Estimated reading time: 3 mins
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) software has matured over the years into the Intelligent Automation (IA) realm and resolved the trade-offs related to efficiency and productivity. Yet both RPA and IA don’t quite achieve total automation in case of a paper-based environment. Yes, in this case you need Document Processing technologies, i.e. Optical Character Recognition (OCR) and Optical Mark Recognition (OMR), which are sometimes also referred to as electronic data capture or OCR automation, to achieve total automation.
Today, enterprises have outdone paper. However, the fact remains that paper-based processes still exist thereby reducing the business impact of automation. OCR digitizes a paper document and extracts information from it thus bridging the gap towards achieving total automation and a paperless office. Many RPA software and IA use cases originate from a document, either in a physical or an electronic format; for example electronic healthcare records capture. This is true about all the domains, where paper prevails, such as contract management and document processing related to loans, shipping, logistics, invoices, orders, etc.
Learn how total automation is achieved by augmenting RPA software and AI with OCR.
Watch now >>
RPA bots can fetch the document from a system for OCR. After digitization and extraction of details, the useful information is either directly posted to a downstream system or handed over to an RPA bot. Depending on the process, the RPA bots either posts the data to an ERP, triggers a workflow, stores the digitized asset in a Document Management System (DMS), or feeds the data into a core enterprise system.
Automation use cases from different industries and how RPA and OCR help achieve operational excellence.
Read now >>
The success of RPA depends on accuracy of OCR, intelligence of the OCR to read unstructured data, and integration of the OCR with the RPA technology platform. OCR is thus a quite important element in automation. However, following are some of the most enduring OCR challenges, which relate to Image Quality and Content.
OCR issues related to image quality and content usually nullify the benefit of process automation capabilities. Intelligent Data Capture solutions available in the market not only mitigate the issues but also provide 99% accurate output. The solutions have pre-processing features to improve image quality and post-processing features to improve data quality.
The pre-processing features include brightness & contrast optimization, despeckle, noise removal, auto-rotate, deskew, resize, etc., among many others.
The post-processing features built using Artificial Intelligence and fuzzy logic include but are not limited to template free data capture, auto-micro zone, auto-determine, auto-correction of OCR issues such as s/5, i/1, B/8, O/0, Z/2, auto-format, auto-validate to ensure accuracy, etc. Intelligent data capture software also validates based on pre-defined business rules; e.g. in a alpha-numeric string such as PAN number, the fifth alphabet is always the first alphabet of the surname.
The resultant effect of the pre-processing and post-processing functions is intelligent data capture with much higher throughput and accuracy. This Intelligent OCR or OCR automation extracts all the necessary information including metadata, indexes it, and converts it into a format required by the next downstream system. RPA then either parks it or posts it in a downstream system (ERP, DMW, or database).
Intelligent Data Capture is more advanced in comparison with OCR. It enables enterprises to deploy end-to-end automation even in paper-driven environments.
The augmentation of RPA and IA with intelligent data capture software results in setting up a paperless office through total automation. It bridges the gap left in regular automation. The solution also increases accuracy and provides a steep increase in the straight through passes and reduces the turnaround time. It further decreases the overall process time, improves customer experience, which helps in winning better business opportunities.