Customer Success Stories

"Thanks to our RPA initiative, we have reduced workload, improved operational efficiency & reduced risks – for us RPA is now a primary tool for driving our digitalization & Innovation agenda…."

People & Process Transformation Lead

As part of their digital transformation program, this innovative, progressive and forward-thinking UK-based upstream Oil & Gas company identified a myriad of SAP processes which were excellent potential for automation. Read on to hear how with AG’s help as SAP and RPA experts this client are now well on their way with UiPath RPA solutions in place across numerous SAP Finance, Supply Chain and Maintenance processes.

THE CHALLENGES:

Back in 2019 this leading UK based Upstream Oil & Gas Exploration & Production company had initiated a Digital Transformation programme but weren’t sure whether RPA would present opportunities for them, if they could make it work and where it could add value. They had been working with SAP specialists AG for some time and were beginning to explore where RPA could be leveraged in the SAP space.

A long-standing team member was leaving the business representing a ‘Key Man’ risk as this person was solely responsible for running a complex 85 step process for safety critical ‘Barrier Model’ reports taking +4 hrs to run each week. We suggested to pilot a bot and were able to get the bot up and running in a few weeks. In the following 2 years the bot has been running daily and has paid for itself many times over as well as adding extra value to the business. The ‘Barrier Model’ report pilot was a great example of how RPA could be exploited but the next challenge was how to identify and select other high impact Use Cases.

Through AG’s ‘Engage Model’ potential Use Cases are gathered, assessed and prioritised (by ROI or strategic importance) and then delivered with many new bots coming on stream each year.  

THE SOLUTION:

The ‘Barrier Model’ report RPA pilot was the catalyst for what has become a huge success story with an extended pilot looking first looking at SAP Finance and subsequently a full review across the wider SAP landscape. “This is quite a typical CRAWL > WALK > RUN journey to start small and prove things out building infrastructure and confidence and then scaling up - including exploring complementary technologies such as Intelligent Forms, Workflows, OCR/IDP, etc” says Nick Champion, Director at AG “as experts in both SAP and RPA we are uniquely positioned to support the SAP community to realise the amazing potential waiting to be tapped from RPA”.

There is a drive to exploit the full potential of automation and through AG’s ‘Engage Model’ scores of potential Use Cases are gathered, assessed and prioritised with examples across SAP:

• Finance (25+): Balance Sheet Rec’s, Auto Accruals, Treasury Loan Account Clearing, etc
• Supply Chain (10+): Material & Service Masters, GR > AP, PO Accruals & PO Closure, etc
• Maintenance (10+): Work Order Closure & various Reports, SES, Deferrals, etc

The RPA investment has yielded great benefits with high impact Use Cases deployed across all areas of SAP including Finance, Supply Chain & Maintenance and with many more highly attractive Use Cases already in the pipeline. RPA is now firmly embedded in their culture and the business now has Use Cases. Santosh Sundar, RPA Technical Solution Lead at AG explains: “Our goal was to help exploit RPA’s true potential; by first identifying potential use cases, prioritising these and then directly automating ‘quick-win’ business cases. These use cases were then delivered using UiPath’s ground-breaking Hyper-Automation platform to help drive operational efficiency. The business believed in the strategic importance of pursuing an RPA initiative within their wider Digital Innovation program, but they were looking to turn their ideas into tangible results.”

THE RESULTS:

• +10 ’Live’ Automations fully operational (mostly autonomous ‘Unattended’ but also ‘Attended’)

• +50% Use Cases help to streamline SAP Finance Month-Endwith individual steps reduced upto 90%

• Total current equivalent savings of 5+ FTE

• Average Use Case ROI approx 4 months (with typical Use Case ROI within 6 months)

• Numerous ‘Key Man’ risks mitigated together with operational improvements (upgraded daily to weekly, etc)

Using UiPath RPA to automate various processes AG have helped to greatly improve the efficacy and timeliness of the Financial Close as well as various processes across Supply Chain and Maintenance. In so doing this initiative has enabled the business teams to significantly reduce workload at peak times, to minimise ‘Key Man’ risks, to reduce errors and affording more time to focus on greater value-add and strategic work.

"AG and UiPath RPA have helped transform our organisations financial processes enabling us to change the focus of our work to add more value"

People & Process Transformation Lead