workflow into an automated sequence. McKinsey estimates that more than 31% of companies fully automate at least one function . The “how” is abundant: Put a magnifying glass on a specific task in a workflow, and you’ll see exactly what technologies are at work. Automated technologies like artificial intelligence, intelligent document processing, and, yes, robotic process automation are just a few of the tools you can use to get your job done.
What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA)?
Robotic process automation (RPA) is just one specific method you can use to speed up manual work. For most businesses, their sentinel of robotic workers is invisible. They work under the hood, performing integral tasks without human intervention, for example:
Sales Administration: Automatically transfer customer information, such as company name and address, from a contract to a customer relationship management system.
Marketing: Instantly copy and paste signup dates into an email marketing service to celebrate customer birthdays.
Accounting: Transfer information from a PDF invoice into your accounting software.
Data Validation: Report Accounts with Missing Data
RPA follows rules to perfection and is highly regarded for its accuracy. This type of automation focuses on automating manual tasks such as data entry, document processing, and file management, tasks for which there is a precise instruction plan.