RPA adoption
RPA is not just for large multinationals. Credit: Shutterstock

Robotic process automation (RPA) continues to see robust adoption among medium-sized businesses in the US, according to a survey by RPA provider Softomotive.

In its RPA Solutions for Growth Companies study 46% of medium-sized businesses in the US said they have implemented RPA or employed it at scale across multiple parts of their organisation.

And half have implemented RPA at a small scale or are investigating how they can use RPA in their business.

The survey reflects how it is not just large conglomerates and multi-national business that are embracing automated software to carry out repetitive tasks.

Many are seeing the benefits of reduced human error, increased productivity and lower operational costs.

Because of these benefits, businesses across the majority of sectors are implementing RPA solutions.

For example, a recent report by data and analytics company GlobalData found that uptake of RPA is strong among retailers.

Speaking of the report, Brad Shimmin, service director for Technology and Software at GlobalData, said:

“One noticeable advantage with RPA is that its installation requires no change to the current set up and can interact with the existing underlying systems. It can also be combined with other automation tools to get the most out of them.”

RPA adoption: The downsides and most popular use by department

However, there are still some barriers to businesses investing in RPA – often the initial investment cost.

For companies only expecting to see marginal returns, it is often not worth the risk.

And while RPA can take jobs away from humans, it can also create job opportunities for skilled workers to programme and maintain its robotic workforce.

Medium-sized businesses can also be concerned about data security and service reliability when implementing an RPA solution.

By department, Softomotive found RPA use to be strongest within business operations (70%) and IT (68%).

The firm also reported a sizeable number of medium-sized businesses using RPA for finance, accounting, procurement and HR.

Softomotive’s survey also found that 94% of medium-sized US businesses plan to use RPA either “much more” or “a little more” over the next two years.

Read more: Robotic process automation: Don’t sweat the small stuff, RPA it