Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in logistics is actually already a necessity given the nature of many tasks and processes in this sector combined with the labor shortage. Alongside the development of robotization and automation in logistics, Raben Group is implementing various solutions to increase the efficiency of warehousing and transport processes, e.g. shipment measuring devices, autonomous or semiautomated forklifts, “cobotic” arms, the Internet of Things (IoT) sensors or automatic sorters. It is also important that for the past two years, the Group has been equally engaged in process robotization and focused on the so-called software bots that mimic user actions in IT systems. Currently, the team of virtual robots consists of 18 units that carry out more than 60 processes, and they are centrally controlled, they require no user interaction and they actually assume their roles.
Zbigniew Kępiński, IT team manager for robotics and process automation at Raben Group, says: “Unattended robots are high-tech, virtually autonomous entities that operate in IT systems. They require task scheduling and supervision but beyond that, they also work when the human user has already left for home. Overall 18 robotic licenses that we can use 24 hours a day, seven days a week, effectively means at least 50 full-time jobs. In addition, the RPA robot is able to do the job several times faster than the user, which is a huge improvement, especially with the current problems of employee availability in logistics. If we additionally consider the flexibility, efficiency, reliability and attractive costs of RPA, there is no doubt that automation will be the future of our industry.”
Development of the RPA technology in the structures of the logistics operator can be credited to this very unit. In September 2021, it was spun off from Genius Lab, Raben Group's department dedicated to the widely understood innovation and logistics of tomorrow, but the company had already taken an interest in RP in 2019 when the first robotic processes were developed as part of cognitive and R&D activities, which was followed by their deployment.
For the needs of RPA, in 2020, the team built its own process management platform called myRobot, which works with bots on multiple levels. It allows users to control their work directly and run a certain group of robotic processes on demand and also contributes to RPA optimization and helps maximize license utilization around the clock.
These 18 robotic units are “employed” in most of the company's areas of business activity. They support planning, loading and unloading operations, as well as billing, quoting and invoicing. RPA in logistics is a relatively fresh trend, however, it meets the unchanging business expectations and priorities of operators over the years, i.e. maintaining profitability, engagement or risk mitigation. Nowadays, it is possible to plan a robot's work in such a way that if everything runs smoothly, it goes through the whole process of processing the order by itself and a human decision is required only in critical situations (e.g. delay, accident, theft), which happen really seldom.
“Automation of office processes allows the company to develop faster and increase the number of handled operations with the same level of employment. It is a simple and cost-effective way to optimize current processes, but also to create a reserve “capacity” for the future, in case of increasing the scale of operations,” adds Kępiński.
RPA is ideal as a system load testing tool. Instead of having users run various tests: regression, change, load, you can delegate robots to do this work. This is yet another proof of the versatile application of robots in logistics and for Raben Group another argument to invest in this area. The company plans to at least double the number of robotic licenses within two years and its IT infrastructure is ready for it today.
Robots are able to fill dozens of jobs in Raben Group, which is invaluable in the situation of staff shortages. Their operations should be considered not only in quantitative but also in qualitative terms: they perform human work on average four times faster, without error, according to an algorithm and without the need for changes in IT systems, which translates into very concrete, measurable savings for the company.
Robots allow for better use of the potential of employees because they are able to take over from them tedious, repetitive tasks, which are the cause of work fatigue and burnout. At the stage of the first robots, some skepticism and distrust of the technology were evident among users. Today they appreciate them, acknowledging that they are a great help and free them from tedious duties. They can spend the time they save on more creative and rewarding work. It should be emphasized here that the human factor in the company is and probably will remain irreplaceable in certain areas.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that the described way of using RPA is an element of a bigger undertaking in Raben Group structures, which is aimed at hyper-automation. It involves greater use of AI, machine learning techniques, engagement with other platforms and systems in addition to RPA and integration of more components, such as information from different sources: robots, IoT sensors, CCTV cameras or GPS systems. Hyper automation is the future that will create a new and hugely automated way of working in IT applications and systems, not just in the logistics sector.
