A robot helps to process business orders at LIBERTY Ostrava
Ostrava March 27, 2020 – Robot Process Automation or RPA, that is the official name of the new technological assistant which helps at the sales coordination and order management department at LIBERTY Ostrava. However, it is no human-looking figure which you would see sitting at a computer but a special software. The Ostrava mill continues to automate its processes and besides the production processes the mill implements modern technologies into administration as well. The software robot has been tested in a trail regime and will be put into full-fledged operation after additional defining necessary processes. Also, thanks to this gadget employees from the order administration department will be able to tend to more creative activities.
In practice a worker from the sales coordination and order management sends orders to the robot’s e-mail. The robot processes the content of the order in attachment into a spreadsheet and consequently opens up the SAP system and signs up into it.
“Here, the robot´s work is like that of an ordinary employee. By means of a spread sheet the robot uploads the filed order into the system. Finally, it sends an e-mail to the respective employee in which it informs them that the order has been created. The robot is able to conduct all these things flawlessly, quickly, without any stress or emotions and time-outs 24 hours 7 days a week,” explains Patrik Josífko from automation plant at LIBERTY Ostrava, who is in charge of the robot´s development.
Delivering individual assignments is a matter of a few minutes for the robot. It handles work that can be defined into steps and where the information processing and document work is subject to precisely defined logic very smoothly, quickly and flawlessly. Furthermore, it is capable of multitasking, which is sometimes difficult for people. On the other hand, non-standard situations are something the robot won’t handle. It is able to only recognise them and consequently sends its human colleague an e-mail with a notification.
„The software robots can help people shift to more creative work; they won’t put anybody out of job. On the contrary they will help reduce boring and routine operations which tend to be tiring but require high concentration. Our own experts are going to work on the future development and expanding the scope of the robot. That will ensure that it will be “trained” by people who know how the business and its processes work. Thus, we will see a significant work efficiency improvement,” adds Miroslav Hýbl, head of automation at LIBERTY Ostrava.
LIBERTY Ostrava is an integrated steel business with an annual production capacity of approximately 3.6 million tonnes per annum serving construction, machinery and oil & gas industries. The company is a domestic leader in the manufacture of road barriers and tubes. In addition to the Czech market, it supplies its products to more than 40 countries around the world. Together with its subsidiaries in Ostrava, the company has 6,000 employees. The company manufactures its products with a minimum possible environmental footprint. It is part of LIBERTY Steel Group, which is part of GFG Alliance, a collection of global businesses and investments owned by Sanjeev Gupta and his family. The Alliance is structured into three core industrial pillars: LIBERTY Steel Group, ALVANCE Aluminium Group and SIMEC Energy Group. Headquartered in London, GFG Alliance employs 35,000 people, across 10 countries and has revenues of USD $20bn.