Dive Brief:

• Automation Anywhere and UiPath are leading the pack in terms of total funding among robotic process automation (RPA) companies, according to a Supply Chain Dive analysis of funding amounts published on Crunchbase. 
• The overall RPA market is expected to reach $1.7 billion in revenue this year, according to Forrester projections. Integration with analytics, chatbots and Internet of Things (IoT) applications will drive this increased demand for RPA, according to Forrester.
• "Cost savings, revenue benefits, and enhanced customer experience will accelerate the RPA market throughout 2019," Forrester wrote in the report.

Dive Insight:

UiPath, the second-top funding leader with $448 million in funding, has been directly targeting the supply chain market for business. It specifically highlighted its potential as a tool for inventory management.

"RPA is valuable in this case because the software robots can monitor inventory, generate notifications when levels are low, and reorder products when levels go below a set threshold," UiPath wrote in a blog post.

These are benefits companies are apparently buying into. A study from the Information Services Group found 72% of enterprises would be using RPA by this year. And a report from EY found material requirement planning, order management and procurement are some of the top tasks that could be aided by RPA.

Tanja Küppers, the VP and global head of finance transformation at DHL Supply Chain, spoke with Deloitte about how the company is using RPA and said technology can increase the quality and consistency of a process.

"RPA operates at the absolute lowest level of process," Küppers told Deloitte. "It offers you a once in a lifetime opportunity to see the deepest levels of your processes, identify deviations from standard and address them."