The daily reality for hundreds of thousands of Polish companies and their employees is monotonous, repetitive computer work. According to a study* commissioned by SAIO, nearly three-quarters of respondents said they lose too much time each day on repetitive computer tasks, and as many as 79 percent found it demotivating and something that could even lead to burnout. According to the survey, only 30 percent of respondents spend less than an hour on repetitive office tasks. 41 percent indicated they spend up to three hours a day on them.

Among the most tedious tasks performed by employees of Polish and foreign companies, RPA (Robotic Process Automation) experts list: entering data into company systems, sorting and replying to emails, filling out documents, preparing reports, or managing invoices.

How can automotive companies benefit from automation?

The main reasons for automation in companies are the desire to improve competitiveness, deliver better customer service, and generate savings through work optimization. The same applies to the automotive sector.

SAIO specialists have compiled several examples of how automation, supported by artificial intelligence, can help companies across different areas of this industry optimize business processes:

1. Automatic creation of service reports

   A mechanic proposes service options to a customer. Choosing the right services can be time-consuming, especially when previous work needs to be considered. SAIO robots help by retrieving the VIN number and creating a report of past repairs, enabling the mechanic to easily suggest the right new services.

2. Automated reports on used car prices (per model)

   Valuing a used car requires checking many sources, which is time-consuming. To do it quickly and rely on the most up-to-date market overview, the robot prepares a price report by model, year, and equipment. This lets the dealer know what price to offer when taking a car in trade. The robot gathers prices of the indicated models from automotive websites and saves the report in a specified location.

3. Automated and robotic contractor verification

   Gathering and verifying information about a contractor is especially important in B2B sales (e.g., for fleets), where sales staff must devote significant time to the process. With RPA and AI, a robot can shorten the time needed to gather contractor information to just two minutes, completely eliminate human error, and compare data cyclically. It removes the need for an employee to check multiple sources (websites, VAT taxpayer “white list,” and sanction lists).

4. Automatic booking of service appointments

   In the service industry, customers increasingly book appointments without involving a receptionist. A robot installed on company computers (e.g., in a service network or dealership) automatically books a customer’s maintenance appointment. A voice bot collects data (VIN number), saves it in the database, and proposes a date.

5. Automated sales reporting

   The dealership sector is highly competitive, with pressure on margins and intensive sales activities. Automation can give companies a competitive edge, e.g., by automatically generating sales reports from DMS systems. The robot logs into the system, selects the relevant data, saves the report to the employee’s desktop, and prepares a sales analysis.

6. Automated HR processes

   For automotive companies, automation isn’t only about customer service, efficiency, or safety, but also about HR administration. With large numbers of employees, robots can: – download data from ZUS PUE on sick leave or insurance documents, – create digital employee files, – send calendar reminders for medical exams, contract deadlines, or training sessions, – process vacation requests and prepare reports on leave or absences.

“Let’s remember that automotive companies process enormous amounts of documents and data, whose collection and analysis are not only time-consuming but also very tedious. Unfortunately, this often ends with employees filling out hundreds of spreadsheets, which not only demotivates them but also results in hundreds of wasted hours of work and unnecessary costs. Savings in this area may prove crucial for building competitive advantage. Automation supported by AI can finally address these challenges easily, without the need to hire more people in finance, HR, logistics, customer service, or other departments,” says Przemysław Lewicki, CEO of SAIO SA.

Polish companies still know little about the potential of business robots. In the West, it’s already almost standard

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) makes it possible to automate repetitive computer tasks by mimicking the way people work. It is currently one of the fastest-growing IT sectors, an integral part of business strategies for many corporations as well as medium and small companies. It saves time and costs on processes that take humans several times longer than robots—or that humans cannot perform at all due to complexity. While in 2021 the RPA sector was valued at $2.4 billion, by 2024 it is expected to reach nearly $5 billion globally. With automation, employees can fully control the deployment and operation of a bot that automatically performs repetitive tasks for them, often without involving the IT department. Importantly, business robots also eliminate human errors, and implementation can sometimes take only two to three weeks.

Meanwhile, in a survey commissioned by SAIO, as many as 40 percent of respondents admitted they had never heard of RPA systems. At the same time, more than half of those familiar with the term (51 percent) said that implementing automation would (or already had, if adopted) strengthen company competitiveness and improve employee satisfaction.

“The results of our research clearly show that employees spend a lot of time every day performing repetitive computer tasks, which can easily lead to dissatisfaction and even burnout. That’s why both automation and artificial intelligence in business should not be feared, but wisely used to streamline our daily operations,” concludes Przemysław Lewicki, CEO of SAIO SA.

* Survey conducted among more than 400 managers and employees of Polish companies by Business Insider at the request of SAIO in 2023.