Norilsk Nickel, together with First Bit, imported software robots from UiPath to PIX PRA

2023: Implementation of the domestic PIX RPA Platform

Competence Center RPA "" Norilsk Nickel together with the team "" First Bit Sports office import substitution software robots UiPath platforms from. PIX RPA The migration project was implemented with the support of the PIX Robotics vendor. The project replaced 102 robots without losing functionality in accounting, personnel resources, treasury, logistics, procurement, security and IT. This was announced on August 08, 2023 by PIX Robotics.

Since 2018, Nornickel has used software robots based on the UiPath platform to improve the efficiency of internal business processes. RPA is the automation of repetitive business processes by installing software that works with applications and components over the main IT architecture using user interfaces, replicating actions that are traditionally carried out by humans. For example, 2-NDFL help generation. In total, the company has automated more than 100 business processes in such areas as Human Resources Management, NSI Management, Accounting and Tax Accounting, Procurement Management, Document Management.

After the departure of a foreign supplier from the Russian market in 2022, employees of the Competence Center (hereinafter referred to as the Central Committee) of the company's RPA faced the task of migrating robots to Russian software. The transition was required to be completed as quickly as possible, since the UiPath license expired in 2023.

To implement a large-scale project, the IT company "First Bit" was chosen, which developed its software and methodological approach to a quick and effective assessment of migration - the full scope of the project was determined in five days. In preparation for migration, the RPA Central Committee team transferred more than 20 reused components to the updated environment (scripts for logging into systems and applications, scripts for uploading and saving data, custom libraries), which were used in 90% of robots.

Given that each platform is an independent product with its own development map, in time migration any project team is faced with the fact that, firstly, it is necessary to slightly restructure people's thinking and habits to different realities, and secondly, some processes in the target system work somewhat differently than in historical. noted Alexander Chernikov, curator of the First Bit project, Sportivnaya office.

Therefore, at the first stage of the project, employees of the Central Committee of the RPA Norilsk Nickel underwent basic platform training at the PIX Academy. In addition to independent development, the First Bit team carried out architectural verification of the robots of the Central Committee of the RPA Norilsk Nickel and shared its cases of the best practices of robotic automation of business processes.

Further, during the migration, the close interaction of three teams - the Central Committee of the RPA Norilsk Nickel, the First Bit and the PIX Robotics vendor - made it possible to make more than 85 improvements to the software that meet the requirements of the RPA Central Committee, the architecture and information security departments of Norilsk Nickel.

The Nornickel RPA Central Committee team, together with the First Bit project team, developed a framework for PIX RPA, which became an improved analogue of the Robotic Enterprise Framework UiPath, taking into account all the requirements of the Central Committee and business customers. The framework structure made it possible to simplify testing and debugging procedures, as well as decompose errors to the developer. The vendor plans to upload joint development to the PIX RPA Marketplace for use by the community and third-party teams.

The import substitution project at Norilsk Nickel became one of the largest RPAs on the Russian market, and its success was largely due to the well-coordinated work of all participants. Separately, it is worth noting the process of testing, quality control of the development and commissioning of robots, which was built during the work. Nornickel's RPA Competence Center has prepared a 14-item checklist for code quality control, as well as an internal updated knowledge base for migration recommendations from UiPath to PIX RPA.

We have transferred all important business processes to the PIX RPA platform. In parallel with the migration, the RPA Competence Center team implemented and launched robots for business units, as it was able to quickly master the domestic platform. At the start of the project, the PIX RPA platform had a number of restrictions, however, thanks to the operational and high-quality software refinement, as well as the preparatory work done, the test process, quality control of development and commissioning, the migration of robots was as fast and seamless as possible. said Viktor Tatushin, project manager at Norilsk Nickel.

This is one of the first large and implemented projects in the framework of the work that Norilsk Nickel is conducting to achieve technological independence. The RPA competence center has been operating in the company for a long time, since 2018. During this time, robotization has proved its effectiveness, contributing to increasing labor productivity and improving the economic performance of the entire Group, therefore, when switching to a domestic RPA solution, it was important for us to maintain a high level of service and uninterrupted processes. commented Denis Krivonosov, head of the information technology department of Norilsk Nickel.