Vertu Motors Invests In Robot Technologies
Vertu Motors has invested in robotic process automation (RPA) to help improve productivity across previously manual data entry processing tasks.
The Group is using RPA to enable tasks that are repetitive, high volume, rules based or prone to human error, to be automatically processed. Colleagues are freed up from the duties, enabling them to use time more productively.
Vehicle taxation, service and MOT bookings are examples of systems which will be operated by RPA, helping to negate or reduce bottlenecks within the business, and enabling service colleagues to spend valuable time developing their skills elsewhere in the business.
To be eligible to be controlled by RPA, a task must have defined inputs and outputs. It should also be high volume, repeated at several intervals and have a pre-defined trigger. For example, the renewal date of a vehicle service that should be completed every year or 10,000 miles can be estimated.
Michael Judge, head of digitisation and development at Vertu Motors, manages the team responsible for building robots and deploying them around the business.
Michael said: “When we talk about robots what usually comes to mind is something out of a Hollywood movie, like the Terminator! RPA is not a physical or mechanical robot, rather, the ‘robots’ in robotic process automation are software robots running on computers. Put simply, the role of RPA is to automate repetitive tasks that were previously handled by humans, it’s not about replacing colleagues but making them more productive.
“We are using RPA to create a bridge between two systems that provide us with no other way to ‘speak’ to each other. It allows us to improve productivity across a wide range of previously manual data entry and processing tasks.
“We started off with the service booking robot in early 2020, just before the first lockdown, and from there more and more tasks have been identified where the technology could help the business. Marcin Watroba, our lead RPA developer, and his team have now built and deployed more than 20 different bots around the business, with plenty more in the pipeline.
“One of our key goals in the digitisation and development team is to strive for total systems and data integration in Vertu Motors, and RPA is an important tool in helping us achieve this.”