New technological changes happen every day, and as they do, they completely revolutionize the existing business landscape of the world. In the 1990s, the first revolution that swept the business world off its feet was the advent of the internet and the World Wide Web. Now, in the early part of the 21st century, the human race is looking at the advent of intelligent automation and much more. According to a recent study conducted by Oxford Economics, the global stock of robots is going to reach 20 million by 2030. Here’s how intelligent and automated systems are changing business landscapes.
1. Overhaul in Operational Focus: Automation technology is going to bring about a complete and utter overhaul in the way businesses plan and carry out their operational tasks. The entire end-to-end supply chain that connects manufacturers to end customers is going to change. Automation technology can be used to prevent the formation of bottlenecks and blockades in the operational workflows.
With a rise in automation, the operational focus of businesses will shift from price-centrism to velocity-centrism. In other words, firms will now focus on how fast they can get products and services to customers, not the price at which they are supplying it. All of these changes will result in a just-in-time supply chain, one that responds to demands immediately.
2. Customer Service Can Be Enhanced: Enterprise automation will make sure that some of the hardest and most tedious tasks can be taken care of by robots and AI systems. As a result of this, employees will be able to devote more time and attention to providing quality customer service. Resource management will also become much more efficient with automation.
Automated customer service systems have also been developed, and they’re already being implemented by major businesses all over the world. A rudimentary version of this technology is evident in the form of customer service chatbots, which are equipped to handle a wide range of queries. Instead of replacing the human touch, automated customer service can do much to enhance it.
3. Knowledge Workers Can Diversify: One of the biggest changes that automation will bring about is the larger degree of freedom that it will provide to knowledge workers. Knowledge workers are those who “think” for a living, such as scientists, engineers, programmers, academics and more. By automating mundane but essential tasks, they will be able to focus on important stuff.
Complex and predictable activities can be completely automated, freeing up time and resources for knowledge workers to devote to more pressing and important issues. As a result of this, knowledge workers will be allowed to branch out and diversify their specializations. In other words, automation will allow knowledge workers to devote more time to creative, stimulating and high value work.
4. Robots Will Function As Co-Workers: There is a level of paranoia which suggests that robots and automated systems are going to replace human workers entirely. This is just not true as a high level of enterprise automation will allow robots and humans to function effectively as colleagues. Robots work right next to regular workers and learn from their behaviour.
Robotic technology and AI systems have developed greatly over the past few years. Now, robots can be trained for a task by viewing it and repeating it again and again. This will allow human line workers and automated line workers to work in tandem, leading to a highly efficient supply chain. As stated before, this is a just-in-time supply chain.
5. Robots Will Take Care of Security: Many businesses, especially those who provide online services, have a Security Operations Centre that is manned by human workers. With a rise in automation, the responsibility of security can be taken over by robots. They are well suited to perform mundane and repetitive tasks with a very high degree of efficiency and accuracy.
Robots can also be trained to do some dangerous tasks that would be too risky for a human worker to do. For example, robotic systems can be used to take care of risky industrial processes as well. Robots/Automated systems are also well suited for tasks such as cleaning large oil tanks, exploring mines, cleaning and repairing nuclear reactors, etc.
It is also very important to remember that automated processes will affect different industries at different rates. For example, online-based businesses will be affected first as they don’t have to make a lot of infrastructural changes to their operational line. Industrial outfits have to spend a lot of money to install robotic equipment and hire specialists, but online-based firms can automate their processes simply with the help of software tools.
The best way to prepare your own business for an automated future is to take a long and hard look at your existing operational systems. After you decide which ones would benefit from being automated, you can work out any of the kinks that remain. Automating efficiently can result in major benefits for your enterprise.
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