Brian, Betty and Bonnie, software robots bring automation to life for ATS Euromaster

9th of March 2022

ATSE put its processes through an efficiency MOT, implementing software robots (aka robotic process automation (RPA)), to free-up employees from mundane, time-consuming processes and drive greater customer value.

To address the demands of a rapidly expanding customer base, ATS Euromaster (ATSE), the British affiliate of the European tyre and maintenance service provider Euromaster, has joined forces with Netcall, a leading provider of intelligent automation and customer engagement solutions, to automate its systems and turbocharge efficiency. Using Liberty RPA, our AI-powered robotic process automation, ATSE created Brian, Betty and Bonnie the bots, to significantly improve both the employee and the customer experience by rethinking and revamping a range of internal processes.

Since its formation in 1965, ATSE has grown to over 1,200 staff, 260 centres and over 130 mobile technicians to ensure the safety of thousands of customers and their vehicles. Over the years, ATSE accumulated a number of legacy systems including three core systems: its point of sale in centre, point of sale for mobile, along with its authorisation systems. All three systems interacted in some way – either via historical processes or (for mobile) a specific system requiring manual copy and paste to exchange information. This was an extremely time-consuming process – demanding a lot of employee time to coordinate and preventing them from spending time on more important tasks – that deliver customer value.

To keep up with its rapid growth ambitions whilst supporting the wellbeing of its employees, ATSE knew these siloed systems needed an urgent upgrade, which would require eradicating the numerous mundane processes, and unpicking layers of processes, tweaks and changes over the years. Working with Netcall, ATS evaluated the most efficient ways of handling these repeatable manual processes, settling on Liberty RPA to rapidly transform the business.

Using the process automation technology of Liberty RPA, ATSE is now using software robots to mimic the behaviour of people to take on the highly repetitive tasks and in doing so – relieve the burden on employees, allowing them to spend their time on higher-value tasks such as enhancing the customer experience. Because Brian, Betty and Bonnie the bots do not get tired, bored or make mistakes – they can repeat their tasks over and over – leaving the humans to focus on what they are good at, while the robots take care of what they do best. Previously the processes now being automated would be run up to 200 times a day – which equates to a substantial amount of time for a human worker who could be focusing their attention driving the business forward.

“When I think about the amount of time we spent, doing repeatable, mundane, copy and paste activities, I think about the actual people who are doing that, and question whether I would want to do that. And I wouldn’t. RPA has been the perfect solution for ATSE, but it has really required the right level of engagement to be successful. After all, it can be tricky to get somebody excited about what is essentially data movements. To overcome this, we decided to bring the robots to life by engaging with Brian, the bot, Betty, the bot and Bonnie, the bot. It gave employees somebody to reference and it made it more human, it made it more real.”

David Robson

IS/IT Director, ATS Euromaster

In addition to naming the bots, the easy-to-use functionality of Liberty RPA has also supported engagement throughout the business. The tool doesn’t require a pro-developer in IT to be able to automate processes, employees across the organisation can get involved.

“Using Liberty RPA, ATSE can now equip people in the business, those who really understand the process, with the tools they need to automate these processes. RPA is now one of those conversations that appear in team meetings. Employees are now thinking about what they are doing and why, and is there a better way to do it? At ATSE they are starting to think about how they can do things differently and smarter.”

Richard Higginbothom

Product Marketing Manager, Netcall

David Robson IS/IT Director at ATS concluded with, “We believe in Liberty RPA. With Netcall’s support, I think it’s been easier to get things going and bring it all to life. I look forward to seeing how the next phases progress.”