Go Green with Document Management

Labor Automation 2.0 – Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

It used to be that when we talked about labor automation, it meant automation of traditional “blue collar” jobs in manufacturing facilities and factories.  Today’s labor automation is a whole new breed – what we call Labor Automation 2.0 – and it’s taking place in “white collar” offices, businesses and organizations around the world. 

Labor Automation 2.0 means that any work process that is definable, repeatable, and rules-based can be mapped out and assigned a software robot or “Bot” to manage the manage the execution of that process, just as a human would. It is also called Robotic Process Automation (RPA).  

RPA is separate and distinct form an organization’s IT structure.  It is not another business application.  Rather it is a substitute for a human worker to operate business applications.

Robotic Process Automation for Business

Sometime over the past couple of years, what used to be called Business Process Automation (BPA has morphed into Robotic Process Automation (RPA).  So, just what's the difference between the two?

BPA includes technologies such as imaging (scanning applications that help convert paper documents into digital files) and workflow (automatically routing documents from one step to another in a business process).  Sometimes BPA includes integration of tasks between applications, requiring the assistance of a programmer.  

The global market for RPA technologies will reach $8.75 billion by 2024.

~Grand View Research