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Performance
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Catalyze
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Explore
Potential Uses
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Intelligent RPA
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SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation
Automate the Intelligent Enterprise
Business Processes Run the World
But many of these processes – critical pieces of the business – still involve tedious manual tasks that rely on constant human intervention.

Running on core, cloud, and legacy systems, these processes create inefficiency. Worse yet, they can reduce user and customer satisfaction.
SAP 
Master Digital Transformation with
Intelligent RPA
What if you could run your processes faster? Serve customers better? Replace manual, repetitive tasks with processes that let people work creatively and transformatively?

That’s where intelligent robotic process automation (RPA) can help. Intelligent RPA accelerates digital transformation of business processes by automating tedious, repetitive activities where human workers bring no added value.
Unattended RPA
A fully automated process, where robots are working autonomously with human supervision only
Attended RPA
A partially automated process, where robots are
coworking with humans
“Intelligent RPA accelerates digital transformation of business processes by automating tedious, repetitive activities.”1
1.“Forecast Analysis: Application Infrastructure and Middleware Software, Worldwide,” Gartner, August 2019.
SAP
Why Is Intelligent RPA Different?
Standard RPA tools interact with core systems as if they were a user, often using the same user interface. When the UI changes or a system is updated, the RPA tool must be reprogrammed – introducing additional complexity to the IT ecosystem and raising the risk of updating systems.


Intelligent RPA uses a combination of UI- and API-based access to create a stable connection to enterprise systems. It considers human actions in its processed, using insight gained from business process management and workflow technologies. Intelligent capabilities such as machine learning and conversational AI support digital interactions.

SAP
Value of Intelligent RPA for Business Processes
Shared services:
Execute faster, reduce errors, and optimize processes by automating manual tasks
Financial
transformation:
Accelerate financial closing, reduce manual efforts, and optimize resources
Customer service:
Increase customer satisfaction through automation
Operations:
Automate, monitor, and increase the visibility of tasks
Data management:
Accelerate onboarding for employees and customers, and increase master data consistency
“The market for RPA services totaled US$3.9 billion in 2018; Forrester believes that it will be more than triple by 2023, to reach $12 billion.”2
2.“The RPA Services Market Will Grow To Reach $12 Billion By 2023,” Forrester, Juiy 2019.
SAP  
Comprehensive Automation Across All Systems

To increase both user satisfaction and operational efficiency, you need a cohesive solution that helps you automate the
many mundane and recurring manual activities that occur throughout your organization.

Look for a solution that offers the following features and capabilities.
A single, integrated automation offering

Learn more
A future-proof core that helps your business stay relevant
Learn more
The ability to use APIs to improve bot performance
and continuity
Learn more
SAP  
Explore SAP® Intelligent Robotic
Process Automation
SAP® Intelligent Robotic Process Automation (SAP Intelligent RPA) services facilitate the creation, deployment, and management of intelligent bots.
These bots can emulate user interactions with software, helping you automate repetitive manual processes spanning multiple systems, services, and architectures.
Integrated Offerings for Your Digital Business
Although the services can run stand-alone, SAP Intelligent RPA can integrate with various other
intelligent offerings, including:
SAP
Key Capabilities
With SAP Intelligent RPA, you can achieve the following.
Eliminate repetitive
manual processes
Learn more
Deliver greater
speed and accuracy
Learn more
Power automation
with intelligence
Learn more
SAP
Benefits to Your Business
By using SAP Intelligent RPA, you’ll realize these essential benefits.
Enhanced efficiency and productivity by using intelligent bots to automate high-value activities and processes
Improved process execution accuracy, speed, and efficiency with reduced human errors
The opportunity to run your intelligent enterprise faster, leaner, and more cost-effectively, all while better serving customers
SAP
The Promise of SAP Intelligent RPA
The services offer key value for companies ready to become an intelligent enterprise.
Unrivaled ability to drive SAP applications, with dedicated technology connectors to
SAP S/4HANA and the
SAP graphical user interface
Greater ability to enhance the user experience with guidance, a simplified application journey, and reduced learning curves
A complete solution that industrializes the robotic approach for both attended and unattended bots
A simple consumption-based pricing model so you can start small and grow as you go
SAP  
SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation
Automate repetitive manual processes by creating, scheduling, managing, and monitoring intelligent bots. With SAP Intelligent RPA, a unified cloud solution that includes on-premise automation tools, you can redirect resources toward high-value activities and processes (see Figure 13).
Figure 13: SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation Services
SAP  
Free Trial
Try out SAP Intelligent RPA.
Learn More
To find out more about SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation,
learn from these courses:
SAP Intelligent Robotic Process Automation in a Nutshell
How to Build Bots with SAP Intelligent RPA
Business Process Automation in SAP S/4HANA with SAP Intelligent RPA
What’s New with Bot Building in SAP Intelligent RPA
More information is available on the SAP Community page, or visit us online.
Download an abbreviated PDF version of this document. To review the full set of use cases for SAP Intelligent RPA or to check for new use cases, visit this site again.
Discover SAP Intelligent RPA success stories here.
SAP 
At a Glance
Intelligent Accounts
Receivable Processing
Automate payment advice processes
AT A GLANCE
A leading utility with 1.5 million customers processes payments and payment advice manually and must address about 30,000 payment disputes each year. The company wanted to use automation to streamline its accounts receivable processes and reduce the number of disputes caused by differences between payments and open account items.


Challenges
Challenges
  • Highly manual accounts receivable processes
  • Incomplete data when automation uses static business rules, which exclude information from unstructured documents
Figure 1: Before – Manual Accounts Receivable Process with Deductions
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application that uses bots to extract attachment from e-mail
  • Machine learning capabilities to handle unstructured data from e-mail or PDF
  • Automatic dispute creation, claim extraction, and dispute matching
Figure 2: After – Automated Accounts Receivable Process with Deductions
Benefits
Benefits
75% reduction
in payment processing time with
automated data uploads*
€70,000
in annual savings realized through automation of AR processes*
Improved cash flow
due to accelerated dispute resolution
Increased time
for AR experts to concentrate on handling
special cases
Higher
customer satisfaction
*SAP cannot guarantee the financial impact of using our solutions. The purpose of including these metrics is to illustrate the potential value of using the solution. Each use case must be analyzed individually to determine its potential return on investment.
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn more about using intelligent RPA for
accounts receivable.



At a Glance
Automated Upload
of General Ledger
Entries
Reduce errors and effort to
maintain financial journal data
AT A GLANCE
A large automotive supplier creates its financial journal entries by manually copying and pasting data from spreadsheets. With more than 20,000 general ledger entries per year, this process is time-consuming and error prone. The company wanted to reduce the time employees spend updating journal data and increase data accuracy.
Challenges
Challenges
  • Financial journal data delivered as spreadsheets attached to e-mails (see Figure 3)
  • Manual copy and paste of data to financial applications
  • Addition measures required to ensure data quality
Figure 3: Before – Manual Upload of General Ledger Entries
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application that uses bots to extract spreadsheets from incoming e-mails and posts financial
    data to the ERP system using an API (see Figure 4)
  • Automatic logging of posting activities to ensure compliance
  • Employee time freed from rote tasks to focus on complex cases and exceptions
Figure 4: After – Automated Upload of General Ledger Entries
Benefits
Benefits
75% faster
upload of general ledger entries using bots*
€15,000
in annual savings realized through automated data upload*
Increased accuracy
of posting data in financial systems
*SAP cannot guarantee the financial impact of using our solutions. The purpose of including these metrics is to illustrate the potential value of using the solution. Each use case must be analyzed individually to determine its potential return on investment.
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Read about how software robots can help automate financial operations.

At a Glance
Supplier Invoice
Status Checks
Free shared service center capacity
by automating supplier inquiries
AT A GLANCE
In processing more than 800,000 supplier invoices annually, a professional service provider uses shared service centers to address supplier inquiries. It takes workers seven minutes on average to conduct each of approximately 8,000 status checks. The firm wanted to streamline this process and provide faster responses to suppliers.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Most accounts payable workload driven by vendor inquiries, typically submitted by e-mail (see Figure 5)
  • Manual, time-consuming processes to collect relevant information, open a service request to document the inquiry, and reply to supplier
Figure 5: Before – Manual Processing of Supplier Inquiries
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application that uses machine learning to automatically identify and extract data from incoming vendor
    inquiries (see Figure 6)
  • Automatic information collection about requested invoices
  • Service request automatically created by bot and reply sent to vendor using e-mail
Figure 6: After – Automated Processing of Supplier Inquiries
Benefits
Benefits
90% reduction
in the time needed to respond to
supplier inquiries*
€120,000
in annual savings through automated status checks*
Improved
supplier satisfaction thanks to more timely
responses to inquiries
10x reduction
of average processing time for supplier inquiries*
Up to 20%
accounts payable savings potential enabled*
*SAP cannot guarantee the financial impact of using our solutions. The purpose of including these metrics is to illustrate the potential value of using the solution. Each use case must be analyzed individually to determine its potential return on investment.
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Read about building intelligence into RPA.



At a Glance
Purchase Order
Confirmation
Increase data quality in planning
by automatically processing order
confirmations
AT A GLANCE
A leading food producer uses e-mail to confirm specific quantities of products, prices, and delivery times for 10,000 purchase orders annually. When the e-mail response is received, the buying company’s procurement personnel manually records the task confirmation in the ERP system. The consumer products company wanted to speed the process by automating purchase order verification.


Challenges
Challenges
  • Large volumes of e-mail-based supplier confirmations (see Figure 7)
  • Time-consuming manual update of the associated purchase orders with confirmation details
Figure 7: Before – Manual Purchase Order Confirmation
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA bot that extracts purchase order number and line-item confirmation detail from
    incoming e-mail response (see Figure 8)
  • Automatic update of purchase order confirmation in ERP system
  • Exceptions forwarded to employees for separate investigation
Figure 8: After – Automatic Purchase Order Confirmation
Benefits
Benefits
75% reduction
in processing time for purchase order confirmation using an intelligent RPA bot*
€10,000
in annual savings by automating the confirmation process*
Increased visibility
of purchase order status, enabling better planning
*SAP cannot guarantee the financial impact of using our solutions. The purpose of including these metrics is to illustrate the potential value of using the solution. Each use case must be analyzed individually to determine its potential return on investment.
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn more about how software robots enable
intelligent RPA.



At a Glance
Customer
Onboarding
Slash customer onboarding effort
AT A GLANCE
Despite the rise of self-registration features, online banks and credit card companies require significant effort to onboard new customers. Typically banks use external services for prechecks to validate credit risks and comply with regulatory requirements, and any resulting data is stored in separate systems.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Manual copy and paste of customer data across multiple applications (see Figure 9)
  • Data collection from disparate sources, including Web sites and credit risk companies
  • Data stored in different internal applications
Figure 9: Before – Bank Account Opening Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA bot that automates the collection of information from external systems and maintains back-end systems during the provisioning process (see Figure 10)
  • Deployment of bots in an attended scenario so they can be combined with manual tasks, creating a smooth transition between bots and employees
Figure 10: After – Automated Bank Account Opening Process
Benefits
Benefits
85% reduction
in the time needed to complete the customer onboarding process*
>€30,000
in annual savings by automating
the precheck process*
Significant reduction
in human errors
*SAP cannot guarantee the financial impact of using our solutions. The purpose of including these metrics is to illustrate the potential value of using the solution. Each use case must be analyzed individually to determine its potential return on investment.
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn how intelligent RPA improves services.



At a Glance
Automated Offer
Letter Creation
Expedite recruiting processes and
elevate your talent search
AT A GLANCE
Creating offer letters during HR recruiting is a highly manual process. SAP sends out 27,000 offer letters annually across the globe, and each one must comply with local laws. Our HR team wanted to reduce the manual effort needed to create offer letters and decrease the time from offer to hire.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Need to maintain data in various back-end systems (see Figure 11)
  • Time-consuming process of copying data to offer letters
  • Recruiters sending final offer letters out by e-mail
Figure 11: Before – Automated Offer Letter Generation
Solution
Solution
Intelligent RPA bot that automates data maintenance across systems (see Figure 12)
  • Automatic creation of offer letters in country-specific format
  • Letters e-mailed to candidates
  • Machine learning capabilities that automate replies to candidate questions
Figure 12: After – Automated Offer Letter Generation
Benefits
Benefits
8x reduction
in time needed to create
job offer letters
€50,000
in annual savings through automation of the offer
letter–generation process
Enhanced ability
to meet service-level agreements
even in periods of peak activity
Increased
recruiting quality, enabling a
best-in-class talent search
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn more about Lucy, an intelligent RPA bot
developed by SAP.



At a Glance
Accounts Payable Processing
Automate the collection, validation, and processing of supplier invoices
AT A GLANCE
As part of its manual processing of 10,000 vendor invoices annually, a large pharmaceuticals distributor downloads information from vendor portals or retrieves it from supplier e-mails. The company wanted to replace time-intensive, error-prone download, data validation, and data transfer processes with more-efficient automated tasks.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Highly manual accounts payable (AP) processes (see Figure 14)
  • Partially automated processes using complex scripts
  • Lack of integration between process steps
  • Manual matching processes for invoices, purchase orders, and financial posting
Figure 14: Before – Manual Accounts Payable Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application combined with machine learning capabilities to extract and handle unstructured data from e-mails or PDFs (see Figure 15)
  • Machine learning services to automate matching, locate purchase orders, and detect fraud
  • Bots that automatically upload and post spreadsheet data
Figure 15: After – Automated Accounts Payable Process
Benefits
Benefits
80% reduction
in data entry time with automated
data upload
Improved employee
experience
for financial controllers
€50,000 savings annually
Increased efficiency
of finance operations with
auditable trails
Higher data accuracy
while extracting and entering data in
AP systems
Additional time
for experts to focus on exceptions
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Watch the video to learn more about using
intelligent RPA for accounts payable processes.



At a Glance
Intercompany
Reconciliation
Check and reconcile balances on
intercompany accounts
AT A GLANCE
An international automotive supplier spends too much time checking and reconciling balances across multiple intercompany accounts as part of its month-end close process. With more than 30 company codes and 20 financial systems, the organization spends over 100 hours per month on reconciliation. The company wanted to use automation to speed up these routine tasks.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Excessive effort needed to manually collect, consolidate, and reconcile data (see Figure 16)
  • Time-consuming processes requiring accountants to log in to different systems, download data to spreadsheets,
    • reconcile data, and resolve problems with colleagues
  • Potential delays in month-end closing caused by slow reconciliation processes
Figure 16: Before – Manual Intercompany Reconciliation Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application that automates data collection and preparation (see Figure 17)
  • Automatic consistency checks and reconciliation
  • Forwarding of exceptions to responsible staff using workflow technology
  • Visibility of process status at any time
Figure 17: After – Automated Intercompany Reconciliation Process
Benefits
Benefits
85% reduction
in repetitive manual work
required for reconciliation
1,000 hours saved annually
Increased quality
and compliance
Additional time
for experts to focus on exceptions
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn more about using intelligent RPA for
intercompany reconciliation.



At a Glance
Business Partner
Onboarding
Achieve master data excellence with
improved data quality
AT A GLANCE
A large software company works with 40,000 business partners. But onboarding each partner in the procurement system is a time-consuming task. The onboarding process collects internal information as well as data from external portals – resulting in significant manual processing for each account. The company wanted to automate the onboarding process while ensuring data completeness and consistency over time.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Manual, time-consuming onboarding process (see Figure 18)
  • High error rate when information is copied from external portals or forms to finance systems
  • Payment delays caused by missing master data or inconsistent quality of data
Figure 18: Before – Manual Business Partner Onboarding Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application that can be used to onboard partners and identify missing information (see Figure 19)
  • Bots that automatically collect information from external portals and enrich data
  • Bot-enabled consistency checks of master data
Figure 19: After – Automated Business Partner Onboarding Process
Benefits
Benefits
33% faster
account creation process
2,000 hours saved annually
thanks to reduced manual effort for
shared services staff
Increased
master data quality
Fewer
process errors
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Read about using intelligent RPA for business partner onboarding processes.



At a Glance
IT Equipment
Ordering
Revolutionize the computer equipment
ordering process
AT A GLANCE
A large professional services provider processes 10,000 orders per year for updated employee computer equipment. Employees use complex portal sites and go through multiple manual steps to identify the right equipment, communicate with IT help desks, and place their order. The firm wanted to improve the employee experience of ordering equipment while streamlining the business process.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Tedious, time-consuming effort required to replace IT equipment (see Figure 20)
  • Multiple inefficient, manual processes that create a frustrating employee experience
  • High levels of IT support required for each employee order
  • Low employee satisfaction
Figure 20: Before – Manual IT Equipment Ordering Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application combined with a conversational AI chatbot and machine learning services (see Figure 21)
  • Natural-language interaction between employee and chatbot, which guides users through the procurement process
  • Computer vision service that automatically identifies computer type being replaced
  • Intelligent RPA bot that creates a purchase order in procurement software and sends feedback to user
Figure 21: After – Automated IT Equipment Ordering Process
Benefits
Benefits
90% reduction
in equipment ordering time for employees
using self-service chatbot
Significant reduction
in lead time for IT equipment orders
Minimized workload
for IT order desk, thanks to standardized,
automated processes
State-of-the-art
employee experience
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Watch the video to learn more about using intelligent
RPA for IT equipment ordering processes.



At a Glance
Change Request
Execution
Automate software changes and testing
AT A GLANCE
Each day, a business enterprise that uses multiple SAP software solutions makes numerous standard changes to its IT systems, such as creating a new sales office or purchasing group. Typically, these change processes are only partially automated, and they use approval workflows that rely on ticketing systems or SAP Solution Manager. The company wanted to speed the throughput of its changes, reduce the required human effort, and free up IT staff for more valuable tasks.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Large number of software changes to be processed manually (see Figure 22)
  • High level of effort to implement even standard changes and perform required testing
  • Long processing times required to implement changes
  • Frequently incorrect implementation of changes, negatively impacting the business
Figure 22: Before – Manual Software Change Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application that uses bots to execute changes in relevant systems (see Figure 23)
  • Bots that can automatically execute testing and inform requesters of results
  • Automation of the complete process, including consistency checks
  • Automatic updates of change requests or tickets
Figure 23: After – Automated Software Change Process
Benefits
Benefits
Increased
throughput of IT change requests
Reduction
of repetitive manual work
Fewer
human errors and less need for
manual rework
Lower demand
on IT staff, freeing them for complex tasks
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn more about using intelligent RPA to streamline the processing of standard changes in SAP solutions.



At a Glance
Employee
Onboarding
Create a superior employee experience
by streamlining new-hire onboarding
AT A GLANCE
A multinational bank hires 15,000 new employees annually. The lengthy onboarding process involves different systems and tools, from core HR systems to user provisioning, training systems, and the use of government portals to fulfill legal requirements. The bank wanted to accelerate the process; ensure it produces complete, consistent data; and create a better new-hire experience.

Challenges
Challenges
  • Time-consuming onboarding process involving multiple approval steps, manual activities, and subject-matter experts (see Figure 24)
  • Tedious, error-prone copying of data between systems
  • Lack of standardization of and visibility into onboarding process
  • Delays caused by missing information or skipped steps
  • Poor employee experience when system access or equipment is missing on first day of work
Figure 24: Before – Manual Employee Onboarding Process
Solution
Solution
  • Intelligent RPA application, combined with existing workflow tools, that automates execution of onboarding tasks across different systems and departments (see Figure 25)
  • Automation of tasks such as creating system users, ordering equipment, or submitting required information to authorities
  • End-to-end consistency checks
  • Real-time transparency into exceptions and missing information
Figure 25: After – Automated Employee Onboarding Process
Benefits
Benefits
80% time savings
in the time needed to respond to
supplier inquiries*
Reduced manual workload
of HR staff and other departments involved in
onboarding
Enhanced data quality
and operations excellence, avoiding
onboarding delays
High employee productivity
from first day of work
Superior employee experience
beginning with onboarding
Source: Based on SAP Benchmarking data
Dig Deeper
Dig Deeper

Learn about fostering your digital transformation with RPA.



A single, integrated automation offering
that includes:
  • RPA, machine learning, chatbots, digital assistants, and an intelligent digital core, all in one solution
  • Business process management services that manage workflows and business rules for decision logic, providing end-to-end process visibility and triggering intelligent RPA bots
  • A unified automation stack that simplifies lifecycle management
  • Robust bots that offer both APIs and adhoc automation


A future-proof core that helps your
business stay relevant so you can:
  • Avoid being trapped by legacy technology
  • Count on a clear upgrade road map that helps you incorporate the latest innovations




The ability to use APIs to improve bot
performance and continuity, helping you:
  • Gain efficiency, reduce execution errors, enhance compliance, achieve better cost ratios, and mobilize resources
  • Eliminate the need to compromise on the adoption of the latest technology innovations
  • Simplify the introduction of automation with prebuilt bots for your business software




Eliminate repetitive manual processes
Unshackle your organization from error-prone, time-consuming processes with intelligent bots that execute processes spanning multiple systems, cloud solutions, and software-as-a-service offerings.



Deliver greater speed and accuracy
Streamline some or all aspects of manual processes using digital assistant functionality that improves process performance and efficiency by allowing users to interact directly with bots.



Power automation with intelligence
Use intelligent technologies to help bots identify and learn new patterns without explicit training while enabling intelligent bots to process and understand unstructured data from e-mails, images, and Adobe PDFs.