In the past few years, ideas like “Industry 4.0” and “Business 3.0” have become very popular. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is one of the world’s fastest-growing markets, and software robots are playing a big role in it. Companies all over the world see RPA as more of an integral part of their operations than a cost, which is why they are adopting it faster than ever.
Right now, we should talk about an almost universally used, boring, repetitive, and repetitive RPA definition that says software bots can free employees from… boring, repetitive, and repetitive chores. Obviously that’s true, but there’s also a little more to it than that.
Describing the Concept of RPA
We could say that the RPA robot is a bit like a virtual worker. It acts like a person in a computer setting by doing set, repetitive tasks over and over again or based on a set need or schedule. The bot does these tasks more quickly, more accurately, and with only a small chance of making a mistake (mainly because of how the tasks were prepared or bugs in the bot code).
By looking at new trends, we could also say that RPA is no longer about having computers do the same things that people do. Building “duties” for robots and the platforms they work on is becoming more and more important.
In terms of the exact sciences, we can say that these kinds of software systems script and carry out predefined tasks, which lets a lot of different activities happen over and over again. AI is often a part of RPA solutions because it gives the needed context and corrects mistakes automatically to an automated process. It gives the bots a small chance of making a mistake while doing their jobs.
RPA growth
We all know that the pandemic has changed how we work and how many companies run because of it. As a result, it has also sped up the digital change process, which includes automation and RPA. A lot of companies are looking to automate because of COVID-19 and the move to online work. This is a trend that will continue after COVID-19 is over. According to professionals and study, RPA is growing into an important part of business and even a must-have.
The rising cost of keeping employees is a big reason why more people want RPA options. It is best for every business, especially those that want to be efficient and make money, for their workers to be as productive as possible. This is especially true for large companies in industries that are growing quickly.
According to study by SAP Concur, German companies that hire 500 people waste 5 hours and 9 minutes a week on tasks that are done over and over again. This adds up to $1,3119,353.45 a year. In the US, it takes 4 hours and 55 minutes, which is worth $1,478,750 a year. In Japan, on the other hand, it takes 2 hours and 56 minutes and costs $457,600 a year.
But smaller businesses are also starting to see the benefits of automating tasks as RPA solutions get better and become an important part of business growth. Software robots are also seen as a way for companies that outsource business processes to cut down on the costs of carrying out those tasks.
One of the best things about RPA is that it can automate tasks quickly and for a cheap cost. Software robots can also be used and implemented in a way that doesn’t interfere with current systems. They can control certain parts of infrastructure without doing so. Unless they are replaced, they will need more expensive upkeep, and replacing them might be hard and cost a lot of money for the company. That would be a big reason why companies wouldn’t want to invest in RPA.
In the meantime, more than 53% of businesses are thought to have already put their first solutions in this technology into action. It’s interesting that 19% of people surveyed by Deloitte Global RPA plan to use software robots in the next two years.
Summary Table: RPA Growth and Impact
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Pandemic Impact | – COVID-19 accelerated the adoption of RPA and digital transformation as businesses moved online. |
| Cost Savings | – Rising employee costs are driving the shift towards automation. – Automating repetitive tasks boosts employee productivity and reduces operational costs. |
| Work Hours Lost | – German companies (500 employees): 5 hours/week wasted, costing $1.31M/year. – US companies: 4.9 hours/week wasted, costing $1.48M/year. – Japan: 2.9 hours/week wasted, costing $457,600/year. |
| Adoption by Businesses | – Over 53% of businesses have already implemented RPA solutions. – 19% plan to adopt RPA within the next two years (Deloitte Global RPA survey). |
| Benefits for Small and Large Businesses | – Both large and small businesses are seeing benefits as RPA solutions become more affordable and efficient. |
| Ease of Implementation | – RPA can be quickly implemented without disrupting current systems and processes, providing cost-effective solutions. |
The state of the market
As we already said, one of the main things that is making the RPA market grow is that companies that use Robotic Process Automation can quickly and cheaply make their processes better in terms of quality, speed, and productivity.
In the past few years, companies that have chosen to use this technology have seen a big rise in their cost-effectiveness because they have to pay their workers less. This is what Grandview Research calls a total compound annual growth rate (CAGR) growth rate of 32.8% from 2021 to 2028.
This kind of confidence comes from the numbers. Computer Economics says that as of June 2021, 20% of all businesses had already implemented RPA. This brings the adoption rate for 2020 to 13%. Gartner says that by 2022, “some form of RPA” will be invested in by almost 85% of large and international companies. The total amount of money spent on this technology will hit $2.4 billion. The market for RPA is going to reach $13.74 billion by 2028.
By looking at the global RPA market as a whole, we can see how the technology is being adopted from different angles. One example is that we can look at different parts. No matter what the situation is, each can be defined by a certain element, variable, or action.
RPA on the map
According to figures from 2020, North America has the biggest share of the RPA market so far, with almost 37%. This is mostly because there is a lot of software on the market that helps with process management and automation in both private and public organizations.
When US government departments added RPA to the budget in 2020, they did so because they saw how useful it was. It was another push that made the private sector more confident, which in turn made the market more likely to accept automation.
When we look at the CAGR measure, we can see that Asia and the Pacific region had the fastest rate of growth in the use of RPA across almost all industries. The main thing driving this rise is the need for automation in the business process outsourcing (BPM) industry. India is the only country that doesn’t follow these rules. They are less strict about data privacy and have tight budgets.
Summary Table: RPA Adoption by Region
| Region | Details |
|---|---|
| North America | – Largest RPA market share (37%) in 2020. – Strong market for process management and automation solutions. – Government adoption in 2020 boosted private sector confidence. |
| Asia-Pacific | – Fastest-growing region in RPA adoption. – Driven by the Business Process Outsourcing (BPM) industry. – India has less strict data privacy regulations and tighter budgets, affecting adoption. |
| Government Influence | – US government departments included RPA in their budgets in 2020, promoting wider adoption across sectors. |
| Key Drivers | – In North America: Government backing and private sector adoption. – In Asia-Pacific: BPM industry demand and budget constraints. |
Type of RPA segment
Companies can also look at the RPA market in terms of tools and services. In 2020, a record 61% of all RPA revenues came from the service sector. Analysts think that growth will continue until 2028. Businesses are also spending more on advisory, consulting, and training services connected to automation as they try to make their systems more scalable.
While the hardware segment grew slowly (a steady CAGR), the software segment grew quickly because businesses needed high-level security for networks, automated jobs for managing internal data, working from home, and more.
Splitting up. Type of development
We should look at the process of using RPA solutions from two more points of view: locally (on-premise) and in the cloud. Until 2020, almost 90% of the income came from software robot implementations in the on-premise segment. It’s mostly because of the biggest businesses, which are the fastest-growing group of people who use and adopt RPA solutions. It’s not a surprise that putting bots to work in these kinds of organizations makes it easier to use them on a large scale and safely access data while following the company’s rules and internal processes.
But companies are more interested in automation that cloud services can provide, especially in the last few years. The experts think this group will grow the fastest, with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 34% from 2021 to 2028.
When businesses use cloud services, they don’t have to spend money on IT infrastructure and the upkeep and growth of it. Also, every business has safe access to data in real time, no matter where they are or what they’re working in. This is especially important for companies with a distributed structure and working settings.
Summary Table: RPA Development – On-Premise vs Cloud
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| RPA Development Focus (Pre-2020) | 90% of RPA income from on-premise solutions, primarily driven by large enterprises adopting RPA. |
| On-Premise Solutions | – Provides easy access to company data – Adheres to company-specific rules and internal processes. |
| Cloud-based RPA Growth | – Growing interest in cloud automation services – Projected CAGR of 34% from 2021 to 2028. |
| Cloud RPA Advantages | – No need for IT infrastructure investment – Real-time data access from anywhere – Ideal for distributed workforces. |
| Key Driver for Cloud Adoption | – Cost savings on infrastructure – Flexibility and scalability, especially for businesses with a distributed structure. |
What about business and RPA?
Companies had to find new tactics based on technology because of the pandemic, the state of economies in general, and events caused by geopolitics in the past few years and months.
Retail (with e-commerce), manufacturing, telecommunications, and some parts of the IT business all went through a downturn, which was sometimes very big. In a strange twist, some businesses in the same areas but different industries saw a big rise in demand. Like medicine and healthcare organizations, others were under more pressure and sometimes had less supply, especially in the private sector. It happened even though their services weren’t always available.
These kinds of problems affected processes in the back, front, and middle offices, which led to more problems with, among other things:
Customer complaints about slow replies, employee burnout, supply chain problems, backlogs, virtual training, and data privacy issues.
All of the problems on the list needed a better focus on getting the most out of every dollar and making sure that productivity, costs, and keeping the business cash flow were all well-balanced. In addition, the current digital transformation had to ensure a drop in mistakes, a boost in return on investment (ROI), and help employers keep their crews. It also had an effect on how RPA systems were used in different fields.
Summary Table: Impact of RPA on Businesses
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Key Drivers of RPA Adoption | – Pandemic disruptions – Geopolitical events – Economic instability. |
| Industries Impacted | – Retail (e-commerce) – Manufacturing – Telecommunications – IT – Medicine and Healthcare. |
| Challenges Addressed by RPA | – Supply chain issues – Employee burnout – Customer complaints – Virtual training – Data privacy issues. |
| Business Goals with RPA | – Maximize productivity – Reduce operational costs – Improve cash flow and ROI – Retain employees. |
| Focus Areas | – Automating back, front, and middle office processes – Addressing backlogs – Reducing errors. |
| Benefits of RPA | – Faster responses – Higher ROI – Minimized mistakes – Streamlined digital transformation. |
Making things
People usually think of manufacturers when they hear the word “industrial robots.” These are automatic machines that help workers on production lines and do the most exact work when it comes to moving heavy things. Still, businesses in this field are becoming more and more interested in using software tools to make operational processes and back-office work better.
RPA also helps with administrative and reporting jobs. It’s also important to note that bots make supply chain processes stronger. For instance, they do the repetitive office work (like pricing and billing suppliers, as well as accounts receivable, payable, etc.) that needs to be done and the work that needs to be done by hand on the production line. As a result, RPA helps the company become more competitive by raising its production, efficiency, and revenues.
According to research by Acceleration Economy, the business that used the RPA market the most (35% of all industries) in 2021 was manufacturing. Several studies and polls have given us different information about which businesses are the biggest users of RPA technology and solutions. Here are the ones that come up most often.
Summary Table: RPA Adoption in Banking and Finance
| Aspect | Details |
|---|---|
| Global Market Share (2021) | 29% (Grand View Research) |
| US Market Share (2021) | 40% (Grand View Research) |
| Finance Sector Usage (2021) | 5% (Acceleration Economy) |
| Finance Leaders’ Adoption Plans | Almost 80% plan to use or already use RPA (Gartner) |
| Common Automated Tasks | Data entry, statement processing, balance sheets, compliance, managing payments, and withdrawals. |
| Advantages of RPA in Banking | – Reduced time for repetitive tasks – Fewer errors – Enhanced operational efficiency. |
| Other Applications | Safety checks, compliance, and processing complex data transactions. |
Money and banking
Banking and finance are two other fields that are quickly adopting RPA, though some studies look at them separately. In fact, Grand View Research said that they were the market leaders in adopting RPA, with a 29% share of world revenue and a 40% share of the US market. Still, the Acceleration Economy only shows that the Finance sector will use RPA in 2021, with a 5% market share. Gartner’s study also shows that almost 80% of finance leaders either plan to use RPA automation or already do.
Still, the businesses mentioned do a lot of work that can be easily automated, like entering data, processing statements, making balance sheets, following rules, and so on. Overall, these things take a lot of time. By automating these tasks, they directly improve the organization’s usefulness and efficiency, and they also gain a number of (automated) analytical insights.
It’s important to remember that every day, banks handle a lot of data, such as payments and withdrawals, certificates, confirmations, papers and their templates, and more. The fact that most of these tasks are repetitive and based on schematics makes it easy for software robots to do them much more quickly and with less room for mistake. Besides that, RPAs are great for regular checks and safety procedures. Bots can also be used to do complicated things with data and transactions.
Summary Table
| Category | Estimated Percentage |
|---|---|
| Skilled Work | 30% |
| Work About Work | 50% |
| Strategizing and Planning | 20% |
Medical Care
The term “healthcare” refers to a wide range of actions and rules that affect well-known health systems. However, healthcare only made up about 10% of all RPA adoption in 2021.
The fact that this is one of the most demanding (practical and formal) industries won’t teach you anything. Processing large amounts of private data needs to be done quickly and accurately. So, the basic idea behind RPA robots is to make patient care much better while also easing the workload of medical staff who have to do paperwork.
That means it’s more important than ever to automate back-office jobs, digitize data, and make it easier for people to get to medical records and treatment histories. RPA can also be used to keep track of inventory, make appointments for patients and doctors, write prescriptions for people who are chronically sick, and do many other things. All of this leads to a simple relationship: the more efficiently operations are run, the better care patients get and the shorter wait times they have.
Logistics and transportation
Transport and logistics businesses work in a field where speed and efficiency are very important for the whole business, including making it profitable and competitive. In order to do this, businesses work to make their end-to-end service methods better.
Most of the time, optimizing both front-end and back-end processes makes things run more smoothly. So, it’s about making order management and order distribution processes better and combining tools from inside and outside the supply chain. In real life, that means, among other things,
- good control of Planning and keeping track of shipments,
- processing invoices and collections
- handling orders and inventory
- communicating about buying and inventory
- processing orders and inventory, and
- keeping track of orders and inventory quickly.
One very important effect of using RPA robots is that it makes customers happier overall for logistics and transportation businesses. That means that automation is a great fit for the customer-focused approach, which is what more and more businesses want to do.
Retail and CPG
Data from Acceleration Economy shows that retail (including online shopping) and consumer packaged goods (CPG) companies made up 8% of the global RPA market. People who work in stores usually try to make things run as easily and quickly as possible given the circumstances. These are the big problems that come up most often:
- Having a high level of inventory (products that can be ordered at any time)
- Hiring, training, and keeping the staff needed to run the stores, providing quick and helpful customer service, and processing and carrying out orders as quickly as possible (an important part of customer satisfaction).
- RPA bots help e-commerce businesses in a number of ways by automating certain chores and processes, which solves problems like these.
- Making it easier for products to be introduced and bought.
Getting rid of mistakes in operations, making them more efficient, giving real-time data on sales and planning supplies, and making the customer experience better by processing orders and returns faster, automating promotions, giving better direct customer service, and so on.
Utilities
It’s not always clear who the qualified utility suppliers are for a very specific group or business. A lot of big companies that provide water, gas, or energy are in the public sector. A lot of them are considered key infrastructure units or are owned by a mix of public and private organizations. Depending on the laws in each country, these usually include places that provide healthcare, teach, or hold culture events.
The state sector had a 5% share of the RPA market in 2021, which is interesting. Because of this, they are using this technology in more and more creative ways. Utility companies can automate many of their tasks, such as customer service, debt service (including collecting debts), meter readings (with exception handling), and payments. That means handling a lot of money transactions, making sure customer data is safe, moving data between systems, and answering questions and complaints every day. These are the places where RPA makes the most difference.
The above industries are the fastest and widest in adopting RPA solutions, but that doesn’t mean other sectors have to follow suit. The opposite is true. RPA technology is so adaptable and useful that companies in fields or businesses that you might not think of can use it to their advantage.
In short
Even though the market is growing quickly, experts all over the world say that RPA adoption is still in its early stages. Businesses all over the world, on the other hand, want software robot technology more and more. More and more businesses see RPA as a long-term investment that will cut down on high-volume, rule-based tasks that are likely to make mistakes.
Businesses use RPA for a lot of different tasks because they know that happy customers are good for business in almost every industry. The Deloitte Global RPA Survey found that 85% of businesses that were polled said that RPA exceeded their expectations in areas other than money, such as accuracy, timeliness, and flexibility. Also, 38% of managers said that compliance was the best thing about it.
It’s important to note that while the market for Robotic Process Automation is always growing, software robots are becoming a bigger part of Hyperautomation projects that are also more technologically advanced.
More and more, industries, especially big ones, will focus on setting up systems that allow automation, which is much more than what the chosen class of IT solutions can do. This is why there are more and more references in business to automation projects that use a mix of RPA technologies, AI, ML, Big Data, Process Mining, OCR, and Intelligent Business Process Management Systems (iBPMS), along with low-code, no-code, and other solutions.
Still, the use of RPA in well-known industries can be seen as a path going in one way. It’s hard to think of a changing point. These days, software tools are an essential part of a well-run business that is doing well.
On our blog, you can find out more about the well-known RPA automation.
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