Hybridizing humans and robots: An RPA horizon envisaged from the trenches

Abstract

After the initial hype on RPA, companies have more realistic expectations of this technology. Its current mature vision relegates the end-to-end robotic automation to a less suitable place and considers the human-robot collaboration as the most natural way for automating robotic processes in real-world settings. This hybrid RPA implies a vertical segmentation of process activities, i.e., some activities are conducted by humans while robots do others. The literature lacks a general method that considers the technical aspect of the solution, the psychological impact of the automation, and the governance mechanisms that a running hybrid process requires. In this sense, this paper proposes an iterative method dealing with all these aspects and results from a series of industrial experiences. Additionally, the paper deeply discusses the role of process mining in this kind of method and how it can continuously boost its iterations. The initial validation of the method in real-world processes reports substantial benefits in terms of efficiency.