J&J started using RPA for simple business process tasks such as moving documents, filling out spreadsheets, sending key messages, email integrations, and the like. But Johnson & Johnson wanted to take automation further. By combining RPA with machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI), it sought to automate more complex tasks. The opportunity led J&J’s Ajay Anand, VP of global services strategy and transformation, and Stephen Sorenson, SVP of technology services, supply chain, data integration, and reliability engineering, to place a very big bet in 2021…
Anand and Sorenson proposed the creation of an enterprise-wide Intelligent Automation Council that they would chair. And they said they would deliver half a billion dollars of impact over the following three years. The team has already nearly hit that mark. Anand notes that, in a recent review, an executive committee member asked them to double that number based on the current pace.
Thanks to the work of the Intelligent Automation Council, J&J is now applying IA to everything from basic business processes, to chatbots that can help employees and customers, to algorithms that can monitor the company’s supply chain and help it adjust to changing conditions — like a doubling of the demand for Tylenol in the early days of the pandemic. In addition, J&J was able to increase cash collection, reduce the error rate, and reduce the number of work hours and dollars spent to achieve the same results.
