My colleague, the bot: How bots make your job (even) more attractive

Robot Process Automation (RPA) is an automation technology for business processes. Bots take over repetitive, rule-based and manual process steps – and thus take the burden of employees. They are left with more time for challenging tasks.

RPA is therefore part of the digital transformation that accompanies everyday work at thyssenkrupp Materials Services. One of the aims is to automate and standardize the processes under the hood. So that human colleagues have more time for other activities. "We provide very specific support to teams and departments in outsourcing rather repetitive activities to customized bots," says Patrick Berghoff, Project Manager Operative Digitalization in the Digital Technology Office at thyssenkrupp Materials Services, describing the task. "So RPA doesn't make people redundant, but gives them freedom. Departments that use this option quickly notice: bots increase job satisfaction."

In fact, bots usually take over only a small section in complex processes – and the rather monotonous part at that. For example, they can insert data from one program into another, analyze or review data, generate reports and send them via e-mail. The costs are usually manageable and pay for themselves quickly. In the pilot project for thyssenkrupp Schulte, the IDIL Bot took over administrative tasks, eliminating about ten minutes of manual work per day for each employee involved.