A Perspective on Deployment of Robotics
Introduction:
Robotics had gained lot of momentum in the current decade and factories are ahead of it, through industrial automation and robotics, However, the office environment is seeing lesser phase and speed as far as implementation is concerned.
In an office environment, Robotics has to be deployed whereverrepeated tasks are performed, This is the common mantra we hear from experts. However, there are several nuances to understand, in the pre-deployment and post-deployment scenarios & before celeberating the success of the deployment.
A well thought out strategy is required by organizations and leadership before deploying the robots into operations. We will understand such essential needs and processes as part of this synopsis.
Pre-deployment assessment:
This is an extensive exercise to understand the larger canvas of opportunities for deployment of robotics. In summary, these are Technology capabilities, Vendor selection, Time required for deployment, Deep dive into opportunities for understanding the potential, Savings potential post deployment including release of man-power, Value additions to the processes etc., However, the pre-deployment exercise needs to assess the following factors importantly,
Whether the assessment will be done by internal resources or external consulting organization. Prior experience of the consultant in such cases.
The time involved for completing the assessment and submitting the opportunity identification report
The consulting fee payable to the external consultant. To assess % of fee payable to the budget for RPA deployment. Also read the following articles;
Assessment of efficiency factors:
The organization need to assess the efficiency generation post project impartially. Many a times, the RPA deployment is on the KRA of somebody or an organizational milestone for the financial year. This could result in abrupt investments and no return scenario.
A typical assessment is centered around Headcount savings or client satisfaction with some key metrics. When the deployment time is relatively low, the assessment could be done in a speedy manner without properly assessing the real benefits. Similarly, the savings out of the deployment, could be overstated just to get the budget for the project.
This could result in unwanted consequences between assumptions and realilties.
Return on Investment & Payback:
This is something, the management need to be assessing carefully as part of the deployment process. Many a times, the cost of deploying external consulting takes a sizeable cost of the overall deployment budget. In companies, even internal consultants charge for their work, when they operate like a profit centre.
In case of outsourcing industry, most of the transactional processing work commands anywhere between $ 18k to $ 23k per annum. But if we look at the deployment costs such as consulting fee, annual licensing fee, special infrastructure costs if any, cost for specialized resources etc., adds upto the overhead. When the investment does not pay-back in 3-5 years, it may not be a right investment. However, this yardstick varies among companies.
Sustainability monitoring:
In the current environment, no organization can make fancy investment in RPA unless it makes business sense to it. The long term sustainability of the solution and continuous stream of benefits are the key, for any investment criterion.
Therefore, the RPA and supervisory oversight must be built in such a way that, it is a fail safe mechanism and it will continue to be utilized without any flimsy reasons.
Because, many of the process improvements may not be followed and there could be habitual instances where, the process is going back to its original inefficiencies unless or otherwise, keenly monitored.
Standard operating procedures and other controls must ensure that, additional human resources are not added and the value is continued to be realised by the organization. This is the only way to organization's success in RPA deployment.
