Robotic process automation (RPA) is a new breed of software robots designed to automate services through processing structured data by following rules.

The research examines how RPA is being deployed at Royal DSM, the Dutch multinational company, in its global financial shared services organization. Here, like many other companies, DSM adopted RPA as the next transformation lever beyond centralization, standardization, and relocation to a lower cost region. DSM’s first phase of automation “robotized” its financial close processes for three of its global business groups.

Phase I happened quickly – within a few months. Phase II scaled the RPA adoption by migrating another six business groups on to the RPA platform.

This article details the multi-faceted business results DSM achieved, the crucial role of a suitable software provider, and eight key lessons from the DSM experience that other companies can learn from.