Recently, Shougang’s robot process automation (RPA) technology was applied to the company’s process for the first time, effectively simplifying and optimizing complex business processes, and laying a solid foundation for the company to reduce costs and increase both company and work efficiency. 

As a pre-set program, RPA can automate rule-based routine operations by simulating and enhancing the interaction process between human and computer. For example, traditional tedious and demanding work like reading mail, reconciliation summarization, and checking and generating files and reports can be completed by RPA robots, increasing the creativity and professional value of employees, and improving the efficiency of the enterprise’s operation.

Shougang officially launched the RPA technical service project in February 2020. After in-depth discussion and investigation concerning information operation, cost, finance, procurement and the capital related business departments, 29 RPA project phase I processes were determined. After four months of development and testing, the business processes were finally accepted and launched in early June. Among them, there are 15 cost professional processes involving data verification between cost systems and various interactive systems, month end settlement operations, daily repeated operations, and other business scenarios, solving the time-consuming and labor-consuming problems of data checking between cost systems and various other systems, and improving the accuracy of cost system data. In particular, some specific operations need to be carried out in a specific period of time before the cost professional month end closes. RPA enables professional operators to get rid of the trouble of performing operations at night. Instead of working for 1 to 2 hours at night, they only need to check the result after the robot has finished, which greatly improves their work efficiency. The financial SAP and inspur auxiliary accounting checking processes effectively solve the problem of data which is too big to be checked manually, and also allow for the complex logical transformation of multiple auxiliary accounting items. For the first time, it has solved the problem of voucher auxiliary accounting item checking, which is of great significance to the company and even the whole steel plate sector.

With no application precedent for RPA technology in the iron and steel manufacturing industry, and no mature scene and application experience to learn from, the successful launch of the phase I project is a new breakthrough in technology within Shougang, forming innovative concepts and guiding in business and effectively widening the technical channel of production and marketing system integration.