Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is transforming businesses across industries by automating repetitive, rules-based digital tasks. According to Gartner, RPA adoption grew over 63% in 2021, with revenue reaching $1.89 billion. This growth is set to continue as more companies look to streamline operations, reduce costs, and improve efficiency.
RPA delivers rapid ROI by mimicking human actions and automating processes seamlessly across multiple systems and applications. It allows employees to focus on higher value work that requires judgment and creativity.
Case studies are one of the most effective ways to evaluate how RPA can benefit your specific business needs. Real-world examples demonstrate the processes automated, results achieved, challenges faced, and lessons learned.
To help you identify automation opportunities, here are 45+ RPA case studies categorized by industry:
Financial Services RPA Case Studies
The financial services industry was an early adopter of RPA, using it extensively for back-office processes. Banks, insurance firms, and other financial institutions handle high transaction volumes and data processing needs perfectly suited for RPA.
ANZ Bank
ANZ automated over 500 processes across Australia, New Zealand, and India with RPA. This reduced manual efforts by 85% equivalent to 400 FTEs. ANZ deployed RPA bots handling account openings, loan applications, general ledger reconciliation, regulatory reporting, email classification, and more.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: Account openings, loan applications, general ledger reconciliation, regulatory reporting, email classification
Results: 85% reduction in manual effort, 400 FTE capacity gained
Bancolombia
The largest bank in Colombia automated back-office processes like account openings and loan origination. RPA improved efficiency, reduced errors, and strengthened regulatory compliance. Bancolombia plans to automate 70% of possible processes using over 500 bots.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: Account openings, loan applications
Results: Increased efficiency, lower errors, improved compliance
Commercial Bank
A commercial bank in the United States automated processes like GAAR worksheet updates, appraisal orders, email notifications and data look-ups. RPA reduced manual efforts allowing staff to focus on high-value tasks.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: GAAR updates, appraisal orders, notifications, data look-ups
Results: Increased efficiency, higher staff productivity
Fortune 100 Bank
A top 100 bank in the US automated ACH payment processing using RPA. This freed up 50 FTEs from repetitive tasks to be reassigned for higher-skilled activities. RPA also reduced errors and improved compliance.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: ACH payment processing
Results: 50 FTEs reassigned, lower errors, improved compliance
Quad/Graphics
Quad/Graphics, a large US printing company, automated accounts payable invoice processing with RPA. This sped up invoice approvals and payment turnaround times. Additional processes related to HR, ordering and more were also automated.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: Accounts payable, invoice processing
Results: Faster invoice processing and payment
The Co-operative Banking Group
This UK bank automated back-office processes like direct debit cancellations, account closure requests, payments, and audits. RPA reduced manual efforts by 80% and slashed processing times from hours to minutes or seconds.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: Direct debit cancellations, account closures, payments, audits
Results: 80% effort reduction, hours to minutes processing time
Top 30 US Bank
A top 30 US bank achieved $1 million in cost savings annually by deploying RPA for data entry, document ordering and verification. Manual errors were eliminated, improving quality.
Industry: Financial Services
Processes Automated: Data entry, document ordering, verification
Results: $1M cost savings, error reduction
Insurance Industry RPA Case Studies
With extensive paperwork and rigid processes, insurance is another industry achieving major benefits from RPA. Top insurance providers are using it to improve underwriting, claims management, policy administration and other key functions.
Global Insurer
A leading international insurer automated over 200 processes across operations, finance, HR, and IT. RPA eliminated the need to hire 1,000 additional FTEs over 2 years to handle growing business volumes.
Industry: Insurance
Processes Automated: Operations, finance, HR, IT
Results: Automation of 1,000 FTEs over 2 years
Health Insurance Company
An American health insurance firm automated policy data entry along with claims testing and audits using RPA. This reduced manual efforts for repetitive tasks while minimizing errors. Compliance was also improved.
Industry: Insurance
Processes Automated: Policy data entry, claims testing, audits
Results: Increased efficiency, lower errors, improved compliance
Life and Financial Services Company
RPA was used by a US-based life and financial services firm to automate HR record processing and physician statement orders. Doing this eliminated low value repetitive work delivering $200,000 in annual savings.
Industry: Insurance
Processes Automated: HR records, physician orders
Results: $200k annual savings
Healthcare RPA Case Studies
Healthcare providers and payers were also quick to adopt RPA to eliminate repetitive administrative tasks. It proved valuable for claims processing, appointments, EHR updates, and other high-volume activities.
Cerner Corporation
Cerner, a major US healthcare IT provider, automated the migration of patient data from Excel spreadsheets to electronic medical record (EMR) systems using RPA. This saved $130,000 annually with a 628% ROI.
Industry: Healthcare
Process Automated: EMR data migration
Results: $130k annual savings, 628% ROI
Max Healthcare
India’s Max Healthcare increased the speed of health insurance claims processing and data reconciliation by over 50% using RPA. Manual efforts were reduced for these repetitive administrative tasks.
Industry: Healthcare
Process Automated: Claims processing, data reconciliation
Results: 50% faster claims and data processing
NHS Hospitals
Two National Health Service (NHS) hospitals in the UK applied RPA to automate processes like patient check-in, pharmacy stock updates, record reconciliation and more. Efforts were reduced 50% while accuracy improved.
Industry: Healthcare
Processes Automated: Patient check-in, pharmacy updates, record reconciliation
Results: 50% lower effort, increased accuracy
US Healthcare Payer
A major US healthcare payer automated data extraction and entry for patient records using RPA. This reduced manual work by 85% while improving data accuracy from 62% to 99%.
Industry: Healthcare
Processes Automated: Data extraction and entry
Results: 85% manual work reduction, 37% accuracy improvement
Shared services centers in HR, IT, finance, and other business functions are ripe for RPA. Companies like IBM, Accenture, and Infosys have extensively automated internal processes.
Accenture
Accenture, a global professional services firm, has deployed nearly 10,000 software robots handling over 3 million transactions annually. Procurement, finance, HR, and IT processes have been automated using RPA.
Industry: Professional Services
Processes Automated: Procurement, finance, HR, IT
Results: 10,000 bots, 3 million+ transactions annually
IBM
IBM has automated work across business functions using RPA, AI, and its Watson technology. In finance alone, it reduced 360,000 hours of manual efforts in bill auditing and reporting. Thousands of processes are handled using bots.
Industry: Professional Services
Processes Automated: Finance, auditing, reporting, other functions
Results: 360,000 hours saved in finance annually
Infosys
Infosys successfully automated over 6,000 processes using RPA, reducing 14 million hours of efforts. The company has trained over 25% of employees on RPA to identify and build automation opportunities.
Industry: Professional Services
Results: 6,000 processes automated, 14 million hours saved
Technology Industry RPA Case Studies
Technology companies like Microsoft, SAP, HP and others have been heavy RPA adopters to streamline IT management and other business processes.
Dell
Dell applied RPA in finance and HR, automating order and invoice processing, payroll, procurement, and more. This saved 2 million dollars annually in operating costs. Dell now has thousands of bots automating over 50 processes.
Industry: Technology
Processes Automated: Order processing, invoicing, payroll, procurement
Results: $2 million annual savings
HP Brazil
HP’s Brazil division automated invoice processing using RPA, saving over $100,000 in operating costs annually. The company is expanding automation to other accounting and reporting processes over time.
Industry: Technology
Process Automated: Invoice processing
Results: $100k annual savings
Microsoft
Microsoft has deployed RPA extensively across finance, supply chain, manufacturing, sales, and customer service functions. It saved thousands of hours in finance closing cycles, warehouse reporting, and customer onboarding.
Industry: Technology
Processes Automated: Finance, supply chain, manufacturing, sales, customer service
Results: Thousands of hours saved
SAP
SAP automated repetitive data conversion, validation and reporting processes to improve efficiency in IT and business operations. It plans to transform how work is done using RPA, AI, and other technologies.
Industry: Technology
Processes Automated: Data processing, reporting
Results: Improved IT and business efficiency
Telecom Industry RPA Case Studies
Customer onboarding and service processes at telecom providers involve extensive paperwork and systems. Top telecom companies are achieving major automation benefits here.
AT&T
AT&T automated over 45 processes with RPA including order processing, revenue assurance, credit checks, and network fault handling. This drove $40 million in cost savings and provided capacity to reassign employees.
Industry: Telecom
Processes Automated: Order processing, billing, network monitoring
Results: $40M savings, employee reassignment
Japan Telecom
A leading Japanese telecom company achieved 78% effort reduction by automating network maintenance processes with RPA. Audit quality also improved due to detailed RPA logs.
Industry: Telecom
Processes Automated: Network maintenance
Results: 78% lower manual work, better auditing
Telefonica O2
Telefonica O2 in the UK automated over 15 critical back-office processes including customer service, order provisioning and assurance. RPA allowed handling growing volumes without increasing staff.
Industry: Telecom
Processes Automated: Back-office like service activation, repairs
Results: Absorbed growth without staff increase
Manufacturing RPA Case Studies
RPA is helping manufacturing companies optimize supply chain operations and improve product quality. Automotive, aerospace, chemicals and other manufacturers use it widely.
Automobile Manufacturer
Top Indian and Japanese automobile manufacturers automated application and website testing during development cycles using RPA. This reduced repetitive QA efforts in production.
Industry: Automotive
Processes Automated: Application, website testing
Results: Lower testing efforts
Medical Devices Manufacturer
A medical devices manufacturer based in Germany automated order processing using RPA. Doing this reduced manual efforts, errors, and delivery times. Additional areas like supply chain and shop floor workflows are now being automated.
Industry: Manufacturing
Processes Automated: Order processing
Results: Lower efforts, errors, faster delivery
Construction Equipment Manufacturer
An American construction and mining equipment maker automated supply chain management processes with RPA. This improved productivity by 29%, reduced costs, and minimized errors.
Industry: Manufacturing
Processes Automated: Supply chain management
Results: 29% productivity boost, lower errors
Logistics RPA Case Studies
International shipping and logistics involves extensive paperwork and tracking across systems. RPA streamlines yard management, customs clearance, billing, tracking and more.
Global Logistics Company
A leading international logistics company automated document management for shipping. RPA bots extract data from emails, PDFs, images and enter into internal systems. This saved $400,000 annually.
Industry: Logistics
Processes Automated: Documentation management
Results: $400k annual savings
Regional Transporter
A regional US transporter achieved 25% faster turnaround in customer billing and repairs processing using RPA. Manual efforts declined by 25% while accuracy improved.
Industry: Logistics
Processes Automated: Billing, repairs processing
Results: 25% faster processing, 25% lower manual work
Retail & eCommerce RPA Case Studies
Customer orders, inventory, logistics, payments and other functions lend well to RPA-driven automation in retail and eCommerce.
Shop Direct
Shop Direct, a UK online retailer, automated the customer registration process for its theft insurance program with RPA. This eliminated the need for 22 staff for recruitment and training.
Industry: Retail
Process Automated: Customer registration
Results: Staff recruitment/training for 22 eliminated
Walgreens
Walgreens rolled out RPA to automate repetitive tasks in HR, pharmacy, and merchandising functions across stores globally. In HR, bots handle 60-70% of worker’s compensation claims.
Industry: Retail
Processes Automated: HR, pharmacy, merchandising
Results: 60-70% worker’s compensation automated
RPA for Cross-Industry Business Functions
RPA can automate similar processes across multiple industries like finance, accounting, HR, customer service and IT.
Finance and Accounting
Banks, insurers, hospitals, retailers, and manufacturers have automated reporting, general ledger, auditing, invoice processing and other accounting functions with RPA. This improves accuracy while freeing up staff time.
Human Resources
HR transactional processes like payroll, onboarding, benefits administration, attendance tracking, and compliance reporting have been automated across industries using RPA. Data accuracy is improved while costs are reduced.
Customer Service
Customer service processes like payment reminders, appointment bookings, support ticket handling and status updates are ideal for RPA. Improved data flows between systems and 24/7 availability are benefits.
IT Service Management
Monitoring alerts, ticket assignment, status updates, and report generation have been automated by IT teams across industries using RPA. Doing this has increased IT productivity and efficiency.
The examples above showcase the broad variety of processes being automated with RPA across sectors. As you evaluate RPA for your company, consider these steps:
Identify repetitive tasks: Look for manual processes involving predictable rules, high volumes, multiple systems, recurring data transfers, and frequent errors. These indicate high RPA potential.
Prioritize by impact: Assess which processes will drive maximum business benefits if automated, such as cost reduction, improved accuracy, faster processing, or better compliance.
Calculate ROI: Estimate potential savings from automating staff hours and compare against implementation and operating costs. High ROI areas are prime RPA targets.
Start small: Begin with a contained high-impact process that can deliver a quick win. Use lessons from the pilot to scale RPA wider in the organization.
Choose the right tool: Leading RPA platforms have robust features for integration, control, monitoring, and security tailored for enterprise needs.
Focus on change management: RPA success requires user adoption across teams. Plan training and communication to build support and identify new automation ideas.
While simply eliminating repetitive human efforts delivers significant ROI, optimizing and enhancing processes with RPA provides even greater benefits:
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Integrate systems: Automate data exchange between multiple fragmented information systems.
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Improve analytics: Automated data collection and processing improves analysis and forecasting.
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Enable self-service: Let customers complete routine processes through automated portals.
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Support decisions: Feed automated analysis and recommendations to workers for faster action.
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Create digital workforce: Build a scalable digital workforce that can take on fluctuating business volumes.
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Pursue full automation: Where possible, fully automate end-to-end processes after complementary workflow improvements.
RPA also serves as a stepping stone towards intelligent automation by incorporating AI and analytics. It provides the connectivity and data flows needed for technologies like machine learning to further enhance productivity.
As these real-world examples demonstrate, RPA delivers tangible benefits across a wide spectrum of business processes and sectors.
Financial services, insurance, healthcare, telecoms, retail, manufacturing and more have automated thousands of processes using RPA, saving millions of work hours annually while improving accuracy, compliance, and customer service.
RPA adoption will only accelerate as enabling technologies like AI, process mining, and low-code automation mature. This will expand the breadth and depth of automation across front, middle and back-office functions.
Hopefully these case studies have provided insights into potential automation opportunities within your own organization. The business benefits clearly justify RPA investments by enterprises.
Carefully scoping automation potentials, proving value through pilots, and scaling carefully will allow you to successfully transform operations with software robots.