SAP automation with UiPath Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions can help build a solid foundation for your business and there are many organisations who have successfully implemented RPA where SAP is their core system.
A few application examples* by industry are:
RETAIL
Cost calculation and release
The Challenge - The retailer needed to automate a process focused on cost calculation of their supply chain. It was completely manual, repetitive and prone to typing errors, as well as entirely rules-based. The process involved a volume of 8000 transactions per month for 200 accounts across 11 countries.
The Solution - The automation partner programmed an RPA solution using UiPath robots that handled all the requests in Excel input format to SAP.
The Benefits - 100% accuracy of transactions. Process handled with great efficiency and reduced volume of reworking
Open items reconciliation for General Ledger (GL) account
The Challenge - The customer needed to automate a fully manual and time-consuming process involving requests from customers that needed to be updated manually. The project involved open items reconciliations for GL Account from 35 countries with a volume of approximately 5000 items per month.
The Solution - The UiPath robot was used to interface the processing data from SAP to Trintech system to reduce errors, increase efficiency and speed of processing.
The Benefits - Efficient automation of manual activities. Significant productivity gains. Reduced manual working and decreased volume of reworking
Travel and expense processing
The Challenge - The customer needed to automate a back-office process with a volume of thousands of transactions per month. There was one department involved that used 4 applications, such as SAP, MS Office on desktop. The information was structured, with pre-determined rules and conditions. There were less than 7% of exceptions.
The Solution - The UiPath robot extracted data from a T&E form (Excel form out of SAP) and processed it through a workflow in SAP to enable approval and payment.
The Benefits - Degree of robotization: 100% of effort automated. Error rate reduced to 0%. Manual effort reduction to 15%. Faster processing time – reduction of 75%. Employees were redeployed to higher value activities. All implemented within 3 weeks.
LOGISTICS & TRANSPORT
Maintenance prediction for locomotives
The Challenge - The customer needed to automate a back-office process with a volume of 1 process per day and an AHT of 30 minutes per data record. There were two departments involved that used 5 applications on desktop, web and SAP. The information was structured, with pre-determined rules and conditions. The process had 10% of exceptions.
The Solution - The UiPath robot checked various tools and files from SAP to gather maintenance data for the cargo locomotives and consolidated it in Excel files. This helped the customer to predict maintenance hours.
The Benefits - Degree of robotisation: 100% of effort automated. ROI - 3 months. Error rate reduced to 0%. Manual effort reduction to 10%. Faster processing time – reduction of 50%. Higher accuracy in maintenance prediction. All implemented within 3 weeks.
Purchase requisition and automation
The Challenge - The company ran a back-office business process with 30 PRs per week and an AHT of 3 hours. There were two departments involved that used SAP, e-mail, Excel and a web portal on desktop. The information was structured by business users. The rules and decisions were predetermined and included interactive support at agreed process steps from users. The process had 10% of exceptions, involved the use of paper and of other web technologies.
The Solution - Paper was replaced by a simple and user-friendly web portal that fed purchase requisitions into the UiPath Robot, which, in turn, entered the information in SAP. The robot checked for approvals via e-mail and then created the POs automatically.
The Benefits - Degree of robotization - 100% of effort automated. ROI - ~8 months. Higher standardization of process. Quality improvement to 0% error rate. Much faster processing time – reduction of 78%. User friendly and better user acceptance. Manual effort reduction to 5%. All implemented within 5 weeks.
Month end closing process (Controlling)
The Challenge - The company ran a daily back office business process with a volume that varied each month and an AHT of 2-4 days. There was one department involved that used 4 applications (SAP, email, Excel, web portal). The process had less than 5% of exceptions. The information was semi-unstructured with support interactions by business users. The rules and decisions were in part pre-determined and included interactive support at agreed process steps from users.
The Solution - The UiPath robot took over the process that supported the month end closing from a controlling point of view by getting FX rates, making re-booking and allocations and generating reports.
The Benefits - Degree of robotisation - 100% of effort automated. ROI - ~4 months. Higher standardisation of process. Quality improvement to 0% error rate. Focus on higher value work including analysis. Faster processing time – reduction of 85%. Manual effort reduction to 10%. All implemented within 5 weeks.
MANUFACTURING
Vendor master data management
The Challenge - The customer needed to automate a completely manual process that involved performing several pre-checks, like VAT validation, IBAN validation in a country-specific website. The process included country-based validation for vendor processing in SAP.
The Solution - The UiPath robot extracted data from the Service provider tool, validated VAT, IBAN, USPS, ABN, and checked duplicates in SAP FIP. The robot also handled vendor creation, changes, blocks and extensions in SAP FIP following country-specific rules (European and non-European).
The Benefits - Significant productivity gains. Process handled with great efficiency. Reduced volume of reworking and decreased manual working
To discuss how RPA can work within your business contact us on 0333 987 3938
Further reading: UiPath – Reliable SAP Automation Software for more information -
*UiPath or Partner installed examples
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