Technology


Software & Apps Feature


Robotics – the future of housing Rob Bryan of Vantage discusses harnessing the power of robotic process automation in social housing H


ousing associations are fast finding how to harness artificial intelligence to streamline processes and reduce costs. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is evolving as the new go-to tool in the bid to


improve customer experience and unlock staff time. RPA offers a new way to create efficiency in asset management, where the


sector has seen R&M spend reducing and improvements in contract management and internal maintenance service operations. This is an idea tool to drive further efficiencies without compromising on service.


WHAT IS RPA? RPA is where you automate business tasks using software “robots” that imitate the operations and processes traditionally performed by people. It’s particularly suited to high volume activities in an organisation, that don’t require human decision-making or qualitative appraisal thinking. The software robots mimic the tasks completed by humans using existing systems and applications in your organisation. They have the ability to interpret, trigger responses and communicate with systems. The technology is being used widely in other industries, particularly in HR and manufacturing.


RPA IN HOUSING? RPA is ideally suited to the housing sector, particularly in business areas such as asset management, finance, HR and contact centres. As the sector is in a continuous state of flux, merging and amalgamating,


there is a perfect opportunity to review what processes and systems can be transformed by new technologies. Many providers find themselves in a situation with multiple software systems and processes that need to be knitted together or having to select one set of systems over the other. Introducing RPA at this stage will enable you to think more widely about how to select systems based on customer need and business process driven decision making. The advice is to start by identifying well-defined, simple, high volume,


repeatable processes for automation. For example, accounts reconciliation, payroll and accounts payable are all tasks that can be automated. The robot can


take an invoice that is emailed to you, open the email, open the attachment, scan the invoice document for key information, add that to your system, cross reference with purchase order numbers and process it for payment.


RPA IN ASSET MANAGEMENT RPA is ideally suited within property management functions in areas such as asset management, compliance, repairs, servicing and maintenance. Even organisations who are in the midst of a wider transformation


programme can benefit as RPA offers interim solutions, improving processes that free up staff time to work on the wider transformation work. There is no need to put a hold on all improvements while you wait for new systems to be implemented, which can often take years to embed. RPA can be up and running within a matter of weeks with relatively low investment. Our clients are currently exploring processes to onboard new tenants,


including streamlining mortgage applications, creating new tenancy records and integration with housing management systems and council systems. Many of these processes are completed manually, with frequent errors occurring. Similarly, compliance functions have seen the benefits of robotics, reducing the new to manually key in information or tag fire safety and electrical certificates. Russell Thompson, executive director of property services at Thirteen Group


explains more: “Like many housing associations Thirteen are constantly looking at ways of improving customer experience, value for money and our customer offer. The use of AI and Robotic Process Automation will provide a new approach that can provide efficiency and savings in everyday tasks allowing staff then to concentrate on the overall customer experience. “We are already considering the uses within our property management


functions, in areas such as asset management, facilities management, repairs, servicing and maintenance. The associated benefits are efficiency and consistency of our approach, realigning our people resources to improving our customer experience and offer, data analytics and trends that can help predicting breakdowns, repair cycles and therefore moving from a reactive approach to a more proactive approach.”


44 | HMM October/November 2019 | www.housingmmonline.co.uk


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