An RPA solution in which a robot on software takes over the simple work done on a PC. The second part of the series will be an interview with a company that boasts the top share in the market. The purely domestic tool "WinActor" is said to have been introduced by more than 1000 companies in Japan. This time, while watching the demo of "WinActor", I looked at the back side of the share.
Domestic No. NTT DATA's RPA tool "WinActor", which boasts the number of installations of 1.
The RPA market has been booming in the last few years, but NTT DATA's "WinActor" is currently leading the domestic market share. The service has been provided since 2014, and the number of user companies is more than 1000. However, even though it is such a popular RPA tool, it was not actually developed as an RPA product.
"WinActor was launched in 2014, but until then it was offered as an option for the form OCR software" Prexifort-OCR ". Paper documents were converted into data and converted into text and put into the core system. However, at that time, I sometimes developed an interface. For example, the OCR service was 1 million yen, but the interface development cost was 10 million yen, so I thought it would be nice if I could automate this. That's what NTT DATA Corporation Takuya Nakagawa says.
Mr. Takuya Nakagawa, Manager, RPA Solution Section, 2nd Section, 4th Public Works Department, 2nd Public Works Division, NTT DATA Corporation
As a result, "WinActor" has appeared for the sale of the part that can be put into the core system without developing the interface. It can be said that it is a decision for a company to eliminate expensive SI work in the first place. However, Mr. Nakagawa decided that it was no longer such an era. NTT DATA was also worried by the sales side, but there was an awareness that upper management had to change, and it could not be stopped.
What's even more unique is that WinActor wasn't developed with the current RPA in mind.
"Originally, it was born from NTT Laboratories in Yokosuka in 2010. We are trying to streamline operations within the NTT Group, such as line testing and accepting new contract orders for telephones, and reduce the burden on operators. Then, it was well received in the NTT Group, and the service started in 2014, saying, "Let's take this outside!" (Mr. Nakagawa)
General RPA tools born overseas often start with software development test tools, but WinActor is characterized by being born as a business improvement tool from the beginning. Therefore, the strength is that it is designed so that it can be used even by non-engineers.
It turned out that customers who introduced WinActor, which started to be provided in 2014, are using it in addition to OCR, and from 2015, it will be launched not only as an option but also as a single unit.
It is difficult to understand the actual situation of RPA just by looking at the product outline. So, I was shown a demo that works in real life. The demo was done by Mr. Yoshitake Sato of NTT DATA Corporation, which is the same as Mr. Nakagawa.
Mr. Yoshitake Sato, Deputy Chief of RPA Solution Section, Second Section, Second Public Works Division, Second Public Works Division, NTT DATA Corporation
As an example, as an air conditioner construction work, there is a case where a list is created in Excel from the contact that entered the call center, and an installation instruction is created in Word. Start Excel on the left side of the screen, Word on the right side, and click the "Run" button of WinActor to start the automatic process.
Start Excel on the left and Word on the right to run WinActor
Automatically cut out an arbitrary range from the screenshot taken from the map application
The robot inputs the reception number, customer's name, etc. into the word by copying and pasting from Excel. Next, copy the address from Excel, start the map software, and paste the address. Enlarge the map of the search results, specify the range, and convert it to an image. Paste the image in Word, and finally save the reception number as a file name. And this work is repeated for the number of lines of Excel.
The operation is done by WinActor, so it's fast anyway. It takes time for humans, mistakes are likely to occur, and it is not a very interesting task. When I witnessed the RPA tools processing this quickly, I felt that it was natural for companies to want it.
In reality, how much productivity will it lead to? "The operation speed is three times that of humans, and it is nine times faster than humans who work eight hours because it can operate for 24 hours," he said.
Next, I was shown a demo to create a scenario. Many function names are lined up on the left side of the screen like an old-fashioned Windows application, and a diagram like a flowchart is displayed on the right side. Next to it, the address management system is open in the browser, and we decided to automate the input.
First, click the "Record" button on WinActor. Select an address code or enter numbers with the address management tool so that the person in charge actually inputs it manually. Then, WinActor performs structural analysis with the address management tool, and creates a flow by making a rule of what kind of operation was performed by a human being.
"Now, I made a task to put data in the condition, search it, convert it when the result is displayed and update the database. In this case, it will be finished in one process, so actually the button on the left side I will season it with "" (Mr. Sato)
By dragging and dropping the branch button to set conditions, different operations can be executed depending on the situation. The feature of WinActor is that you can create scenarios like puzzles by cutting and pasting. However, unlike the BtoC service, individual functions do not have detailed explanations, and I felt that it would be difficult to use them all at once. A training menu is also available for such people.
"In the case of the beginner's menu, you can get an overview of WinActor in one day. There is also an intermediate menu that takes about 3 days to learn well. If you have no programming experience, you can use it in about 3 weeks and you are a programmer. It doesn't take a week. This is not difficult to operate, but there are about 400 types of library (function) buttons in total, but you need to get used to what is where and how to use it. "(Mr. Sato)
Almost all you need to do is operate the mouse, and you don't have to write a program. Since it is made in Japan, it naturally supports Japanese. Therefore, anyone can use it if they have the ability to organize the flow of work. In fact, the largest number of users are in the finance and accounting departments. Unlike in the past, there is no need to ask the information system department or vendors, and work style reforms can be realized on-site by themselves.
"WinActor is suitable for bottom-up work style reform from the field. What is interesting is that" WinActor Master "has appeared in the field of various companies. People who have only business knowledge are WinActor. Although he is an accounting department, he goes to support the general affairs department and is called by the digital promotion department. It is said that RPA is effective for work style reform, but only Mr. Ji Sis can use it. If it is a tool, it may not be reformed due to the backlash from the field. "(Mr. Nakagawa)
WinActor scenario creation screen
The library is centered on Excel and IE, and also makes buttons for tools such as IBM's Notes and SAP. Now more notes? I think that, but it seems that some financial institutions are still using Notes.
For example, in Excel, there are buttons to get the file name and save the file. Basically, you can get the last row with a matrix operation, activate a cell with a cell operation, and get the value in the cell. The actions that can be taken with the app are made into parts one by one so that they can be used easily.
In addition, even if structural analysis is not possible in the window of the remote desktop, functions such as image matching and coordinate specification are available. It is possible to identify the icon etc. and execute the specified operation at the expected location.
For example, when a scanned invoice is sent in PDF, it is possible to determine the amount part with the image matching function, convert it to text by OCR processing, and import the data with WinActor.
Although it is currently well received, it seems that the switch from the initial "business automation tool" to the "RPA tool" in 2016 has contributed significantly.
"We were jointly considering an OCR business in 2016 with the Spanish IT company" Everis Group, "which is also a subsidiary of NTT DATA. In the discussion, they showed us the product they are focusing on. It was RPA. I heard that robots do the work instead of BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), but that's WinActor, lol "(Mr. Nakagawa)
Until then, when I said "Would you like to work more efficiently?", I was replied "I'm doing it already" or "I have nothing more to do". However, when asked, "Are there any jobs you would like the robot to do?", Various answers will come out. As for the selling method, I started to add illustrations of robots with the launch of RPA tools.
The price you care about is 908,000 yen per year for the full-featured version and 248,000 yen per year for the execution version. Generally, if there is a job that you want to automate for 3 hours a day, you will pay. It feels like someone is working manually for three to four days in a month. Of course, once you make a contract, you can use it for other work as well.
Speaking of RPA tools, there is an image that it costs millions to tens of millions of yen to introduce, but even though there is a brand called NTT DATA, the annual amount of 1 million yen feels cheap. The price of 908,000 yen is said to have been aimed at because the settlement amount for managers is often up to 1 million yen. He seems to be focusing on support, and I am convinced that he is the number one share.
Currently, about 1,200 companies are using WinActor, 80% are general companies, and most of them are in the manufacturing industry. Other than that, financial institutions account for about 20%, and public institutions account for 1%.
"WinActor is targeting 12,000 major mid-sized companies. Among them, we are aiming for a 40% share, so we are aiming for roughly 5,000 companies. Last year we had 1,000 companies, and this year we may be able to increase to 3,000 companies. I think that there are many companies with 500 or more people on a company scale, but if you automate the work of about 3 hours a day, you will pay, so I wonder if it will eventually be introduced to companies with about 10 people. I think "(Mr. Nakagawa)
WinActor that can automate basically any operation of any application, not just Excel and browser. In addition to the low price, the low hurdles that people in the field can create and improve scenarios with no code are also attractive. Sales at distributors are also strong, and it is said that this also has an aspect as a door knock tool.
Total number of contracted companies over the period (provided by NTT DATA)
It is said that WinActor is increasingly being selected by switching from other RPA tools that require programming or are difficult to customize in the field. I would like to keep an eye on future trends in WinActor.