Top 5 Business Sustainability Outcomes of Intelligent Automation

According to a Deloitte survey, 1 out of 3 consumers claims to have stopped patronizing a business over sustainability concerns. On the other end of the spectrum, sustainability is now in the top 10 goals for CEOs for the first time ever. 

Sustainability has become a point of interest for consumers and business leaders alike.

In this article, we aim to explain the top 5 benefits that intelligent automation (IA), also called cognitive automation, can bring to: 

• Environmental
• Operational
• And social sustainability of a business.

1. More efficient

A typical rules-based process can be automated up to 70-80%. This means businesses can eliminate hires whose tasks can be done by software bots. The implication is that the business can now direct the saved wages towards expanding its value-adding processes. 

For instance, automated voice technology can now direct enquirers to different departments and take their information and FAQs. The money that companies can save by leveraging an automation solution instead of hiring an additional employee can be spent elsewhere, such as investing in more environmental-friendly infrastructure to reduce the carbon footprint of the company. 

Unattended bots will continue carrying out their scripted tasks until they stop. This brings consistency to the procedures. 

Furthermore, even if there is a personnel change, a layoff, or a brief period without supervision, the task will still be completed because the unattended RPA is not dependent on humans. 

For instance, financial close automation solution can be scripted to carry out close processes at the end of every month automatically. This means whether there’s an accountant in the loop overseeing the software or not, as long as the script is correct and the financial data has come in throughout the month, the end-month close reports will be generated regardless. 

Now, if the accountant in charge of analyzing these reports has been laid off or left the company, there will be a disruption in the analysis of the report. But the reports themselves will be generated continuously. This means that report generation, for instance, is now a sustainable and consistent part of the operation.

Click here to learn more about financial close automation. 

2. Eco-friendly

Automation can reduce carbon footprint and help the environment. With process mining and RPA, business leaders can first identify and pinpoint the inefficiencies in their processes, and then leverage automation to counteract them. 

For instance, in supply chain management, miscoordination of the delivery trucks might lead to wrong routings. The ensuing reroutes will only add to what is already a high level of footprint for truck fleets. 

Supply chain management can be automated. Self-driving technology on trucks, for example, can get accurate routing data from the company’s central database to reduce navigation errors and miscommunications. 

Automating processes prone to emissions will increase their efficiency, thereby reducing their environmental impacts.

3. Flexible and scalable

Thanks to the variety of RPA tools today, adopters have leeway in choosing the tool that’s right for them. Leveraging complementary automation tools, such as process mining, allows adopters to get a realistic overview of their as-is processes in order to know how automation can help them. 

Once a general overview of a process is gathered, the users can use RPA tools to automate it. Automation can be leveraged for complex back-end processes. The DMV, for instance, notorious for its labyrinth of bureaucracies, has been able to automate its license-renewing services in the US and in Canada. This saves drivers’ time and gas and reduces vehicle and foot traffic by allowing the work to be done digitally. 

Such flexibility corresponds to sustainability – once an established automation framework has been enforced, then no matter the number of enquirers, the process can be scaled accordingly.

4. Saves humans from tedious tasks 

IA shines when it comes to saving humans from doing manual and time-consuming tasks. Copy-pasting fields, answering FAQs, scanning documents, generating reports, and other similar tasks can be delegated to bots. 

This enables business leaders to create new positions within the company to fill with human labor –  jobs that require human intelligence, critical thinking, and analysis. 

From a business perspective, this means your business will be sustainable in attracting talents who will know their time will not be spent on mundane tasks. In other words, the roles you’ll offer will be attractive to new hires. 

Especially during the Great Resignation, where employees are pickier than ever in choosing for whom they work, offering a unique working environment that separates the business from the pack will minimize the chances of your workers leaving you for another company, or passing on the chance to work for you. This can improve overall employee retention and make the business socially sustainable. 

We have an article about how RPA is helping companies address the labor shortage.

For more on automation and sustainability

To learn more about the intersection of automation and sustainability, read:

• Top 5 Technologies Improving Supply Chain Sustainability
• 4 Ways Big Data Can Help Fight Climate Change
• Top 10 Sustainability Case Studies and Success Stories

If you believe your business would benefit from adopting a sustainability or automation technology, head over to our list of intelligent automation solutions.

And reach out to us so we can help you find the right vendor for your business: