Title: Digital transformation of a third-party reverse supply chain sorting centre using robotic process automation

Authors: Kiran K. John; S. Hrushikesh; R. Jeyapaul

Addresses: Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India ' Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India ' Department of Production Engineering, National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, 620015, India

Abstract: Robotic process automation (RPA) is a promising technology to handle repetitious and tedious tasks encountered in various business processes. In the case of third party reverse supply chain sorting centres, invoice processing of the returned products involves various monotonous tasks which require a lot of repeated attention. RPA workflows can be developed to support end-to-end invoice processing, and the sorting centre staff can utilise the saved time for performing more value creating tasks. Two distinct approaches for data extraction were considered as part of the workflow: 1) the coordinate-based optical character recognition (OCR) action available in the considered RPA package; 2) the interactions with a popular locally run open-source large language model (LLM). The presented work aims to highlight the considerable savings in processing time through RPA deployment, and the potential aspects of the coordinated usage of open-source LLMs for tasks like data extraction.

Keywords: robotic process automation; RPA; reverse supply chain; sorting centre; optical character recognition; OCR; large language model; LLM.

DOI: 10.1504/IJBPIM.2026.155177

International Journal of Business Process Integration and Management, 2026 Vol.13 No.2, pp.115 - 126

Received: 12 Sep 2025
Accepted: 25 Jan 2026
Published online: 28 Jul 2026 *

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