Robotic Process Automation, or RPA, is the use of software tools or modern-day programming languages to partially or fully automate human activities that are manual, rules-based, and repetitive. Below are some great use cases and good candidates for RPA in food and beverage companies.
Invoice payment
Through the use of bots, companies can increase/accelerate the payment of customer invoices by automatically sending a message before (or after) an invoice due date. These individuals who were manually focused on this task can now focus on more value-added activities within the finance department. Companies that have implemented this strategy have seen a benefit through:
- Reducing A/R days outstanding
- Improving cash flow performance
- Strengthening customer service
- Increasing productivity in the accounting & finance department
- Strengthening projections
Customer Delivery Notification
Companies can notify customers of the expected arrival time of an order shipment along with the quantity being delivered and cost. The benefits of this communication include:
- Strengthening customer service by providing key information in a timely manner
- Improving time per delivery efficiency (get the customer ready to accept the delivery and get your driver onto the next customer quickly)
- Mitigating delivery errors or delivery rejections
- Reducing calls into customer service related to delivery issues
Customer Sales Calls
Bots can be used to pull key information out of the ordering system of prior purchase orders (POs). Buyer can quickly reference the last PO, year to date purchases and suggested next order on the pending sales call. Benefits include:
- Increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty
- Maximizing the impact of the sales call
- Simplifying and forcing compliance with policies and routines through proactive transparency
Conclusion
These are just a few examples of use cases that are most common in the food and beverage industry.
