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Top 10 Use Cases of RPA in the Automotive Sector in 2024

RPA frees people from time-consuming and menial tasks by automatically doing them as programmed. Areas such as education, retail, and manufacturing, among others, are the ones that have benefited from the RPA implementation.

RPA can also be integrated in the automotive sector. So we are taking an in-depth look at RPA use cases in automotive, such as order submission, shipping and logistics, production, and telematics.

Order processing

The use of RPA in the automotive sector can start in the back office with order processing and its sub-activities.

1. Order submission

Gone are the days when the only channel for selling cars was at the dealerships. Consumers are buying their cars the same manner they buy their toiletries: online. This means manufacturers, and 3rd party sellers alike, have to keep track of orders coming in from a variety of online channels.

Automotive manufacturers and distributors can leverage order management software applications that use RPA and OCR to sequentially read and transcribe order’s contents, from various formats, onto the company’s order database. The benefit of this software is that the staff will be freed from manually keeping track of orders. Instead, they can focus more on providing customer care services.

2. Payment processing

The orders’ amount information, collection day, and other pertaining information has to timely be put into the automotive company’s financial books. This is important for cash flow estimates and financial statements of the company. If orders are overlooked, or if they are wrongfully put into the books, then the estimates coming out are not going to be reflective of the true position of the company.

Equally important is receiving your collectibles when they are due, because the liquidity and the financial health of your company depends on it.

The process that starts with the customer placing and order, up to when the payment processed and then collected, is known as the order to cash process (O2C), which is highly automatable in an end-to-end format. We have an entire article that discusses it more in detail.

3. Inventory management

Orders for automobiles have to be verified that they are, indeed, in stock and are available. The company’s website, in addition, should constantly exchange data with the warehouse and the inventory to keep the information displayed on the website up-to-date.

For instance, if the white color of a sedan is currently out of stock, the company’s website should reflect that. Or if the website shows the white color in stock, and an order for it has been received, there still is a need for the company to double-check the availability of said-car regardless.

Inventory management software applications use RPA and API to keep exchanging data between different applications to verify inventories. One of the beneficial capabilities of this software is that it can be programmed to create an automated restocking order whenever inventory levels for whatever product, be it a car or a screw, drops below the established threshold.

4. Shipping and logistics

Once an automobile order has been received and its stock has been verified, shipping and logistics should be sorted next. Companies can use shipping and supply chain planning software applications to automatically match the next order with the next transportation vehicle available. The other benefit is that if there are any ad hoc adjustments to the shipping timelines, the changes made in the software will automatically be sent to all concerned entities in the company, so the staff do not have to worry about manually adjusting for everything.

5. Analytics

In the marketing and sales side of the automotive industry, analytics can be automated to seamlessly bring automotive data to the marketing teams. The insights can then be leveraged for data-driven decision making, when it comes to creating advertisement campaigns, prioritizing and addressing customer complaints, improving on the design and the features of the vehicles with regards to customer’s needs, and more.

Production

RPA can also be used in the production facade of the automotive industry.

6. Malfunctions notifications

RPA can also be used on the floors of production plants. The integration of RPA and IoT would make it possible for device and equipment’s malfunctions to instantly be flagged and a notification to be sent to the support team. The main benefit of automated notifications is that it will reduce the downtime of equipment as malfunctions are noted just as they take place, in real-time.

7. Restocking

The automotive sector’s approach to its raw materials’ shipping schedules is known as “just in time” principle: The intermediary goods are always scheduled to arrive at the facilities just as production or assembly is about to commence.

This means the slightest deviations in the shipping schedule would halt production, as the two events of shipping and production are closely knitted together. RPA technology can be used with smart shelves, and in conjunction with production scheduling software, to automatically place orders for intermediary goods whenever their stock falls below a certain threshold.

8. Supply chain

Same as with Airbus airplanes, automotive manufacturers source their intermediary parts from different geographical locations. This means the scheduling for all these parts should be accurately measured, planned, and executed so that all the parts arrive from different corners of the globe on schedule.

Scheduling software applications allow all participants in the supply chain to input the shipping information. The RPA then automatically sorts and arranges the shipping time slots with accordance to given production timelines.

9. Bill of materials

Automotive manufacturers can automate their bill of materials (BOM) creation. Therefore, all car models have a standardized production template with respect to their design plans.

10. Telematics

Car telematics is the communication network in vehicles for exchanging information. Whether it’s the car’s anti-theft features, emergency services, navigation, vehicle-to-vehicle communication, or remote diagnosis, car telematics is the overarching feature for these exchanges.

Per research done by Gartner, by 2028, 70% of vehicles sold will be leveraging Android Automotive operating system as the main bastion of their telematics. Today, less than 1% of the cars on the road have that technology.

The benefit of Android Automotive OS is that it can receive regular updates from Google, it can have additional capabilities from these software patches, and will allow for seamless connection to user’s smartphones, among other benefits.

For more on RPA

If you are interested in learning more about the use cases of RPA in different industries, read:

To enjoy a more in-depth view of RPA, download our comprehensive whitepaper on the topic:

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Finally, if you believe your enterprise would benefit from adopting a RPA solution, visit our RPA software center, where you’ll find data-driven lists of vendors.

And we will help you find the best solution tailored to your needs:

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Access Cem's 2 decades of B2B tech experience as a tech consultant, enterprise leader, startup entrepreneur & industry analyst. Leverage insights informing top Fortune 500 every month.
Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst
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Cem Dilmegani
Principal Analyst

Cem has been the principal analyst at AIMultiple since 2017. AIMultiple informs hundreds of thousands of businesses (as per similarWeb) including 60% of Fortune 500 every month.

Cem's work has been cited by leading global publications including Business Insider, Forbes, Washington Post, global firms like Deloitte, HPE, NGOs like World Economic Forum and supranational organizations like European Commission. You can see more reputable companies and media that referenced AIMultiple.

Throughout his career, Cem served as a tech consultant, tech buyer and tech entrepreneur. He advised businesses on their enterprise software, automation, cloud, AI / ML and other technology related decisions at McKinsey & Company and Altman Solon for more than a decade. He also published a McKinsey report on digitalization.

He led technology strategy and procurement of a telco while reporting to the CEO. He has also led commercial growth of deep tech company Hypatos that reached a 7 digit annual recurring revenue and a 9 digit valuation from 0 within 2 years. Cem's work in Hypatos was covered by leading technology publications like TechCrunch and Business Insider.

Cem regularly speaks at international technology conferences. He graduated from Bogazici University as a computer engineer and holds an MBA from Columbia Business School.

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