Design and implementation of workflow automation in a medium-sized enterprise

This thesis deals with the topic of a pilot project for the implementation and operation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the environment of an international company in order to reduce manual work, costs and improve the quality and speed of data processing. The objective of the work was to design a process automation solution in two departments with respect to the specified requirements. Based on a search of available sources, the topic of process optimization in companies and the incorporation of RPA into a hierarchy of overarching concepts was first introduced. At the same time, the current status of this software tool was summarized, including an evaluation of potential advantages and disadvantages arising from its use. A systematic framework was also presented, complemented by best practices that are important for effective project management and operations regardless of the size of the enterprise. Subsequently, the initial situation in the selected company was clarified and the automation solution was proposed for the given internal conditions and requirements. Using a modular approach, 49 processes were developed via Power Automate along with an RPA monitoring and operation system for the two target departments. In total, more than 11,000 flows were run in the three semesters under review with an average success rate of 97.2 % and estimated time savings of more than 1,300 hours. At the same time, manual work for selected processes was reduced, mainly by automating the interaction with internal systems, including speeding up the upload and quality of data to the internal database while leveraging the existing ETL tool. The output of the project has been accepted by the company management and employees and has the potential to be further developed.