Robotic Process Automation (RPA)

Update

14 MAR 2019

Mr. Brian Jacobs

Director, Enterprise Integration Division

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Army for Financial Information Management (DASA-FIM)

RPA Team milBook

https://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/army-fm-robotic-process-automation

RPA Team Mailbox

usarmy.pentagon.hqda-asa-fm.mbx.rpa@mail.mil

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO 2

• OMB Memo M-18-23 (27 AUG 18)

• Use RPA to perform repetitive, “low-value” work

• The Army’s reform package includes RPA

• A focus area is on reducing highly manual, labor intensive work that can be automated

• DASA-FIM began implementing and introducing RPA to the Army FM community (OCT 17)

• ASA FMC RCA (15 MAR 18) – Section 3.4.3 “Define, develop, operationalize, and sustain Army FM RPA.”

• ASA-FM&C Memo assigned DASA-FIM to establish RPA for the FM BMA (11 JUL 18)

FM&C Guidance

Army ReformsOSD Reforms

OMB Guidance

• Established 27 OCT 17

• A key initiative is to automate routine, repeatable processes

• Implement RPA

The Federal government, as well as DoD, continues to institutionalize Process Automation as a means to build a digital workforce that shifts time-consuming, high-transaction, low-value work.

Federal Government Policy and Efforts Supporting Process Automation

The Army FM RPA Journey

FY18 FY19 FY20

Proof of Concept

Operational Design and Governance

P

PReceived Initial Authority

to Operate (ATO) for automation software

Automation Lifecycle

P

PAutomation

Deployments

Infrastructure and Credentialing for Unattended

Automations

Managing Demand for New Automations

P

3

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

Governance Board1

• Establish leadership and Command awareness• Build organizational “buy-in” to automation development• Reduces the change of redundant automation development• Federalized process that captures enterprise-level impact

4

Strategic Alignment, Operations Model and Governance Processes

Customer Outreach2

• Develop multi-faceted approach to capture both passive and active customers interested in RPA

• Offer tailored exploratory outreach sessions for customers• Establish a virtual gateway via a web-based application that can virtually

capture, share and communicate with the agency community about RPA

Operating Model3

• Establish a scalable model that will allows you expand as demand increases

• Develop a modular operating model that allows the rapid implementation of a sustainment cell when appropriate

Bot Development Methodology

4• Clearly align methodology phases and workflow nodes to

personnel roles and responsibilities• Ensure the selected vendor’s RPA platform supports the full

cradle-to-grave lifecycle of an automation

IT Infrastructure5

• Prioritize establishing a dedicated IT server environment

• Run automations with unattended Bots

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

Army FM RPA Automation Lifecycle

IDEATION ASSESSMENTBCB

(Approval)DESIGN &

DEVELOPMENTINTEGRATION

TESTINGPCB

(Approval)DEPLOYMENT SUSTAINMENT

-Process Owner

-RPA Analyst-RPA Analyst

-Process Owner-BCB

-Bot Squad

-Developer

-RPA Analyst

-Process Owner

-RPA Analyst

-Developer

-Process Owner

-Process Automation Director

-Process Owner

-Bot Squad Director

-Process Owner

-Developer

-Workforce Manager

-Process Owner

Process Ownersrequest process automations; RPA Analysts review

Automations are reviewed to determine the process complexity

BCB evaluates processes, votes on RPA requests, and prioritizes automation development

Keystroke level of each process is documented; automations are created and user testing is completed

Completed automations are transitioned to the Process Owners for testing

Integration testing results are reviewed and processes are deployed to production

Bot Squad Director deploys the automations in the production environment

Workforce Manager monitors automations in production

Intake form

High-level assessment (HLA)

Pre-process definition document Pre-functional requirement checklist (FRC)

Project approval and priority

PDD and FRC

Solution design document (SDD)

Automation test plan (ATP)

Integration test approval from customer

Service level agreement (SLA)

Operator checklist

Code review

Production automation

Validation checklist

Metrics report

5

PR

OC

ESS

OU

TPU

TSR

OLE

S

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

METRICS

SOLUTION TIMELINE

Automation Development Estimated Time 120 hours

Estimated Development Cost (one-time cost) $10K

Estimated Sustainment Cost (annual cost) $2K

Assessment Date:29 AUG 2018

Request Date:14 JUL 2018

BCB Approval Date:12 SEP 2018

Design/Development Start Date:

1 NOV 2018

Current BCB Ranking: 4th out of 8 total projectsSummary: Automation will extract and format weekly and ad hoc, AXOL iDocError reports and e-mail to Budget Analysts so they can focus on resolvingerrors.Organization: Army Research Laboratory (ARL)Requestor: Budget TeamProcess Owner: Resource ManagerSystems Required: GFEBS Financial Reviewer | Purchase Order InterfaceProcessing Monitor | Invoice Interface Processing Monitor | PurchaseRequisition Interface Processing Monitor

PROJECT REVIEW

Deployment Date: 4 DEC 2018 Release 11 FEB 2019 Release 2

Design/DvptCompletion Date:

15 NOV 2018

Integration Testing Start Date:

16 NOV 2018

Integration Testing End Date:

30 NOV 2018

RISKS

KEY ACTIONS TAKEN TO DATE

Release 1 entered sustainment phase

Release 2 entered design/development phase

Significant

(80% - 100%)

High

(60% - 79%)

Moderate

(40% - 59%)

Low

(20% - 39%)

Insignificant

(0% - 19%)

Pro

bab

ility

Insignificant Low Moderate High Significant

Impact

System access dependencies

System access roles

1

22

1

6

Production Automation #1Access Online (AXOL) Intermediate Document (iDoc)

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

METRICS

SOLUTION TIMELINE

Assessment Date:N/A

Request Date:N/A

BCB Approval Date:N/A

Design/Development Start Date:

15 AUG 2018

PROJECT REVIEW

Deployment Date: 15 JAN 2019

Design/DvptCompletion Date:

16 NOV 2018

Integration Testing Start Date:

26 NOV 2018

Integration Testing End Date:

14 DEC 2018

RISKS

KEY ACTIONS TAKEN TO DATE

Significant

(80% - 100%)

High

(60% - 79%)

Moderate

(40% - 59%)

Low

(20% - 39%)

Insignificant

(0% - 19%)

Pro

bab

ility

Insignificant Low Moderate High Significant

Impact

Automation Development Estimated Time 80 hours

Estimated Development Cost (one-time cost) $8.8K

Estimated Sustainment Cost (annual cost) $2.2K

Current BCB Ranking: 1st out of 8 total projectsSummary: Automation will increase efficiency and accuracy inpreparing Joint Reconciliation Review (JRP) Funds Holder reports tofree up time for review, validation and corrective action.Organization: DASA-FORequestor: Director FO & AccountingProcess Owner: JRP Program Manager and Chief, ManagerialAccounting DivisionSystems Required: GFEBS, MS Excel, AADR

Automation scope changed slightly based on Gap Analysis: in additionto the creation of Funds Holder Sub-Population Reports (x5), theautomation will now also populate the Checklist (select cells andtabs). Future phases will require submission of intake forms to BCB.

Begin review of project documentation to receive approval fromProcess Owner. Working with Process Owners to address gaps in SOP.

Enterprise Infrastructure:

Scaling Automation to ~2,300 Funds Centers

GFEBS BI data-retrieval limitation

Incorporating user-testing feedback on sub-population and checklist to meet user acceptance testing deadline 14 DEC 2018

1

3

2

1

2

3

7

Production Automation #2JRP Triannual Review

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO 8

Production Automation #3CAER: ULO – Outbound MIPRs & Reimbursables, KPI 3/4

AUTOMATION OPPORTUNITY

▪ The Command Accountability and Execution Review (CAER) Programfocuses on reviewing de-obligations, under-execution, and uncollectedreimbursables to include their root causes and mitigation.

▪ Executing CAER’s monitoring responsibilities involves nine different keyperformance indicators (KPI) that require generating reports from multipleFM systems.

▪ CAER leadership has requested that this automation focus only on KPI 3and 4.

PROJECT PROFILEOrganization: FM&C, Strategic Initiatives Group (SIG)Sponsor: Chief, SIGRequestor: Analyst, SIGRequest Date: 30 JAN 2019Bot Squad Assessment Date: 7 FEB 2019Systems Required: GFEBS, Excel, Outlook, Share Drive

METRICS (PROJECTED)

Productivity Return (annual cost avoidance) $19K

Time Savings (annually) 180 hours

Criteria Calculation

Resource Optimization 1

Process Improvement/ Enhanced Efficiency 3

Audit Readiness and Compliance 1

Benefit Score (1-10): 4.3

Scope (Installation, Command, Enterprise): Enterprise

PROPOSED AUTOMATION SOLUTION

▪ Automatically log into GFEBS and generate KPI reports▪ Automate the manipulation of data that takes place in MS Excel,

post-export from GFEBS▪ Save updated Excel report into CAER’s R: drive folder▪ Email CAER leadership upon process completion

Automation Development Estimated Time 4-6 weeks

Development Cost (one-time cost) $4K

Sustainment Cost (annual cost) $1K

Return on Investment 344%

Required FTE, Pre-automation: 1.00 Post-automation: 0.10

PRIORITIZATION

Complexity

Score (1-100): 63.6

Rating (Low, Medium, High): Medium

Category (Long-Term Improvement, Must-Do Improvement, Low Hanging Fruit, Quick Win):

Low-Hanging Fruit

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

RPA establishes a virtual workforce that can save organizations both time and money while producing a consistently accurate reporting capability

RPA: Benefits of JRP Funds Holder Review at Resource Services-Washington (RS-W)

Processing Time (Days)

Tasked Labor (Human to Bots)

99%

97%

57 .5

• Responsible for 101fund centers

• Reviews both Army and DoD General Funds

• For each funds center, pulls 7 reports and creates 6 files.

9

In Process ReviewBenefits Realization to Date

Time Cost AccuracyBots automating reporting processes that were previously conducted manually, allows a Command’s workforce to focus on other priorities.

Through the introduction of Bots, there is a reduction in operational costs to conduct day-to-day operations.

The deployed automation will always follow the approved customer workflow, designed to replicate the exact same steps previously done manually.

100 3

RPA is allowing the Army FM workforce to shift its focus from “low-value” tasks, such as regularly generating and submitting JRP reports, to “high-value” tasks, such as analyzing JRP results.

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

Asset ManagementStore and Reuse bot building blocks in numerous different bot projects

Release ManagementEnables developers to release and rollback multiple versions of a published process

Enhanced Exception HandlingInstructs Robots to retry a failed transaction before sending an exception message to the server

Intelligent SchedulingManage Bot availability against demand and importance

Audit Capability Full audit trails result in quick and cleaner audit reports

DashboardsFully configurable analytics and dashboards

Cloud-readyBuild for scalability on both MS Azure and AWS

Bot Squad Customer FriendlyProvides separate, secure spaces to all groups implementing RPA and deploying virtual workforces

Bot Squad MonitoringEnsures Bots are healthy and performing or alerts are raised to Bot Squad

Remote ControlAllows for Bot Squad to control unattended robots for remote process deployment

10

Future Goal #1Implement Infrastructure - Workforce Management Tool

A dashboard that enables analytics containing usage information for all the following components:

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

Project

NumberPriority Requester Status Ideation Assessment

BCB

(Approval)

Design &

Development

Integration

Testing

PCB

(Approval)Deployment Sustainment

RPA0009 1 DASA-FO Active

RPA0014 1 DASA-FO Active

RPA0016 [3] DASA-BU

RPA0018 3 SIG Active

TBD TBD SIG Upcoming

RPA0019 New - TBD ARNG Active

RPA0017 [4] DASA-BU

RPA0020 TBD USARC Upcoming

RPA0021 TBD USARC Upcoming

RPA0022 TBD USARC Active

RPA0023 TBD USARC Active

RPA0024 TBD USARC Active

RPA0025 TBD USARC Active

RPA0026 TBD USARC Active

TBD TBD FORSCOM Active

TBD TBD USARC Upcoming

TBD TBD USARC Upcoming

RPA0027 TBD Futures CMD Active

Total Active Projects 11Total

Projects 27

Total # of ACTIVE

Projects Currently

within Phase

0 8 0 0 1 1 0 1

% of ACTIVE

Projects Currently

within Phase

0% 73% 0% 0% 9% 9% 0% 9%

FIRE

FORSCOM UMT Reporting

SPS iDoc

MilPay iDoc

JRP Triannual Review (PILOT)

JRP w/Aging Capability

CAER: Outbound MIPRs &

Reimbursables (KPI 3/4)

Unmatched Transactions

Interfund UMT/UMD

DTS UMTs

SGLI Monthly Collection

SGLI Monthly Payment

NCP RET Pay Monthly Obligation

NCP RET Pay Monthly Payment

NCP RET Pay Master Data

CAER: Outbound MIPRs &

Reimbursables (KPI 1)

High-Level ULOs

High-Level UMTs

Current Year Execution (ULO)

Project Name

SLRP Obligation/Deobligation

Automation

0% 25% 50% 75% 100%

Competed Denotes change since last BCB updateNot Started

Significant

Slippage

At Risk

With PlanOn-Track Completed

W R Y G B

FIRE: Financial Integrated Reporting EnvironmentNCP: Normal Cost Percentage RET: RetirementSGLI: Servicemen's Group Life Insurance

SLRP: Student Loan Repayment ProgramUMT: Unmatched TransactionsULO: Unliquidated Obligations

11

Future Goal #2Manage Automation Demands (as of 11 MAR)

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO 12

Production Automation ExampleAXOL iDOC Automation

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

An array of communication channels allows the Army FM community to explore RPA and share their automation needs

13

RPA Communications Strategy

ExploreFoster an environment of learning and awareness

Community of Practice

.

DemonstrationLearn more about RPA

directly from the Bot SquadOutreach

ShareShare your Command’s

automation requirementIntake Form

Welcome PacketVideo Demos

Online Form Manual Form

milSuite

milBook milSurvey milTube milUniversity milWiki

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

https://cpp.army.mil

RPA Workflow Tool

Army FM RPA Lead: Christine Gex, christine.l.gex.civ@mail.mil

RPA Team milBookhttps://www.milsuite.mil/book/groups/army-fm-robotic-process-automation

14

How to submit your project requests or learn more?

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

What’s Next for Army FM RPAFY20 and Beyond

ASA(FM&C) 2019 Organization Plan – Budget & Execution Goal (FEB 19)

“Create, deploy, and account for RPA (bots) ROI to Commander’s buying power”

ASA(FM&C) Guidance

• Deliver More Enterprise Solutions that support Army’s goals of achieving a modified audit opinion of the General Fund financial statement by FY22 and Working Capital Fund financial statement by FY20

• Demonstrate Automation Maturity that not only identifies and monitors financial data, but also can take corrective action with leadership consent

• Operate in a multi-vender environment that allows Army FM to rapidly leverage emerging technologies as they become commercially available and align to Army FM challenges

• Create Partnerships by proactively collaborating with PEO-EIS and FMCOM, as well as other organizations, to optimize the potential of RPA for the Army FM Domain

15

UNCLASSIFIED//FOUO

RPA establishes a virtual workforce that can save organizations both time and money while producing a consistently accurate reporting capability

RPA: Return on Investment (ROI) for JRP Funds Holder Review at Resource Services-Washington (RS-W)

Processing Time (Days)

Labor (# FTEs/Bots)

99%

97%

57 .5

• Responsible for 101fund centers

• Reviews both Army and DoD General Funds

• For each funds center, pulls 7 reports and creates 6 files.

16

In Process ReviewBenefits Realization to Date

Time Cost AccuracyBots automating reporting processes that were previously conducted manually, allows a Command’s workforce to focus on other priorities.

Through the introduction of Bots, there is a reduction in operational costs to conduct day-to-day operations.

The deployed automation will always follow the approved customer workflow, designed to replicate the exact same steps previously done manually.

100 3