Myths of RPA

Robotic process automation (RPA) is one of the most popular technologies available for an organization that saves time, money, and resources. It is the best option to automate repetitive, high-volume, and rule-based processes that require human interaction. RPA uses software bots that mimic the tasks usually performed by humans. With RPA, an organization can surely improve the operational process and change the face of business.

Although several industries have deployed RPA with multiple benefits, there are still some myths about this technology. Here, we are discussing some common myths of RPA:

The Robots are Physical / Humanoid

The term robot in RPA creates a picture of a metal humanoid in our minds. It is one of the common myths about RPA that RPA uses physical robots or humanoids. But the fact is, there is no involvement of physical robots or industrial robots in RPA. Instead, a term robot refers to software robots or virtual robots that automate mundane and repetitive digital tasks.

Robots will replace humans

Another common myth about RPA is a concern that the human workforce will be replaced. In reality, RPA only decreases the requirement for repetitive human effort. Rather than replacing a human workforce, RPA will allow them to handle more value-added tasks that need human intelligence. In such a way, humans will achieve more time to innovate and seek out areas such as managerial or supervisory roles. There are continuously new roles being created in the automation environment. Organizations also need to manage roles for monitoring and training of software robots. There will be more opportunities in this field as the popularity of RPA is increasing day by day.

Apart from it, RPA is not yet intelligent to perform tasks like a human worker. RPA robots cannot make decisions on their own, as they do not include human intelligence or common-sense. Due to the lack of such features, RPA will not be able to replace humans on its own. RPA can only handle rule-based tasks as per the logic it is coded or developed.

As a conclusion, we can say that there will be no mass unemployment with RPA.

Robots are completely accurate

RPA robots can eliminate human errors and can be completely accurate. But the main concept is that the software robots are only as accurate as they are developed or programmed. RPA bots do not contain any cognitive capabilities or intelligence. They simply execute the set of instructions they are programmed to execute.

So, if software robots are correctly set up, they will be completely accurate or error-free. If there are errors in the used logic of their code, they will continue to replicate those error hundreds or thousands of times until a human removes it. To eliminate this kind of error, it's important to ensure that processes are optimized and error-free before implementing the automation in any task. It is better to monitor the software robots in the initial stages of automation.

RPA is expensive

Many organizations have still not yet deployed the RPA, as they think that automation is expensive. But this is not true. The annual cost itself will be lower than the total wage of employees performing the same tasks. Apart from it, RPA robots can work 24/7 without any lunch break, or leave, etc. The most important fact is that one minute of work for the robot is roughly equivalent to approx. fifteen to twenty minutes of work for a human employee.

Therefore, hiring machines can create a huge cost-benefit for any organization. The other important thing for implementing RPA is that RPA does not require replacement for the existing systems. It can utilize existing systems to implement automation scripts to mimic human behavior. Thus, it will not cost anything more for adding new infrastructure and systems.

Robots can automate everything

Although RPA is emerging technology, it still does not allow automating all the processes. It only allows automating such processes that follow the criteria given below:

• Rule-based.
• High transaction volumes.
• Low exceptions.
• Stable and well-defined processes.
• Low system change.
• Structured data and readable electronic inputs.

It still does not guarantee that automating the processes satisfying the above terms will be beneficial. RPA analysts and process managers together find the best processes to be automated. RPA becomes more challenging where processes are non-standardized and need frequent human intervention to complete. For example- interacting with customers.

Robots are fully automated and can be left unattended 24/7

This is a big myth about RPA software bots. Humans are actually required for programming, running, scheduling, and monitoring the robots. There are some other processes, such as exception handling, tracking robot performance, and performing necessary support activities of production that need human intervention.

To use RPA software, one needs to have basic knowledge of programming

This is also a myth that a person should have the basic programming skills to use the RPA software. However, this is not true. There is no need for any programming knowledge to use the RPA system. To use RPA software, one should know how the software works on the front-end and how the tasks are assigned to the RPA worker for automation. Instead, RPA system developers require basic knowledge of coding, programming, and scripting.

Apart from it, many of the popular RPA software offers a "record-and-play" feature. This refers to the use of a desktop recorder that records the actions performed by a user. It further generates the script as per the performed actions. These types of scripts are usually not robust enough and cannot be trusted.

Nowadays, there are several platforms for developing RPA tools such as UIPath, BluePrism, Automation Anywhere, etc. They allow RPA developers to build RPA bots to perform automation without any hassle. These tools are also minimizing coding requirements.