Before the onset of COVID, businesses were already focused on their digital transformation. However, structural changes in markets brought about by the global pandemic have increased the need for businesses to adapt and innovate in order to survive. This is where automation can help.

Indeed, automation offers your business relevant and unexpected added values, which will be essential to maintain your competitive position, adapt to market changes and dominate your markets in the new economic era. We show you how in this article.

Digital transformation: a necessity in the new economic era

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, digitalization had already become a major competitive challenge. Then the pandemic arrived. In the space of a few months, the global economy has changed radically. Market disruptions have accelerated, the workplace for millions of people has changed in just a few weeks. To cope with these changes, large companies have doubled their digital investments..

Research suggests that up to 50% of administrative work will be automated by 2030. Markets are evolving towards so-called knowledge work, with purely transactional work being automated. There is no debate: automation, a central element of digital strategy, is accelerating and becoming a particularly interesting opportunity for your business in terms of ROI.

Automation: what added values are there in this new economic era?

Automation offers three value drivers:

• Productivity: reduction in the workforce without added value.
• Quality: reduction in error rates
• Vitesse: improvement of working time spent on administrative and time-consuming tasks

These value drivers can provide relevant value in five dimensions: cost, risk, agility/speed, experience and innovation.

1. Cost

With automation, the same amount (and cost) of human labor can be much more productive. Indeed, automation allows for example:

• Workforce reduction (labour savings)
• Increased productivity and revenue with unchanged labor costs

2. Risk Management

Automation tools like the Process mining Or the RPA eliminate the repetitive, predictable, and error-prone steps of human action. So, these automation tools help businesses mitigate value chain risks. Task and process exploration tools capture end-to-end processes, as well as the implicit knowledge that only a few experienced workers have.

3. Agility

Agility is a business's ability to change quickly and skillfully when changing markets represent a threat or an opportunity. As we explained in a previous article, automation helps to accelerate value creation when business processes need to be changed.

One low-code solution that can be used by a wide range of employees can be developed, tested and deployed in a few weeks. The same change made by two or more teams in a company can take months or quarters.. But in the new economy, time is money.

4. Experiment

The quality and speed drivers of automation contribute directly to the value of customer and employee experience.

Customers who experience correct processes and faster turnaround times will be happier and more loyal.

Likewise, automation that eliminates tedious, repetitive, and routine manual tasks improves the employee experience and increases employee engagement. And engaged employees are, of course, much more productive.

5. Innovation

Automation allows businesses to transition to a culture of pervasive innovation. Automation processes can be designed and deployed in a matter of weeks. Executives can see the results of their innovation work within a few months. Management can see results in the same fiscal year. This whole process stimulates staff engagement, entrepreneurship, and creative problem solving. It creates a “yes culture”. This culture welcomes innovative ideas from employees and allows for widespread innovation in the company.

Our partner UiPath is committed to this field. It provides an automation platform for driving digital initiatives, attracting, increasing agility, reducing risks, and creating a pervasive culture of innovation.

About StoryShaper:

StoryShaper is an innovative start-up that supports its customers in defining their digital strategy and the development of automation solutions tailor-made.

Sources: StoryShaper, UiPath