The General Services Administration demonstrated one of its bots at Imagine Nation ELC 2019.
Bots Work Well in Financial Services
At the General Services Administration, bots handle payroll reports, changes on lease agreements and other financial tasks, said Mark Grgurich, an RPA developer in GSA’s office of the CFO.
The agency also used its RoboMod pilot to correct 460,000 products listed on GSA Advantage! as made in America to their actual country of origin. “If you can imagine GSA employees having to read through and check country of origin —the best we could ever do was a spot check. This gives us a much better way to approach the process,” said GSA Administrator Emily Murphy.
The IRS is studying possible RPA applications for many financial services as well. “The RPA software that’s available makes it easy to develop that automation,” said Reza Rashidi, the agency’s executive lead for robotics process and intelligent automation.
DOD has found automation most valuable in financial areas, especially in the wake of its first-ever audit last year, which it failed. RPA could help the sprawling department and its four service branches better coordinate financial information, Thomas said.
RPA has many benefits, she said, including improvements in accuracy, quality and compliance. “Frankly, it’s an employee morale booster. The things we’re building and automating are not things our employees enjoy doing.”
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