RPA makes retail chain OFM future-proof

Retail businesses operate in an extremely competitive environment. Any activity that runs more efficiently quickly provides a competitive advantage. Johan Koetje, CFO of clothing chain OFM, uses software robots to streamline especially financial and logistical processes. This makes work more enjoyable for employees.

As CFO at OFM, Johan Koetje is responsible for finances, as well as HR and ICT. The latter is broad, covering logistics to IT infrastructure. While the focus was primarily on hardware and the server park before his tenure three years ago, a clear trend has been established to pay more attention to applications. Technology is also more deeply embedded in the organization.

Potential of RPA

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is an ideal technology to make many applications more efficient. Koetje says, “I had already familiarized myself with the possibilities of RPA and Tacstone as its supplier at my previous employer. I saw a lot of potential there, given the many repetitive tasks within the company’s divisions.”

He brought this idea to clothing company OFM. “When I started at OFM, we immediately explored the possibilities of RPA. We initially looked at the financial department, such as the possibility of automating accounts payable. There were many repetitive processes in that department, and once we had a clear picture of them, we started discussing with Tacstone to deploy software robots for that.”

Cultural change within the team

An essential part of this process was involving the entire team early on in these changes. “People are often hesitant and want to stick to familiar practices in their field. This can lead to an ‘island culture,’ so breaking that culture and informing individual employees well is crucial.”

According to Johan, the key is to emphasize that automation is not meant to replace jobs but to enable employees to do more in the same amount of time and add value to the company. “We repeated this message regularly. And over time, employees begin to see the potential.”

More efficiency and quality through RPA

Regarding his own role in the technical field, he says, “This means providing tools to automate processes. I ensure that our ‘pipeline’ stays filled by discussing with colleagues which processes are eligible for automation.”

This depends, among other things, on costs and the expected savings or benefits, which, according to Koetje, do not always have to be financial. “It can also be about improving quality within a department. Take, for example, the validation of bank account numbers. Such a check, performed by a robot, is very simple but can prevent significant issues, such as accidentally transferring payments to the wrong accounts. If a problem is looming, the responsible person receives a notification from the robot.”

“My goal is to enable people to do their work positively. I see myself more as a facilitator who provides the means and possibilities to perform their work well.”

Johan Koetje | CFO OFM

The robots are working 24/7

At OFM, two robots are currently running 24 hours a day, seven days a week, handling more than twenty processes. “And I estimate that at least twenty processes are still in the queue.” Currently, the focus is on processes within the financial department, one in logistics, and recently also in the marketing department.

The robots take care of financial ‘hygiene’ and the so-called reconciliation of intermediate accounts. “We have several intermediate accounts linked to payment systems, so the payments are distributed across various general ledgers. These need to be reconciled, and duplicate entries removed. Someone used to do this manually, which was very time-consuming. Now, we have automated this process with a robot. This gives us much more overview than before.”

Robots as a link in future-proof business processes

In finance, a robot, for example, looks at debtor checks and verifies bank account numbers. Additionally, in logistics, there is the process of requesting items from the stores.

“The advantage is that a robot is never sick. We mainly have to ensure that our processes are streamlined so that they always run smoothly. I consider the robot as the lifeblood of our processes. Robots help make our business model future-proof, especially within our sector, retail. As an entrepreneur, you want to prepare for the future and respond to market developments such as sustainability. If we want to remain relevant in ten years, we need to optimize, digitize, and robotize our processes.”

“Now that the robot is operational, employees have become accustomed to it. Panic only arises when the robot is temporarily not functioning, as then they see how much work the robot takes off their hands. Employees do not see it as a threat to their jobs but as an aid. They even actively contribute to improving and expanding the processes performed by the robots.”

Johan Koetje | CFO OFM