Category Archives: Automation

The use of technology and the desire to contribute to the greater good are driving the CEOs and business leaders of tomorrow. Members of Generation Z are using the latest innovations on the job as they develop their values and philosophies about work. Now is the time for employers to help them reach their potentialand ensure the company thrives, too.

Valerie M. Grubb, principal at New Orleans-based Val Grubb & Associates Ltd., brought some insight into the future of work during her presentation "Workforce 2030: Are You Ready?" at the recent SHRM Annual Conference & Expo 2021 in Las Vegas earlier this month.

She said employees in the next decade would not only rely on more automationbusinesses of all kinds are seeing that every daybut they will also desire meaning in their jobs and a connection to the company's overall success.

Finding PurposeNow and in the Future

Younger generations want purpose in their work now, Grubb said, and will continue to do so.

"Finding purpose is something Gen Z demands, and even more so since the pandemic," she said. "They want to have purpose outside of work but also at work. And many of them are really ambitiousand that's a good thing."

She asked, "How often have you been approached by a younger employee, one who has only worked at the company for about a year, and [heard them] say, 'I want to be CEO.' " And they mean now or in the very near future.

Grubb is both frank and helpful in her response to them: "I say, "That can't happen here. We have one, but I can teach you what it takes to become a good one. Then, maybe you can leave, start your own company and be the CEO."

The key, she added, is "making someone feel important. That's important. Everyone expects this now."

To do that, show the younger employees how they contribute, in their current role, to the company's mission and success. The HR department can do this through well-crafted job descriptions and employee communications.

"Doing this helps the company connect their people to that purpose," she said. "Everyone in the company must have a purpose that helps it to achieve its overall goals."

Here's an example. When Grubb worked for a former employer, the company was cut off from ordering supplies from Staples.

"It turned out, this happened because we weren't paying our invoices," Grubb said. "I went to the accounts payable department and spoke to a manager there who said, 'That's right, we lost our credit with them. The [company's] managers weren't signing off on the invoices to be paid so they've not been paid.'

"I explained to her that as a member of the accounts payable team, [she was] in part responsible for maintaining our public image and reputation. We can't be seen as one that doesn't pay its bills."

Once the accounting manager heard this, Grubb said, she felt empowered enough to go to the company's managers and explain to them the importance of signing off on invoices correctly.

"She realized that she wasn't just another cog in the wheel," Grubb said. "She now knew her purpose. Our credit was restored, and because of her."

Come 2030, AI and Automation Are Front and Center

Jobs are becoming more reliant on artificial intelligence, including blue-collar jobs. In trucking, for example, Grubb said, companies are not necessarily looking for drivers, but instead, for people who understand automation.

A human driver can only work eight or so hours a day. "Soon, we'll have trucks that drive autonomously, so someone needs to be able to manage that and make operations as specific as possible," she said.

Retail stores and fast-food restaurants are also relying on automation. "You might have five or six ordering stations, but only one employee to take care of it all," she said. "The ordering stations run on their own, so there is just one employee needed to be on hand and answer customers' questions or fix glitches."

HR will soon be charged with finding ways to replace workers with automated processes and then hiring people who have strong decision-making skills to make sure the new system is working well.

HR is accustomed to introducing potentially difficult business decisions, such as when they are presenting to senior leadership about why the company should outsource benefits or not have a person working the reception area.

Grubb said HR departments always must be thinking of what's next and then be able to show their executive suite why it is necessary for the company, in order to proactively improve the customer experience and meet the needs of the 2030 workforce.

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Purpose and Automation a Key Part of Workforce 2030 - SHRM

AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Quali, the award-winningprovider ofEnvironments-as-a-Serviceinfrastructure automation solutions, announced today that it has partnered with ATxTel, a lab infrastructure, instrumentation, systems integration company and trusted advisor to industry-leading companies within the telecommunications industry.

Quail's CloudShell will help ATxTel deliver the most powerful and flexible test & measurement solutions in the industry.

ATxTel is an industry leader in test and measurement with a broad portfolio of solutions. By incorporating CloudShell, Quali's infrastructure automation platform that allows users to configure and automate test lab environments that can seamlessly integrate with a broad range of hardware and software, ATxTel will be able to deliver the most powerful and flexible test and measurement solutions in the industry.

"With Quali, users can now provision more complex lab configurations in minutes instead of days or weeks. ATxTel can then quickly and efficiently apply our testing and measurement services up and down the stack, giving our joint customers the ability to get to market faster with higher quality products and services," said John Winans, President of ATxTel. "With more powerful infrastructure automation capabilities, we are better positioned to seek out the best components and achieve greater value from test and measurement technologies."

"ATxTel brings a wealth of experience to the table in the field of test and measurement technology," said Lior Koriat, CEO of Quali. "Partnering with a widely respected industry leader with broad relationships in the telco industry like ATxTel will help Quali build on our long track record of delivering value to telecommunication providers and will help us accelerate our go-to-market efforts."

Quali's CloudShell is the leading platform for delivering automation for on-premise, hybrid and cloud environments. Quali enables self-service environment provisioning and automated decommissioning to streamline the development, testing, and certification of various technologies into production environments.

About Quali

Headquartered in Austin, Texas, Quali provides the leading platform for Environments-as-a-Service infrastructure automation solutions, helping companies achieve freedom from infrastructure complexity, so they can operate with velocity. Global 2000 enterprises and innovators everywhere rely on Quali's award-winning CloudShell and Torque platforms to create self-service, on-demand automation solutions thatincrease engineering productivity, cut cloud costs, and optimize infrastructure utilization.For more information, please visit quali.comand follow Quali on Twitterand LinkedIn.

About ATxTel

ATxTel, Inc. is a solutions provider and systems integrator offering best in class platforms, tools and technologies that enable industry leading companies to both accelerate and cost optimize the development of new products and services. ATxTel provides its customers with the most comprehensive portfolio of solutions, tools and consultative expertise available in the market. ATxTel is headquartered in San Diego, CA. For more information, please visit ATxTel.com.

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Quali Partners with ATxTel for Test Lab Automation Solutions - Tyler Morning Telegraph

Web Industries thermoplastic composite programme manager, Mark Richardson and global director of research and technology, aerospace Grand Hou, look at how composite materials formatters are turning to automation to meet the needs of next-generation aircraft.

Formatters of composite materials serving the aerospace industry have made significant strides in automation over the last two decades, but additional advancements will likely be necessary to keep pace with the next generation of commercial aircraft designs.

Composite materials formatters link materials-manufacturers with aerospace parts fabricators and OEMs. In this central role, they convert composite prepregs into forms, such as slit tape that can be efficiently fashioned into completed aerospace components.

Automation - the practice of operating or controlling an industrial process by mechanical or digital means - has significant benefits for formatters, including: Improving the quality and consistency of formatted materials; Reducing variances in materials and increasing process reliability; Simplifying the machine operators equipment management tasks.

Next-generation aircraft developments are already spurring demand for a greater diversity of composite materials and formats. This will inevitably pressure formatters to further automate their operations in the coming years. There will also be a need for more cooperation and integration among all partners in the aerospace supply chain.

Continuous improvements

Due to their combination of light weight and high strength, aerospace-grade composite materials offer the promise of lightweighting new aircraft, cutting fuel consumption and reducing the aerospace carbon footprint. Among the most popular aerospace-grade composites are thermosets and thermoplastics, each of which can be combined with carbon, glass or other fibres to form prepreg systems.

Thermosets have a well-established supply chain and a long track record in aerospace applications. Thermoplastics, on the other hand, have only gained favour in recent years. First used in clips and brackets, they are now considered for structural applications, including wings and fuselages. In contrast to thermosets, thermoplastics have an unlimited shelf life prior to curing and do not require refrigeration. Also, some thermoplastic parts can be recycled. Additional thermoplastics advantages include out of autoclave in-situ consolidation and compatibility with ultrasonic welding rather than riveting for assembly.

As thermoset and thermoplastic materials became more prevalent in aerospace applications and OEMs assigned higher priority to their selection and use, many formatters developed expertise in a limited range of formats suitable for part fabrication. A notable example is slit tape. Here, prepreg materials are sliced into ribbons of tape, which are wound onto large spools in a pattern that fits the application. The pattern is selected based on the requirements of fabrication machinery. Narrow tape is intended for automated fibre placement (AFP) machines, wide tape for automated tape laying (ATL) systems.

Formatters continuously improved these operations over the years to boost reliability and product consistency. Increased automation, for example, resulted in enhanced slitting accuracy and better tension control during slitting, which is critical factor in maintaining overall width consistency, minimising material disruption and yielding consistent final package stability.

A speedier setup

Automation has also streamlined the process of machine setup and tuning, which on average takes eight hours to complete manually and directly impacts operational costs. In one example, a composite materials formatters 24-head slitting & spooling line initially took an entire operations shift to set up. Over a decade or more, the formatter implemented a series of mechanical upgrades that reduced machine setup time even as the line was fitted with additional spooling heads. Overall, setup time per spooling head was reduced by a factor of five or more.

Although automation makes a difference in formatting, much also depends on the skill and experience of machine operators. This is because composite materials are not homogeneous and vary somewhat from batch to batch. Skilled operators are necessary for formatting efficiency. They can spot differences in material quality and consistency and make adjustments to compensate for variations that could affect fabrication. Small adjustments can make a big difference in the final product.

New era of manufacturing

The current wave of innovation in aircraft design and development, along with the increased automation that supports it, reflects a broader trend often dubbed Industry 4.0, or the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Following in the wake of the Industrial Revolutions first two phases and the ensuing Information Age, Industry 4.0 will be marked by increased automation of traditional manufacturing processes and advances in machine-to-machine connectivity and communication.

In line with this trend, the development of next-generation aircraft will create a more complex environment for composite materials formatters. Expect to see more experimentation and more demand for a greater diversity of solutions, such as: More types of composite materials; Different fibre and resin systems; New formats such as chopped flakes, biasply materials and extremely narrow tapes on small bobbins.

OEMs and parts manufacturers might ask formatters to process six or seven different formats instead of a basic format, such as slit tape. Instead of five material types, there might be as many as 30. New fabrication equipment and methods will also emerge that require flexibility on the formatters part.

To remain competitive, composite materials formatters will have to build on their existing infrastructure and take a step forward in automation and technology. Enhanced automation will help formatters cope with the growing complexity ahead while maintaining quality standards and achieving the same or even increased throughput. It can also support the work of their machine operators and technicians.

More integration overall

The new era will also foster greater connectivity and end-to-end integration among materials manufacturers, formatters, equipment makers, fabricators and aerospace OEMs. Currently, partners in aerospace programmes tend to operate as self-contained units, siloed in their respective areas. One partner completes its assigned task, then hands it off to the following link in the chain. The new era will demand more linkages among partners and a higher level of integration between partners from the earliest design stage.

A recent aerospace program demonstrated collaborations benefits. Web Industries worked closely with its supply partners to produce a wing structure made of thermoplastic composites. The partners collaborated to create a high-quality component and achieve their cost targets. Web precision processes reduced variances in the formatted material, and this allowed the parts fabricator to minimise downstream variances in its operation, improving overall productivity.

In addition to the smooth material flows between partners, data connectivity will be critical in meeting future challenges. Formatters and fabricators, for example, could benefit from batch and traceability data supplied by materials manufacturers. This information might be used to identify which prepreg batches are best suited for specific fabrication processes such as AFP, ATL or compression moulding. Data of this kind could be routed automatically between supply partners.

Composite formatters have made impressive gains in automation to support their aerospace partners. They will likely have to automate further, and coordinate more closely with supply partners, to meet future challenges.

http://www.webindustries.com

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Automation streamlines the process - Aerospace Manufacturing

Doing More with Less

At a recent virtual seminar, Delcie Bean asked attendees to think back 20 years and ask themselves, did they foresee a time when phone books and yellow pages would not be a thing?

After all, he asked, every home had one, and they were the primary way small businesses advertised and shared their contact information with the public.

Now, look at whats happened to that world, said Bean, president of Paragus Strategic IT. Thats the pace at which technology is changing. These things we took for granted, that we felt were never going to change, that were part of the fabric of our ecosystem, have changed. And its not just phone books. Think of all the landfills that are chock full of technology that, at one point in time, we didnt think we could live without.

And its not just tools, but the way we do business, he said, pointing out the short jumps between dominant communication methods over the past century. That idea was one jumping-off point forBeans virtual seminar on Sept. 15, titled Automation: the Time Is Now, and subtitled How Automation Can Streamline Your Business and Offset the Labor Shortage.

At this event, presented byBusinessWestand Comcast Business, he said everyone should ask themselves a simple question:Whats my phone book? Whats the thing in my business that is still antiquated and should have been replaced by now?

Whats my phone book? Whats the thing in my business that is still antiquated and should have been replaced by now?

For example, he went on, do I have employees entering data into a system that could easily be automated? Am I still doing things on paper forms that then need to be scanned into a system or, God forbid, typed in manually into another system? Do I have antiquated processes that require people to get manual approval and shuffle things around and put things in inboxes and outboxes, and do I still have tasks being done manually that are just ripe to automate?

The 60-minute presentation focused on the benefits of automation and the ways it can be utilized to save businesses time, trouble, and expense anything from onboarding a new employee or client to gathering information when someone signs up for something on a website, to the steps involved in the approval process when employees want to request a new computer. All of this, and more, can be automated, Bean said.

One common tool helping businesses do that today is the Microsoft 365 platform, an evolution of the Microsoft Office suite that offers subscription tiers and features including secure cloud storage, business e-mail, advanced cyberthreat protection, and the popular Microsoft Teams program.

Microsoft has made a very deliberate, very intelligent decision to be the leader in small-business workforce automation, and they have invested infinite money in trying to do that, Bean said. And its actually paid off.

The need to streamline processes through automation impacts most businesses and, as such, is a timely topic of discussion, Bean said maybe more than wed want it to be. And thats partly because of the unique set of economic stressors that have emerged over the past 18 months.

Were probably all feeling busier right now than weve ever felt, he said. I know theres a lot going on thats causing us to have a lot more on our plates, a lot more challenges to solve, a lot more obstacles to overcome than weve had to in the past. So why are we taking time out of our day to have this conversation?

Well, first of all, businesses are being forced to do more with less. Roughly 3.5 million Americans are not in the workforce but used to be largely because of the pandemic, but not totally. Population growth has slowed, and the massive exodus of Baby Boomers from the workforce has accelerated somewhat.

That has a huge impact on the ecomomy, one we cannot minimize, Bean noted and one that will continue to ripple throughout organizations of all sizes at a time when everyone seems to be wearing more hats than before, juggling more tasks, and trying to keep up with less help. And that leads to more stress in the workforce.

Were seeing more employees comment that they feel overwhelmed, people are leaving their jobs, looking for new jobs, changing industries, he said. Or theyre managing the working-remote, working-in-the-office challenges, healthcare challenges its a lot of stress and pressure on the workforce thats still working.

On the other hand, the workforce crunch has also created a talent shortage and one of the best-ever markets for job seekers, who have more leverage than before, Bean said, making it harder to hire and retain employees.

Wage growth has accelerated, and so have employee demands regarding everything from remote work to more autonomy to relaxed dress codes, he noted. Employers are working really hard to try to manage and keep up with those demands while also managing the business.

Its an incredibly difficult economy, he added, and just for small employers; the situation is really trickling up to larger and higher-paying employers as well. Its not ignoring anybody.

And it comes, Bean explained, in the midst of whats known as the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which builds on the third (which began in the mid-20th century and was known as the digital revolution, marked by the rise of computerization). This fourth revolution is melding technologies like artificial intelligence, robotics, cloud computing, augmented reality, smart sensors, 3D printing, and many other advances, and promises to transform the way people live and work.

Theres a lot going on right now that is digitizing and changing the way we interact with pretty much every aspect of our life,he said.And its happening at a rate we are very unaccustomed to handle.

As noted, businesses trying to adapt to this fast-changing world are doing so amid all the recent challenges stemming from the pandemic and the labor situation. Small businesses also lament the growing culture of acquisition, and find it difficult to compete with larger companies with more resources, more innovation, and the ability to pay more for talent.

All in all, it makes you feel like, if youre a small firm, youre in a race thats a losing battle, Bean said. Exhausted? I dont blame you.

But exhaustion is no excuse for inaction, he argued, before refuting the common myths around automation: that its too expensive, too complicated, and takes too long to implement. All are untrue, he explained during the virtual seminar, and again during a sit-down with BusinessWest Editor George OBrien during a recent edition of the magazines podcast, Business Talk (businesswest.com/blog/businesstalk-with-delcie-bean-ceo-of-paragus-strategic-it).

In other words, theres no excuse for any business to avoid this conversation any longer.

We dont want to be the next Blockbuster, Bean told the seminar attendees. We dont want to be the company that could see that things were changing, stuck to our guns, hung on, and ultimately worked their way into oblivion.

Joseph Bednar

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To Stay Competitive, Businesses Need to Think About Automation - Business West

Specialty lines insurtech firm OIP Robotics has partnered with automation start-up Hyperscience to boost data extraction capabilities in its automation portfolio.

The partnership gives OIP Robotics access to Hypersciences intelligent document processing software, which is the first software-defined input-to-output platform used by private companies and government agencies around the world. These include QBE Insurance Group, TD Ameritrade, and Voya Financial.

According to Hyperscience, the platform allows users to lower costs, reduce error rates by 67%, and increase employee capacity by 10 times. The firm is also optimistic that its partnership with OIP Robotics will open the door to the excess and surplus (E&S) insurance market, where the use of such technology has not been yet maximized.

Integration into our existing systems will enable our clients to automate the entire data extraction process from the intake point to preparing the data for processing with over 99% accuracy and up to 95% automation, said Nemanja Jokic, director of business technology at OIP Robotics.

Hyperscience, together with our technology can do something RPA hasnt easily achieved - create systems that can learn from humans and improve on their own; systems that know when to loop in humans and when to leave them out of a process, in a way that doesnt require a heavy touch from outside personnel, he added.

Matt Grantham, assistant vice-president of global alliances at Hyperscience, also expressed excitement over the partnership.

Together, we will very quickly help boost efficiency at insurance firms by radically improving organizational agility and accelerating digital transformation, he said.

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OIP Robotics boosts automation portfolio with Hyperscience partnership - Insurance Business

Robotic Process Automation, also known as RPA, is an up-and-coming trend in the business world that involves using automated pre-programmed software to perform repetitive and time-consuming daily tasks.

With RPA, businesses can save time and resources that would otherwise be wasted if a human executes such assignments. Even though this technology might sound complex at first glance, most entrepreneurs would probably be surprised by how easy it is to incorporate it into the day-to-day operations of their companies.

In the following article, we describe in detail what RPA is, how it works, and why small business loans can be an excellent alternative to finance implementing these innovative solutions.

The goal of RPA technology is to mimic the actions of a human user by following a set of algorithms that are executed within the boundaries of specific rules. RPA solutions are designed to increase productivity and efficiency as companies can focus their human talent on more strategic tasks while leaving robots to solve and complete the less intricate day-to-day assignments.

One example of how companies are using RPA these days is chatbots. These programmable robots are designed to respond when a customer types specific keywords when interacting with the company through its contact channels.

These bots can be implemented in different platforms, including WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and web-based live chat software. They serve as a filter to either redirect the customer to the correct representative or reduce the queue by quickly solving the most common or simple queries.

Meanwhile, other businesses have taken things to a whole new level by incorporating artificial intelligence (AI) into their RPA software via machine learning. The purpose of these solutions is to improve the bots' responses by allowing them to "learn" from previous interactions, patterns, and other available data that the system compiles regularly.

1: Saves money and time

Assign the bot with multiple repetitive and often time-consuming tasks that would have to be otherwise performed by a human. The company can save money in the form of lower payroll expenses. Moreover, bots can filter out and respond to the most straightforward requests while leaving the most complex tasks to a human.

2: Allow the company to focus on strategic assignments

By delegating time-consuming tasks to an automated robot, the company's personnel can focus on matters that contribute to accomplishing the firm's mission and long-term vision. This is particularly advantageous for startups with a low headcount.

3: Increases response times

Robots don't eat lunch, get sick, or take time off. Therefore, they can be available to customers and perform tasks 24/7. That allows the business to deliver faster response times which typically translates into higher levels of customer satisfaction.

4: Tangible return on investment (ROI)

It is easy to measure how profitable an RPA solution can be since business owners can calculate the amount of money saved against the cost of implementing the solution to estimate its ROI.

This facilitates the process of analyzing small business loans as a potential alternative to finance the price of RPA software, as those savings will go toward paying the interest expenditures associated with the loan.

Small business loans can be an appealing alternative to cash-strapped businesses seeking to incorporate RPA technology into their processes. As mentioned earlier, business owners can easily estimate the ROI of these solutions, making it easier to present their case to their co-founders, investors, and team.

Companies like Camino Financial, a California-based online lender, offer flexible loans with flexible repayment periods to fit an RPA implementation project. With the four benefits we previously outlined in mind, entrepreneurs should consider the possibility of applying for this financing alternative to automate their company's processes.

Have you thought about incorporating RPA solutions into your company but don't have the resources to do it? Camino Financial can become your partner in taking your company to the next level. Find out more about their portfolio of loans and other financing alternatives here.

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4 Reasons Why Your Business Should Invest in Robotic Process Automation - Industrial Distribution

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--FinancialForce, the leading provider of customer-centric business applications across finance, services, and customer success teams, today announced that it will be bringing their ERP and Professional Services Automation (PSA) cloud solutions to organizations on the Salesforce platform in APAC and EMEA region.

As part of this, FinancialForce will be joining hands with Infosys, a global leader in next generation digital services and consulting, to help organizations accelerate transformation projects to run digital businesses and put customers at the center of everything organizations do. As more companies throughout EMEA and APAC seek agility and flexibility for business success, FinancialForce and Infosys will speed access to customer-centric ERP and PSA solutions that allow them to streamline, simplify, and automate operations.

I'm delighted to announce this partnership with Infosys which is critical to our continued expansion across EMEA, said Stewart Monk, VP and General Manager, EMEA, FinancialForce. Infosys' global presence, combined with their Salesforce expertise and the European Fluido practice, creates a fantastic opportunity for delivering value and supporting the growth of our joint customers.

Dinesh Rao, Executive Vice President and Global Head, Enterprise Application Services, Infosys said, Today, digital transformation forms the bedrock of any organization for enabling customer success and furthering business growth. We are pleased to collaborate with FinancialForce as we believe that this will provide a wide range of benefits to enterprises who are looking to navigate the Salesforce ecosystem and embrace the power of FinancialForce's ERP and PSA platform.

FinancialForce ERP Cloud and Professional Services Cloud are built natively on Salesforce and allow companies to connect front and back-office functions around a single customer record and data set, providing a true 360 view of the customer.

About FinancialForce

FinancialForce accelerates business growth with customer-centric ERP, Professional Services Automation (PSA), and Customer Success solutions. Run on the leading cloud platform, Salesforce, FinancialForce enables organizations to see their customers in full color, to unlock customer insights, deliver innovative experiences, run a digital business, and achieve agility and resilience. Founded in 2009 and headquartered in San Francisco, FinancialForce is backed by Advent International, Salesforce Ventures, and Technology Crossover Ventures. For more information, visit http://www.financialforce.com.

Most adopted PSA solution in SPI Researchs 2021 PS Maturity Benchmark; most adopted PSA solution by Technology Services Industry Association in 2020; leader in IDC MarketScape for Worldwide SaaS and Cloud-Enabled Midmarket Finance and Accounting Applications, 2020; #1 PSA by G2.

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FinancialForce Expands Delivery of ERP and Professional Services Automation in EMEA and APAC - Business Wire

Automation is taking over in a big way. There are literally hundreds, if not thousands, of ways to automate your life. You can set your phone to stop notifying you at a certain time. There are ways to automatically backup your camera roll. The list goes on and on. Unfortunately, there are only a few way to automate stuff right now. We hope this segment grows more over time because its quite nice when it works right. Here are the best automation apps for Android.

Price: Free

Joe Hindy / Android Authority

Action Blocks is an autmoation app from Google. Its a direct integration with Google Assistant. You can tell the app do a thing at a certain time and Google Assistant performs the task at the appointed time. You can do quite a bit of things like turning your lights and off. It can also do simple things like remind you to call a family member. Basically, it can do what Google Assistant does, but you can determine when it happens. It definitely needs more polish and we hope Google sticks with it. Action Blocks isnt the best option on the list, but its worth a try if you use Assistant a lot.

Price: Free / $3.90

Automate is another decent automation app. It focuses more on basic tasks. For instance, it can text your significant other when you start driving home. Some other functions include automatically uploading files to Google Drive on a schedule, changing your audio volume at night, and other simple stuff like that. It uses a flow chart system and we quite like how easy it is to mess with. There are apps with a lot more power, but this one is surpremely easy to use for easy stuff.

Price: Free / $1.99

Joe Hindy / Android Authority

AutomateIt is a competitor to automation apps like LlamaLabs Automate. It automates a bunch of basic, small things. You can do stuff like change your audio volume at night, enable and disable WiFi, and other basic stuff like that. It boasts dozens of overall functions. You can also see stuff like your stats. It can also do stuff like auto-respond to SMS messages while you drive. The app seems to struggle on some devices and has the occasional bug. Its otherwise pretty good.

Price: Free / $3.99 per month

IFTTT is where we start talking about the big dogs in automation apps. IFTTT is a pretty big deal with an absolute ton of integrations and functions. It can do the simple stuff if you need it. One popular example is downloading Instagram photos whenever they post. However, it integrates with Google Drive, Dropbox, work message things like Slack, and tons of smart home tech like Philips Hue, Amazon Alexa, Google Home, and others. The list of things you can do is too crazy to even begin to list. The pro version unlocks more applets but the free version lets you tinker around long enough to figure out if you want to pay for it.

Price: Free / $2.49

Joe Hindy / Android Authority

MacroDroid is an interesting automation app. It uses if-then statements kind of like computer programmers. You can set up some fairly complex tasks. For instance, you can set the app to reject phone calls when you flip your phone face down. These super granular actions are fun to play with and can make a lot of stuff easier. One of the funner ones that actually works is having the app auto-skip every skippable ad on YouTube. It can even do security stuff like snapping a photo every time your PIN is entered incorrectly. Little things like this can improve the user experience quite a bit and even replace some apps in some cases.

Price: $3.49

Tasker is one of the most powerful automation apps for Android. Like IFTTT, it has a crazy number of things it can do by itself. There are also a ton of apps and add-ons that increase functionality. Think of it as a more powerful version of MacroDroid. However, there is a bit of a trade-off. All of that power is quite difficult to harness. The learning curve on this app is pretty intense. There are plenty of videos showing you how to do various things, but its definitely not user friendly at the start. This one is also free via Google Play Pass if you use it.

Price: Free / Varies

A lot of apps have some sort of automation setting for their primary function. There are several good examples. Photo backup apps like Amazon Photos or Google Photos can be set to upload photos automatically when your phone is on WiFi and also on a charger. Most to-do list apps can do recurring tasks that automatically populate when you clear one. Some SMS apps and third party social media apps let you send messages or post updates on a schedule. There are too many of these to list here, but hopefully this gives you an idea to go scouting around the settings menu in some apps to see if there are any native automation features.

Price: Free (usually)

Joe Hindy / Android Authority

One of the most popular examples of automation apps is smart home apps. The whole point of having a smart home product is to improve your experience with basic stuff. That holds true for this list. Philips Hue lights can be set to turn on and off on specific schedules. Smart thermostats can manage your homes temperature in a variety of ways. Even stuff like Amazon Alexa and Google Home can help out by letting you speak directly to your house. Most of these products have automation of some sort.

Price: Free

Even Android OEMs are getting in on the action to some extent. There arent a lot of examples for this and the biggest one is, by far, Samsungs Bixby. Bixby has a Routines function that lets you automate things on your Samsung devices. Its a direct competitor to Googles Action Blocks and Apples Shortcuts. This is a relatively new thing that, again, doesnt have a ton of examples. For now, Samsung owners should check out Bixby Routines. I use the function to turn off fast wireless charging at night to keep my phone cool while I sleep. Thats just one example.

Price: Free

The Android OS has a few things you can automate. Most of the things are doable across every modern Android device. Some examples include turning things like Do Not Disturb and blue light filters on and off at certain times. More modern versions of Android include digital wellbeing features that can trigger nightly to encourage you to turn your phone off and go to bed. Of course, there are classics like Smart Lock that turn your security on and off depending on your GPS location. Its worth digging through your settings menu just to check.

If we missed any great automation apps (or other things), tell us about them in the comments. You can also click here to check out our latest Android app and game lists.Thank you for reading! Try these out too:

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10 best automation apps for Android - Android Authority

The major objective of deployingrobotic process automationtechnology is to reduce the amount of time and effort required by people to execute time-consuming and repetitive operations.RPAallows software robots to take over routine activities that would otherwise be performed by clever humans, decreasing mistakes, saving money, and freeing up resources to focus on the most essential tasks that require human interaction. With the combination ofartificial intelligence(AI) andmachine learningtechnologies for its growth, therobotic process automationindustry is booming.RPAdevelopment services and solutions can handle time-consuming, repetitive, and rule-based activities. This implies that when businesses userobotic process automation, they can better allocate their resources and maximize their return on investment. Top RPA predictions and trends for 2022 are listed below.

Security must be a top issue when use cases extend beyond pilot projects andRPAis employed in internal and external operations. Companies will have powerful data sets accessible to acquire critical insights as a result of further optimization throughrobotic process automation. Please keep in mind that this information must be kept private. The security architecture surrounding your operations must satisfy the highest industry requirements, whether its to maintain confidentiality in areas like healthcare or to safeguard consumer data from hackers and identity thieves.

RPAtrends have progressed past the pilot stage with organizations that are devoted to automation this year. Organizations, on the other hand, will struggle to expandRPAacross the company to go from pilot projects to a large digital workforce. The difficulty to grow will be largely due to the high maintenance andRPA support load necessary to serve a large number of automation in production.

Looking at the most recentRPAtrends, its apparent that any firm that has fought automation up until this point has fallen behind. In an increasing number of business domains,RPAis critical for getting the most out of your workforce and streamlining procedures. Even though some organizationsRPAimplementations were a little rough. The number ofRPAsuppliers who are qualified and knowledgeable is growing. As more businesses adopt industry best practices. The types of issues that some people encountered last year while using automation will effectively be a thing of the past.

Because of the high cost ofRPAmaintenance and support, more companies will adopt automation best practices and buildRPAcenters of excellence (CoEs). The rise in popularity of RPA CoEs will help to standardize and controlRPA, reducing bot faults, maintenance, and lost business value when bots are removed from production.

RPAis a type ofrobotic process automationthat follows a set of established rules to automate structured data. However, as technology advances, a component or function ofmachine learningis included in theRPAsystem that prepares SPA bots.RPAbots may also benefit from the capabilities of other developing technologies, likeartificial intelligence (AI)and big data, thanks to SPA.

RPAproviders have exaggerated the simplicity of adoption and automated execution, leaving users and consumers dissatisfied. Despite the claims of majorRPAvendors, it turns out that identifying, designing, and developing robust, automated processes is not straightforward. Organizations will abandon theirRPAsuppliers for alternatives that can deliver on the promises they make in 2022, resulting in a substantial number of competitive account transfers.

RPAwill be more integrated withArtificial Intelligence(AI) andMachine Learningtechniques by 2022. The line between bots and digital workers, such as software, will become clearer.RPAbots will focus on tasks that are based on logged procedures with rules. Meanwhile,AIthat mimics human behavior will aid in the completion of increasingly difficult jobs. This will also aid in connecting automation islands and achieving more seamless process automation and departmental interconnection.RPAs increasing cognitiveAIapp development will also help to prevent bottlenecks. However, this can happen if a UI update isnt instantly incorporated into the bots guidelines for achieving its goal.

Consolidations and acquisitions will rise in 2021 and continue to rise over the next three years. Automation providers will combine their foundations to handle all parts of the robotization value chains usefulness, rather than focusing just on providing the greatest standalone capabilities.

The endeavor to make automation available to citizen developers in 2022 has shown serious issues with automations fragility, security, and value delivery. Greater leniency in IT will be the answer, allowing IT to express greater ownership of shared automation and contribute. Its technical knowledge of automations limits and the complexity ofRPAdevelopment and deployment.

The advantages ofRPAmay lag while businesses deal with frequent maintenance cycles, according to the mobile app development provider. And automation downtime, as well as the importance and maturation ofRPAinitiatives. However, corporations credo of achieving more with less will persist in reaction to the pandemic. Its reasonable to assume that 2022 will be the year when companies finally get it right and turn their attention to better-automated design, planning, and delivery. It does, however, produce the expected returns on the technology.

RPAbots and clever mechanization (AI) solutions have grown more vital in recent years to survive and thrive. In these pandemic and post-pandemic times, organizations must adapt to the circumstances.RPAmay help your company to new heights by allowing you to provide a more personalized and improved client experience.

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Top 10 Robotic Process Automation Trends and Predictions for 2022 - Analytics Insight

Enterprises lacking automation and discovery are challenged by rogue certificates, unmanaged certificates and outages caused by certificates expiring unexpectedly; leaders are prioritizing automation

LEHI, Utah, Sept. 28, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- DigiCert, Inc., the world's leading provider of TLS/SSL, IoT and other PKI solutions, today released its 2021 State of PKI Automation survey that shows the typical enterprise manages over 50,000 publicly and privately trusted PKI certificates. Manually managing this volume of certificates can lead to costly outages if not handled correctly. Two-thirds have experienced outages caused by certificates expiring unexpectedly and 25% have experienced five to six such outages in the past six months alone. Due to these issues and others, there is strong interest in adopting PKI automation.

DigiCert is the worlds leading provider of scalable TLS/SSL, PKI solutions for identity and encryption. The most innovative companies, including 89 percent of Fortune 500 companies and 97 out of the 100 top global banks, choose DigiCert for its expertise in identity and encryption for web servers and Internet of Things devices. Learn more at digicert.com or follow@digicert.(PRNewsFoto/DigiCert)

Leading organizations are six times more likely to have already implemented automation. They're meeting PKI SLAs and doing a better job at self-reporting deficiencies.

Nearly two-thirds of enterprises are concerned about how much time is spent managing certificates. They also lack visibility. Thirty-seven percent of enterprises use more than three departments to manage certificates, leading to confusion. The typical enterprise says as many as 1,200 of the certificates are actually unmanaged, and nearly half (47%) say they frequently discover so-called "rogue" certificates (certificates that were implemented without IT's knowledge or management).

"The volume of certificates has grown dramatically," said Brian Trzupek, SVP of Product at DigiCert. "Further, validity periods for public TLS certificates have dropped from three years to one year since 2018. As a result, enterprises are finding it increasingly difficult to manually manage digital certificate workflows. They are looking for certificate automation, but need reassurance on how to do it and an understanding of the long-term costs and security benefits."

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"Service failures due to PKI certificate expiry are a constant risk for all organizations, doubly so now with the shorter required renewal cycle," said Michele Liberman, SaaS Operations Manager at Smart Communications. "There are high overheads for managing certificates, as each one needs to be monitored for expiry, requested, created and deployed. Automating to reduce risk and internal engineering grind makes great business sense."

Most enterprises are considering PKI automation, with 91% at least discussing it. Only 9% say they are not discussing it and have no plans to do so. Most (70%) expect to implement a solution within 12 months. A quarter (25%) are actually at the stage where they're already implementing or maybe even finished implementing a solution.

Not All Enterprises are the Same

The survey included a series of questions to determine how well (or poorly) each respondent was doing across a wide range of PKI metrics. After the scores were totaled, the respondents were split into three groups:

Leaders: Organizations that are doing the very best

Laggards: Organizations that are doing the worst

Middle: Organizations that are doing okay

The Leaders and Laggards were then compared to examine the differences and explore what the Leaders were doing better.

Leaders are performing two to three times better than Laggards in every area, including minimizing PKI security risks, avoiding PKI downtime and meeting PKI-related SLAs. Laggards are seeing a wide range of PKI-related penalties, including lost productivity, compliance issues, loss of customers and even lost revenue.

Lessons from PKI Leaders

PKI Leaders are more likely to say PKI automation is important to their organization's future. Further, PKI Leaders are twice as concerned about the time it takes to manage PKI certificates. Learn more in the report about what Leaders are doing and the difference it's making in their business.

Recommendations

DigiCert recommends that companies begin to address automation of their certificate management processes, including their business workflows, to ensure they continue to adhere to best practices in PKI deployments. This includes the following:

Certificates:

Identify and create an inventory of the entire certificate landscape, from TLS to code signing, client certificates and more.

Remediate keys and certificates that are not compliant with corporate policy.

Protect with best practices for issuance and revocation. Standardize and automate enrollment, issuance and renewal.

Certificate Workflows: Address unmanaged or manual certificate workflows, such as code signing, document signing, email certificates or other identity and access solutions, with software that centralizes visibility and control and automates workflows.

The survey was conducted by ReRez Research of IT professionals within 400 enterprise organizations of 1,000 or more employees in North America, EMEA, Asia Pacific and Latin America. For more information and to get the full report, visit https://www.digicert.com/campaigns/pki-automation.

About DigiCert, Inc. DigiCert is the world's leading provider of TLS/SSL, PKI and security solutions that enable digital trust for data, devices, code, documents and users. DigiCert is modernizing the way PKI is managed with the DigiCert ONE platform. DigiCert ONE reimagines PKI to address all certificate-based security use cases with flexible, scalable and automated workflow managers, including the award-winning TLS certificate manager, CertCentral. Nearly 90% of the Fortune 500 and 98 of the 100 largest global banks choose DigiCert for its digital transformation solutions, including for securing 5G and the post-quantum computing age, and for its five-star customer support. For the latest DigiCert news and updates, visit digicert.com or follow @digicert.

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SOURCE DigiCert, Inc.

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DigiCert 2021 State of PKI Automation Survey Finds Companies are Struggling with Reliance on Manual Processes Amid Growing Volume of Digital...