A Lean Approach to Robotic Process Automation

Automation is a concept that has been introduced previously in organizations as a way to improve their processes. However, Robotic Process Automation is an emerging way to automate processes with software, which the industry calls robots. These robots perform repetitive and low-complexity tasks previously performed by humans in front of a computer - the most commonly used feature in a company nowadays. Using the Design Science Research methodology to build up this article, it argues that RPA is being used idly compared to what it could be using process improvement techniques before applying the automation itself. Thus, this article proposes a new approach to RPA: using the techniques of Lean. This article assesses two market leaders on RPA. It suggests a framework of activities for organizations that are investing in RPA and that want to take advantage of the capabilities that this technology currently offers. Most proposal demonstration was done in a Portuguese private bank in three processes. Depending on the different cases, it had an overall positive evaluation in the field or the simulations. Comparing RPA and Lean RPA projects in the number of resources (time, FTE) needed to carry out business processes, the latter approach presented values significantly lower and, consequently, satisfactory