Category Archives: Automation

The workforce is no stranger to sweeping changes, from the industrial revolution to overseas outsourcing. AI and automation is another iteration of a workforce revolution.

The culture of fear that surrounds AI spans decades -- from science fiction novels to pop culture. To the general public, AI represents a threat, and this is largely to do with media coverage and the lack of transparency around the technology. Famous STEM voices like Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk have publicly worried about AI affecting humans, while AI software developers are stating that their software will change the foundation of work.

Steven Shwartz, AI researcher and author of Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths has boldly declared in his new book that the culture of fear around AI should be destroyed -- as anxiety over what AI can do doesn't accurately reflect the current iterations of the technology.

"People are worried about AI taking over all our jobs, and that's just not going to happen," Shwartz said.

When the general public sees the hype around AI and what it can do, there is an idea that computers are just as intelligent as humans because they can read, create, automate and speak. However, AI systems are just computational algorithms coded by developers -- they don't have the autonomy to become generally intelligent like humans.

In order to replace humans, AI systems would need to be able to learn without coding, and stack knowledge in order to apply it to many situations. The root of Shwartz's book is that AI doesn't have the capacity for human intelligence -- because developers don't have the ability to train them that way.

"The reality is that nobody has any idea how to build such intelligent machines -- they have no more idea how to build those machines than we did 40 years ago," Shwartz said. "Forty years ago, we thought this kind of intelligent machine was imminent, and then we found out how hard it was to develop."

Developers are still attempting to tackle the issue of common sense in AI and artificial general intelligence. Currently, an AI system can understand an end goal and the steps to complete it but can't explain why it makes individual decisions. This means that the system can't explain why it acts a certain way, or the steps that led it there. If an AI system is wrong, there is little way to pinpoint the step in the process that led to an overall error.

"Whatever tasks you give AI, it's going to make mistakes that are different than the mistakes that a human makes. So it may do some things better overall, but the mistakes will be different," Shwartz said.

The culture of fear around AI is developed from a misunderstanding of what the technology can accomplish.

In fact, what could be the biggest threat to automating jobs -- robotic process automation -- is not considered AI at all. Automating call centers and replacing remedial business processes is not AI, but computer automation.

"Most jobs are actually quite safe from AI, you're less safe from other kinds of computer automation," Shwartz said.

Demystifying AI starts with both education and realistic representations of what the technology does in the workplace. Most applications of AI focus on automating certain parts of a job to aid humans in other facets of their work. AI is excellent at classifications like computer vision image recognition, or call routing, which are normally a small part of a larger position.

"When you think about people's jobs, [image recognition and classification] might be one part of a person's job, but not the whole job," Shwartz said. "Any job is broken up into a bunch of tasks, and AI is going to enable computers to do classification tasks of a job."

What AI can't do, however, is retain the intelligence of humans and apply it across multiple actions. This incremental learning has never been developed in machines -- and there isn't a clear pathway to it.

"AI can do tremendous things, but each AI program can only do one thing," Shwartz said. "If you train a machine learning program to recognize faces, that program can't tell the difference between a dog and a cat. It certainly can't translate language and it certainly can't read a book."

For the time being, AI and automation can only assist human workers, and the fears around machines eliminating jobs and forcing humans into abject submission are about as likely as interdimensional time travel.

Explore an excerpt from Evil Robots, Killer Computers, and Other Myths, on the future of employment.

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Cutting through the fear of how AI will affect jobs through automation - TechTarget

Product photography has grown to one of the most important aspects of any ecommerce undertaking. To successfully present products in digital channels you need to ensure quality photos that are memorable, informative, and attractive. To a high degree it is them that will drive your sales. Product photography will play an important role in your business whether you make use of traditional studios or outsource to external photo studios. Is this traditional way to do it the definite solution or maybe just one of the ways? We aim to show you that automation has influenced this area severely and invites a new look at visual content production.

Throughout this article we will underline the challenges that ecommerce product photography brings. Then we will focus on what automation in product photography is and how it answers the needs of an ecommerce business.

They will revolve around time, volumes, costs, and consistency. These factors put together constitute a difficult mixture of counterbalancing solutions that until recently seemed impossible to resolve universally.

Quality images for yesterday would be the dream of any ecommerce entrepreneur, however one that might stretch the budget significantly. The usual way to try to put this dream to reality was an in-house traditional photo studio. Just as frequently, companies hired external studios by way of outsourcing. None of these methods answered the challenges to a truly satisfying level.

It is the advent of automation technology that introduced new possibilities to the game of product photography. Lets analyze the challenges and new automated solutions step by step.

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E-commerce product photography is unlike any other type of photography. It needs to produce quality visual content at a cost-restrained budget in the shortest time possible. Hence, a lot of contrary challenges.

With these challenges certainly not exhausting the whole list, a question arises whether there are ways to eliminate or minimize some of them. What would be the holy grail solution to find a compromise between cost-efficiency, high-quality, and time-to-market?

Research and practice have shown that a new approach, photography automation, provides the answer. And it has been widely implemented in e-commerce in recent years.

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To automate product photography a holistic approach has been taken, which integrates equipment, software and the e-shop. From the capture of images to the publication in the online store all is done within one orchestrated process.

The hardware core of an automation solution is a photo studio cabin with lighting, a turntable and up to several digital cameras.

The cabin is available in various sizes starting from a small one good for jewellery photography and going as far as one for live models, furniture, and bicycles.

A dedicated software is a part of the solution, as it allows to control the equipment, camera included. This means full adjustability of lighting, camera settings, and a system to post-process the photos. As a handy bonus, software often takes care of the publication of the session results straight to an online platform.

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Thanks to tight integration between hardware and software, photo automation makes it possible to reliably remove background from images. It is done on-the-fly, without human intervention.

The whole work is performed within a single system by a trained operator, with very basic photographic skills required. The process seamlessly integrates typically separate steps of content production:

The automated cutting-out of the product from the background comes as a key improvement to the traditional studio method and is highly effective. Everything happens within milliseconds thanks to a dedicated two-shots method and state-of-the-art algorithms.

This is where a lot of time is saved in post-production. Also, the capture process is much easier: the operator does not have to struggle with lighting the background and the object at the same time, which is a typically difficult task even for an experienced photographer. Instead, they can focus on the product itself, while the background can be replaced with pure white (RGB 255, 255, 255) in the publishing step. Still, the process does not fail to ensure the high quality of the product image.

Automated studios allow one-click publishing to most common e-commerce platforms through a system of integrations. The list includes WooCommerce, Shopify, Magento and Prestashop.

Traditional product photography brings advantages such as high flexibility, when it comes to studio setup, or, in the end, the highest quality of pictures, as they are all hand-created by a professional. This generates much higher costs and cannot guarantee the level of throughput required when there are thousands of products to photograph. Some businesses will relish the benefits, as the downsides will not yet be relevant for them especially small e-shops, where numbers do not play a critical role.

For all kinds of businesses, however, automation will bring a better, new approach to the old known challenges. Lets see how it deals with them.

Automation will come in handy, when web-ready images are needed in minutes rather than in days. The photos are post-processed already at the same workstation where the capture happened. There is no need for external post-production, which involves migration of files and third parties. The process consumes less time and the focus can be shifted to sales, as products do not occupy warehouses for so long. This translates directly to savings and shorter time-to-market more is sold with the same resources.

With automated solutions all is centered around the repeatability of shots. Lighting setup, shooting angles, camera and cabin settings can be saved as templates in the software. This minimizes the capability for human errors and creates consistency. Whats more, the know-how stays within the company in a digital form rather than in a photographers experience.

Until the arrival of automation technologies, rich content has been costly to achieve and years were spent referring to it as a goal rather than a reality. With automated studios, it is now practical to produce it. A 360 degree product spin is created in a time not much longer than several packshots. Within a few minutes from placing the product on the turntable, thanks to automated publishing, it can land straight in the e-shop. Dynamic videos and 3D content can be captured in minutes, which influences time-to-market again. Rich content will also bring customer satisfaction, higher conversion-rates and fewer returns.

From the moment automation technologies are set up properly, a business can reach image production volumes unavailable to traditional photography. Much less resources are in use: lower time consumption follows lower space requirements and less skills on the side of equipment operators. A clear long-term competitive advantage results.

Growth is a part of any successful business plan and e-commerce is no different here. More products will be sold over time, needing more product photography and this at the same level of quality and costs. Automated solutions are available for replication on a copy and paste basis. Another studio is bought, the setup is copied, a new operator trained and growth in scale can be enjoyed. Any new workstation can be introduced to various company locations and produce consistently at the same quality. Warehouses in New York and Shanghai? No problem for automated product photography.

In the wide market of e-commerce, there will be cases where photo automation will not turn out to be the optimal solution. Smaller businesses, very specific products, artistic requirements of the sector might all turn the scales to traditional photography. Automation will be of questionable benefit in the following circumstances:

The future of product photography and ecommerce businesses is closely tied to visual presentation. For us, it lies with automation technologies. A to Z automation solutions are getting cleverer, faster and more easy to implement.

Any growing e-shop will find itself on the way to consider the benefits of automation. With this technology, time can be saved, results get surprisingly consistent and the operation can be taken out of the hands of experienced professionals. Less third-party dependency and good process scalability can easily be a game-changer, when considering improvements to the old product photography process.

And this technology is for real, relying not upon a miracle but on hand-craft and engineering. Whats more it is not out of reach. A good example of an all-encompassing solution would be the Orbitvu Alphashot studio series. If you are curious about how this works in practice, check out this video.

It is the right way to change your business indeed.

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What is automated product photography and how can it change your business? - UKTN

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The "IoT Data Management and Analytics Market by Technology, Infrastructure, Deployment Model (Cloud vs. Premise), Solutions, Applications and Services in Industry Verticals 2021 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report evaluates the market for IoT data management and analytics. The report analyzes key challenges and opportunities such as managing IoT data based on ownership, care of custody, and usage rights.

The report assesses the opportunity for IoT data as a service and IoT-driven decisions as a service. It includes forecasts by technology, infrastructure, applications and services for both static and real-time data from 2021 through 2026.

The report evaluates substantial market opportunities involving IoT data collection, storage, analytics and visualization. It identifies how real-time, streaming data IoT business data becomes highly valuable when it can be put into context and processes as it will facilitate completely new product and service offerings.

This facilitates new opportunities for supporting software, storage and analytics solutions. The report includes analysis of technologies, tools and platforms for collecting, storing and processing IoT data.

Industrial IoT (IIoT) and enterprise IoT deployments in particular will generate a substantial amount of data, most of which will be of the unstructured variety, requiring next-generation data analytics tools and techniques. For example, manufacturing processes produce vast amounts of machine-generated data, most of which is unstructured and from disparate sources and formats.

Accordingly, there is a need for uniform data management processes and the use of big data analytics tools and techniques. While much of this data will be very useful for longer-term analytics, significant value will be realized from real-time processing such as centralized versus distributed manufacturing decisions.

It is important to recognize that intelligence within IoT networks is not inherent but rather must be carefully planned. IoT market elements will be found embedded within software programs, chipsets, and platforms as well as human-facing devices, which may rely upon a combination of local and cloud-based intelligence.

Just like the human nervous system, IoT networks will have both autonomic and cognitive functional components that provide intelligent control as well as nervous system-like end-points that provide signaling (detection and triggering of communications) and connectivity. Each of these system components are sources of potentially useful data, which must be analyzed to determine if useful information may be realized.

Select Report Findings:

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

2 IoT Data Management and Analytics Market Overview

2.1 IoT Data Management and Analytics Market Ecosystem

2.2 Overall IoT Data Management and Analytics Market Opportunity

2.3 Regional IoT Data Management and Analytics Market Outlook

3 Introduction to IoT Data Management and Analytics

3.1 IoT Data in the Emerging Data Economy

3.2 Unique IoT Data Management Requirements

3.3 IoT Data Management Operations

3.4 Monetizing IoT Data and Analytics

3.5 IoT Data Operational Requirements

3.6 Market Outlook for IoT Data Analytics

4 IoT Data Management and Analytics Market Dynamics

4.1 IoT Data Management Drivers

4.2 IoT Data Management Challenges

5 IoT Data Platform Providers

5.1 Amdocs

5.2 AppDirect, Inc.

5.3 City Data Exchange

5.4 Horadata

5.5 Interdigital

5.6 Optiva (formerly RedKnee)

5.7 Terbine

5.8 Tilepay

6 Technologies Enabling IoT Data

6.1 Present Technologies are Not Suitable for IoT Data

6.2 Technologies Specially Developed for IoT Data

7 Global IoT Data Market Analysis and Forecasts 2021 - 2026

7.1 Overall IoT Data Market Considerations and Outlook

7.2 Market Outlook and Forecasts for IoT Data 2021 - 2026

7.3 IoT Data Infrastructure ROI Assessment

7.3.1 Factors Determining ROI for IoT

8 Vendor Analysis

8.1 Key Vendor Trends in IoT Data

8.2 Large Companies to Lead through M&A and Partnerships

8.2.1 Early Beneficiaries: Established Companies in Analytics and Cloud Services

8.2.2 Flexible and Scalable Revenue Model will be Most Successful

8.3 Select Company Analysis

8.3.1 Recent Development of Major Players

8.3.2 Accenture

8.3.3 AGT International

8.3.4 Bosch Software Innovations

8.3.5 Capgemini

8.3.6 Cisco Systems, Inc.

8.3.7 GE Digital

8.3.8 Google

8.3.9 Intel Corporation

8.3.10 Lynx Software Technologies, Inc.

8.3.11 Maana, Inc.

8.3.12 Microsoft Corporation

8.3.13 MongoDB Inc.

8.3.14 ParStream (now fully part of Cisco)

8.3.15 PTC

8.3.16 RIOT

8.3.17 SAP SE

8.3.18 SQLstream, Inc. (Guavus)

8.3.19 Tellient

8.3.20 Teradata Corporation

8.3.21 Wind River

9 IoT Data Management and Analytics Market Benefits, Capabilities, and Case Studies

9.1 IoT Data Analytics Solutions Benefits

9.2 Key Capabilities for Data Management in IoT

9.3 IoT Data Analytics Case Studies

9.3.1 AWS IoT Case Study

9.3.2 Predictive Analytics for Supply Chain Management

9.3.3 American Instrumentation implements Azure-based IoT Solution

9.3.4 IoT-Commercial Real Estate Management

10 Conclusions and Recommendations

11 Appendix

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/fem9s

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World IoT Data Management and Analytics Markets, 2021-2026: Business Automation Functionality, Revenue and Profitability will Improve via IoT Data...

Combining the Green Button Go scheduling software platform with our robotic cell line development platform provides our customers with an industry-leading solution for workflow management, scheduling, and data aggregation. We see high value in aggregating process data with robotic automation data to build intelligence into existing systems and for future innovations, said Charlie Duncheon, CEO and Co-founder of Celltrio. Green Button Go software enhances our modular approach to building solutions quickly and reliably.

Bioseros collaboration with Celltrio is the first step in bringing validated and innovative software solutions to the cell line development environment, said Tom Gilman, CEO, Biosero. When scientists have access to flexible and easy-to-use laboratory automation software, combined with an innovative robotics control platform, they can streamline cell culturing and harvesting processes to accelerate drug discovery workflows.

A webinar discussing the automation advantage using RoboCell and Green Button Go software will be hosted on March 25, 2021 at 10:30 a.m. PST. Please reach out to BD@Celltrio.com for registration details.

About Biosero, Inc.

Biosero, Inc. develops automation software people use to make better decisions, in less time, using more data. The companys software enables complex, data-driven decisions to be made instantaneously, keeping workflows and operations in life science, pharmaceutical and industrial manufacturing moving. Bioseros device-agnostic Green Button Go Automation Scheduling Software integrates hardware solutions from different OEMs to create cohesive technology ecosystems that accelerate operations and increase productivity. For more information, please visit http://www.Biosero.com.

About Celltrio, Inc.

Celltrio, Inc. develops and delivers high-value automation solutions for biobanking and cell line development processes. Growth in the cell culture and harvesting automation market is primarily driven by the need to reduce the time and cost of bringing new drugs to market. Automation does exactly that, enabling scientific experiments to be executed much faster, reducing costs, and letting scientists focus on science rather than spending time in manual manipulation of experimental materials. For more information, visit http://www.Celltrio.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210303005288/en/

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Celltrio and Biosero Automated Solutions Accelerate Cell Culture and Harvesting Process 2-3 Fold - BioSpace

The recent report on Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market Competitive Landscape, Regional Outlook and COVID-19 Impact Analysis offered by QYReports, comprises of a comprehensive investigation into the geographical landscape, industry size along with the revenue estimation of the business. Additionally, the report also highlights the challenges impeding market growth and expansion strategies employed by leading companies in the Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas Industry Market.

This report examines all the key factors influencing growth of global Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market, including demand-supply scenario, pricing structure, profit margins, production and value chain analysis. Regional assessment of global Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market unlocks a plethora of untapped opportunities in regional and domestic market places. Detailed company profiling enables users to evaluate company shares analysis, emerging product lines, scope of NPD in new markets, pricing strategies, innovation possibilities and much more.

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Key players in the Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market segmentation are : ABB (Switzerland), Emerson Electric Co. (US), General Electric Co. (US), Honeywell International Inc. (US), Rockwell Automation Inc. (US) Schneider Electric SE (France), Endress+Hauser AG (Switzerland), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Siemens AG (Germany), and Yokogawa Electric Corporation (Japan) and among others.

This report comes along with an added Excel data-sheet suite taking quantitative data from all numeric forecasts presented in the report.

Research Methodology: The Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market has been analyzed using an optimum mix of secondary sources and benchmark methodology besides a unique blend of primary insights. The contemporary valuation of the market is an integral part of our market sizing and forecasting methodology. Our industry experts and panel of primary members have helped in compiling appropriate aspects with realistic parametric assessments for a comprehensive study.

Whats in the offering: The report provides in-depth knowledge about the utilization and adoption of Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas Industries in various applications, types, and regions/countries. Furthermore, the key stakeholders can ascertain the major trends, investments, drivers, vertical players initiatives, government pursuits towards the product acceptance in the upcoming years, and insights of commercial products present in the market.

Executive Summary: This particular section of the report lends appropriate focus on various factors such as growth rate, optimum drivers and restraints, competitors as well as trends that define the competition outline.

Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas Market is segmented as below:

Analysis by Application:Further in the subsequent sections of the report, research analysts have rendered precise judgement regarding the various applications that the Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market mediates for superlative end-user benefits.

Analysis by Product Type:This section of the Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas market report includes factual details pertaining to the most lucrative segment harnessing revenue maximization.

Geographically, the detailed analysis of consumption, revenue, and market share and growth rate, historic and forecast (2021-2028) of the following regions:

United States, Canada, Germany, UK, France, Italy, Spain, Russia, Netherlands, Turkey, Switzerland, Sweden, Poland, Belgium, China, Japan, South Korea, Australia, India, Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, Malaysia, Brazil, Mexico, Argentina, Columbia, Chile, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa and Rest of the World.

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Some of the Headlines from Table of Contents are mentioned below::

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Industrial Automation for Oil and Gas Market Key Drivers, Challenges, Growth and Opportunities, 2021-2028 KSU | The Sentinel Newspaper - KSU | The...

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is recognized globally as the annual place to be for electronic design and systems professionals. Over the past 58 years, DAC has encouraged and fostered diversity among the electronic design community as well as the event attendees. For more than two decades, the Marie R. Pistilli Award, named for the former organizer of DAC who passed away in 2015, has been honoring those individuals who have helped advance the profile of women in the electronics industry and made significant overall contributions. Nominations are now being accepted for the 2021 Marie R. Pistilli Electronic Design Award.

The Marie R. Pistilli Award honors a person in the semiconductor-related industry or academia his or her support and advancement of women in the related industries. Nominees may hail from technical or non-technical backgrounds and must be individuals who have made notable contributions to advancing the profile of women in EDA. Past recipients have played key roles in creating, launching, or managing products that involved contributions from women or created opportunities for women in the industry. Some have been leaders within a company or organization helping to raise the awareness of women, while others have been mentors or role models for successful women in technology.

This years honoree (to be announced prior to DAC) will be presented with the award at the 58th DAC General/Opening Session, being held at Moscone West Center in San Francisco, CA from December 5-9, 2021. DAC will co-locate with SEMICON West 2021, which is being held at the Moscone Center, North and South Halls, December 7-9, 2021.

The DAC organization is proud to continue the Marie Pistilli legacy in an effort to make our industry a place where diversity and innovation thrives, said Harry Foster, 58th DAC General Chair and Verification Scientist at Siemens EDA. Marie had the foresight to honor those who have made tremendous contributions to the electronic industry and we continue to honor those who share in her passion for the electronics industry.

For more information and to submit your nomination, visit the Worldwide Women in Electronic Design webpage.

About DAC

The Design Automation Conference (DAC) is recognized as the premier event for the design of electronic circuits and systems, and for electronic design automation (EDA) and silicon solutions. A diverse worldwide community representing more than 1,000 organizations attends each year, represented by system designers and architects, logic and circuit designers, validation engineers, CAD managers, senior managers and executives to researchers and academicians from leading universities. Close to 60 technical sessions selected by a committee of electronic design experts offer information on recent developments and trends, management practices and new products, methodologies and technologies. A highlight of DAC is its exhibition and suite area with approximately 200 of the leading and emerging EDA, silicon, intellectual property (IP) and design services providers. The conference is sponsored by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and is supported by ACM's Special Interest Group on Design Automation (ACM SIGDA).

Originally posted here:

The 58th Design Automation Conference Opens Call for Nominations for the Prestigious Marie R. Pistilli Award - Business Wire

Intertech Plastics continuous investments in innovative technology prove the value of automation. The Denver-based injection molding company continues its effort to standardize which optimizes their packaging operation and increases efficiency in their distribution channels while lowering the bottom line.

This is the fifth consecutive year Intertech has invested in new technology by adding five new all-electric Toyo injection molding machines and two new Wittmann top-entry robots to their facilities. They also constructed an automation cell for customized lid-closing. These upgrades will minimize the number defects and ensure on-time delivery which gives customers the exact performance the expect each and every time.

Intertech Plastics President, Jim Kepler, shares the significance of being able to provide that reliability and consistency to their customers: If you are comfortable with your standing in this industry, you quickly become obsolete. Innovation is not limited to the production floor. Intertech is looking to do more with less from the front office to our loading docks, and everywhere in between.

DCL Logistics is also seeing remarkable enhancements from the installment of a direct-to-consumer automation system. The logistics leader chose Universal Robots because of their interchangeable ability so that they can customize to their customers needs and its flexibility to integrate well into their current workforce.

Packaging Digest shared detailed metrics from a case study on its impact to DCLs business. Results from the addition of Universal Robots UR10e cobot include: 500% efficiency increase, 50% labor savings, a three-month return on investment (ROI), and 100% order accuracy.

That efficiency allows DCL to lower the bottom line allows and offer lower prices to their customers. The robotic system can do what an entire team of five people would in do an entire day within two hours, says Chief Revenue Officer, Brian Tu. We can lower pricing by as much as 40% which we pass on to our customers. Our accuracy has increased from 99.5 percent to a hundred percent while the robots been in productions.

With plans to add more robots to each of these operations, companies will have to invest in automation as the competition thrives on optimizes efficiency to provide better offerings to their customers.

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Optimizing Efficiency is Not the Only Reason to Invest in Automation - MarketScale

Business optimization is the subtle art of producing better results faster, with fewer errors and lower costs. Today, automation is integral to this process. By removing the complexity of application delivery, low-code development brings business automation solutions to enterprise clients at record speed. No-code development goes a step further, reducing the provisioning of business tools needed to streamline work to simple drag-and-drop configurations.

Both these application development approaches offer significant advantages to modern business. They are already widespread in the enterprise environment, and their adoption is still increasing. Gartner predicts that by 2023, every other medium to large enterprise will have adopted a low-code application platform. However, the proliferation of low-code automated business process management systems (BPM) exposes new and significant vulnerabilities.

SEE ALSO: Out with the OldIn with Application Modernization

The low-code approach simplifies application development by replacing hand-coding with reusable components that can be stacked together via a drag-and-drop interface. Instead of coding every single feature and workflow, developers use ready-made elements to avoid duplicate work and shorten the application delivery time. Apart from time savings, low-code platforms bring another vital benefit to the table they dont usually require highly-specialized skills to build maintainable enterprise-grade applications.

Zero-code or no-code solutions also use visual development to speed up the delivery of front-end business applications. They take away the coding part entirely, enabling business users with no IT expertise to quickly assemble the needed tools by drag-and-dropping the interface components.

Automated low-/zero-code BPM solutions empower enterprises to accelerate business processes without engaging expert IT resources. While these platforms help reduce IT strain, decrease costs, and increase productivity, they come with their own set of challenges.

Small enterprises typically use hundreds of apps day to day, which can snowball to thousands at giant corporations. Considering these numbers, seamless integration of a low-code BPM platform with a host of third-party apps and services may pose a significant challenge.

Low-code automation solutions support built-in integration options, ranging from exposing SOAP web services and REST APIs to implementing connectors. On the one hand, the wide choice of integration methods and data mapping formats ensures flexibility. On the other, it adds a level of complexity to the integration process that in-house developers may be unable to resolve, in which case, business process management consulting might be required.

Some companies may choose to go with an alternative solution to avoid cumbersome integration by getting an all-in-one low-code software replacement. They hope that setting up a new system consolidating all required business process management functions will cause less friction than interoperating dozens of different platforms. Unfortunately, sacrificing the existing infrastructure to use a single end-to-end enterprise platform is often the case of going out of the frying pan into the fire.

One of the most significant drawbacks of the one to replace them all approach apart from the massive time and money investment it entails is vendor lock-in. Wooed by moderate costs of adoption, enterprises often find themselves entrapped in dramatic price increases once they need to buy more licenses or add sophisticated options (see the customization point).

Besides, low-code platform vendors often dont provide access to their source code, making it impossible for buyers to reuse or extend it independently. To avoid getting stuck with the same provider for good and bad, its essential to look for a solution that offers readable code and transferable workflows. Again, an experienced integrator may provide invaluable support in this task.

The critical promise of low-code and no-code platforms is, as their name suggests, to eliminate manual code. But when reality kicks in, their business logic may buckle under the weight of specific business requirements.

Out-of-the-box, low-code solutions can only deliver as many use cases as they have been programmed to handle. When it comes to unique scenarios, for example, when you suddenly need to scale the system following a company acquisition or quickly roll out a new and complex workflow, these platforms often prove ineffectual. Fiddling with their business logic until you find the right configuration if it exists may become counterproductive. Sometimes, writing a piece of code appears to be the easiest, fastest and most cost-effective way out.

For 59% of enterprises, security remains the greatest challenge when adopting low-code and no-code automation solutions. Without visibility into the systems inner workings, enterprises usually have to rely on third-party security tools to run scans and audits, never knowing whats going on underneath. Ensuring security is particularly demanding for platforms deployed in the clients data centers or hosting sites. In SaaS solutions, the vendor is responsible for updates and patches, while the client only needs to take care of the data.

Connecting low-/no-code platforms to existing systems and data sources also presents potential security risks. The same goes for adding custom code. However, possibly the most prominent security fault of low-code systems is the limited visibility into the tools created by the users. As the low-code approach democratizes business app creation, it puts much freedom into non-technical employees hands without involving the IT department. While this enables greater agility, it also results in less control and oversight over business apps, which forces enterprises to set up rigorous security policies and ensure their strict compliance.

SEE ALSO: Jamstack allows developers to decouple the web presentation layer from the backend logic

Low-code/no-code technology has reached the point where it is mature enough to power enterprise-grade business-critical applications. By replacing ground-up coding with easily configurable tools and components, it accelerates business workflows, empowers non-technical users, and eliminates process bottlenecks.

Despite certain challenges, demonstrated above, in many cases low-code development can be more effective and secure than the traditional manual-coded methods. However, to live up to the expectations, low-code and no-code platforms require skillful implementation and integration, with optimized data flows.

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Things to Watch Out for in Low-Code Process Automation - JAXenter

Dublin, March 02, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Automation and Robotics Market in Industrial, Enterprise, Military, and Consumer Segments by Type, Components, Hardware, Software, and Services 2021 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

This report evaluates the global and regional robotics marketplace including the technologies, companies, and solutions for robots in the industrial, enterprise, military, and consumer segments. The report includes detailed forecasts for robotics by robot type, components, capabilities, solutions, and connectivity for 2021 to 2026.

With the substantial amount of capital behind global industrial automation, the industrial robotics sector will continue a healthy growth trajectory, which is supported by many qualitative and quantitative benefits including cost reduction, improved quality, increased production, and improved workplace health and safety.

In the wake of COVID-19, and with the now democrat-controlled executive and legislative branches pushing for minimum wage increase, we see a major push for further automation and robotics within the United States service sector. This is because many businesses see repetitive tasks as performed with great safety, less expense, and reduced probability for service disruption with robotics rather than reliance upon human workers.

Robotics is increasingly used to improve enterprise, industrial, and military automation. In addition, robots are finding their way into more consumer use cases as the general public's concerns fade and acceptance grows in terms of benefits versus risks. While many consumer applications continue to be largely lifestyle-oriented, enterprise, industrial, and military organizations utilize both land-based and aerial robots are used for various repetitive, tedious, and/or dangerous tasks. Adoption and usage are anticipated to rapidly increase with improvements to artificial intelligence, robotic form factors, and fitness for use, cloud computing, and related business models, such as robotics as a service.

The next decade will witness substantial influence of AI upon robotics. The next generation of robotics will include many pre-integrated AI technologies such as machine vision, voice and speech recognition, tactile sensors, and gesture controls. AI has enabled consumer robots to learn while performing a variety of tasks including cleaning, controlling home appliances, reading, performing butler services, and many more. It is anticipated that further improvement in AI and related technologies such as cognitive computing and sensor fusion, will enable consumer robots to take on increasingly more difficult tasks.

Longer-term, the publisher sees many robotics and automation solutions involving multiple AI types as well as integration across other key areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT) and data analytics. The combination of AI and the IoT has the potential to dramatically accelerate the benefits of robotics for consumer, enterprise, industrial, and government market segments.

Leading industry verticals are beginning to see improved operational efficiency through the intelligent combination of AI and robotics. The long-term prospect for these technologies is that they will become embedded in many different other technologies and provide autonomous decision-making on behalf of humans, both directly, and indirectly through many processes, products, and services.

This report also includes analysis with forecasts covering AI technology and systems by type, use case, application, and industry vertical. Forecasts also cover each major market sector including consumer, enterprise, industrial, and government.

Components included in forecasts include: Controllers, Robotic Arms, End Effectors, Drive Systems, Sensors, Power Supply, Motors, Grippers, Transducers, Hydraulic Cylinders, Wheels, Linear Actuators, Processors, and ICs.

Select Report Findings:

Key Topics Covered:

1 Executive Summary

2 Robotics Market Overview2.1 Robotics Market Segmentation2.2 Enterprise Robotics Market2.3 Industrial Robotics Market2.4 Military Robotics Market2.5 Consumer Robotics Market

3 Robotics and Automation Technology Trends3.1 Artificial Intelligence and Robotics3.2 Convergence of AI and IoT in Robotics3.3 Teleoperation and Cloud Robotics3.4 Digital Twins Technology and Robotics3.5 Fifth Generation Wireless, Beyond 5G and Robotics3.6 Cloud Business Models and Robotics as a Service3.7 Human and Robotics Cooperation

4 Robotics and Automation in Business Transformation4.1 Emerging Opportunity Areas4.2 Moving Beyond the Factory Environment4.3 Robotics as a Service and the Outcome Based Economy

5 Robotics Companies and Solutions5.1 Americas5.2 2G Engineering5.3 3D Robotics5.4 Adept Technology Inc.5.5 Aethon Inc.5.6 Alphabet, Inc. (Google)5.7 Amazon Robotics5.8 Anki Inc.5.9 Apex Automation and Robotics5.10 Auris Surgical Robotics Inc.5.11 Autonomous Solutions, Inc.5.12 Axium Inc.5.13 Canvas Technology5.14 Carbon Robotics5.15 Carbon3D5.16 Celera Motion5.17 Clearpath Robotics5.18 Construction Robotics5.19 CyPhy Works5.20 Denso Wave Inc.5.21 Ekso Bionics5.22 Ellison Technologies Inc.5.23 Energid Technologies5.24 Epson Robots5.25 Fetch Robotics5.26 Ghost Robotics LLC5.27 Greensea Systems Inc.5.28 Hypertherm Inc.5.29 IAM Robotics5.30 inVia Robotics5.31 iRobot5.32 Intuitive Surgical, Inc.5.33 Jibo5.34 Kairos Autonomi5.35 Knightscope5.36 Kraken Sonar Systems Inc.5.37 Lockheed Martin5.38 Locus Robotics5.39 Micromo5.40 Modbot Inc.5.41 Octopuz Inc.5.42 Omnicell Inc.5.43 PrecisionHawk5.44 ReWalk Robotics5.45 RobotLAB Inc.5.46 Rockwell Automation Inc.5.47 Rokid Inc.5.48 SapientX Inc.5.49 Savioke5.50 Seegrid5.51 Sharp Electronics Corp.5.52 SkySpecs5.53 Soft Robotics Inc.5.54 Softweb Solutions Inc.5.55 SRI International5.56 Staubli5.57 Stryker (MAKO Surgical)5.58 Suitable Technologies5.59 SynTouch5.60 Teradyne Inc.5.61 Titan Medical5.62 TM Robotics5.63 TORC Robotics5.64 Transcend Robotics5.65 ULC Robotics Inc.5.66 Universal Robotics5.67 Vecna Technologies5.68 Verb Surgical5.69 VEX Robotics5.70 VGo Communications5.71 Vigilant Robots5.72 Virtual Incision Corporation5.73 Willrich Precision Instrument Co.5.74 World Drone Academy5.75 Wynright (Daifuku Co Ltd)5.76 Yaskawa Motoman5.77 Asia-Pacific5.78 Aurotek Corp.5.79 Cyberdyne5.80 Daihen Corp.5.81 DJI5.82 FANUC Robotics5.83 Foxconn Technology Group5.84 GreyOrange5.85 Hanson Robotics Ltd.5.86 Kawasaki5.87 Mitsubishi Electric Corp.5.88 Nachi Fujikoshi Corp.5.89 Pari Robotics5.90 Qihan Technology Co.5.91 Samsung5.92 Seven Dreamers Laboratories Inc.5.93 Siasun Robot and Automation Co Ltd.5.94 SoftBank Robotics Corporation5.95 Sony5.96 Toyota5.97 WaveBot5.98 Yamaha Robotics5.99 Europe5.100 ABB Robotics5.101 AMS RBR5.102 Blue Ocean Robotics ApS5.103 Comau Robotics5.104 Delphi Automotive5.105 Kuka Robotics5.106 Milvus Robotics5.107 Mobile Industrial Robots ApS5.108 Open Bionics5.109 Reis Robotics5.110 Roboplan5.111 Robosoft Services Robots5.112 Schunk5.113 Siemens5.114 Soil Machine Dynamics Ltd.5.115 SSI Schaefer5.116 Starship Technologies5.117 Staubli International AG5.118 Swisslog5.119 Teun5.120 Touch Bionics5.121 Universal Robots A/S5.122 Visual Components Oy5.123 ZenRobotics

6.0 Global Robotics Forecast 2021 - 20266.1 Global Robotics Market 2021 - 20266.2 Global Markets Robotics by Category 2021 - 2026

7.0 Industrial Robotics Market 2021 - 2026

8.0 Consumer Robotics Market 2021 - 2026

9.0 Enterprise Robotics Market 2021 - 2026

10.0 Military and Government Robotics Market 2021 - 2026

11.0 Conclusions and Recommendations

For more information about this report visit https://www.researchandmarkets.com/r/s1awmm

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Global Automation and Robotics Market Report 2021-2026: Type, Components, Hardware, Software, and Services - One of the Largest ROI Areas for 5G will...

This is the second transcript of a three-part series on Automation Trends in Food Processing and Packaging. If you would prefer to watch the video of these discussions, choose link below:

Robotics video (20 minutes)

Remote Access video (20 minutes)

vFAT (Virtual Factory Acceptance Test) video (13 minutes)

David Greenfield:

Another technology area that's seen a lot of increased attention because of COVID is remote access. And here we're talking about the ability to remotely access plant floor equipment, or specific devices and systems, either by in-house engineers, or operators, or even third parties such as OEMs and system integrators. And like cobots, this technology has been developing very quickly over the past several years now, but it's really seen an accelerated level of interest due to COVID in the past year.

Glen, you've been very focused on the trends around remote access between OEMs and food package goods manufacturers. How would you say things have been changing here in the past few years?

Glen Long:

It's near and dear to me because I come from that side of the business. And the technology to add remote access to equipment has been around for years. But the willingness on the two sides to allow that to happen has not really been there. So, all of a sudden enter COVID, and very quickly it becomes a necessity versus, say, whether the capability existed, or whether it was wanted or not. So, tremendous adoption in different types of remote access. And I think when you talk about remote access, you think about three different areas. Certainly, there's a service aspect of it, and I believe that's where a lot of the companies were first thinking to be able to access a machine remotely for the purpose of fault diagnostics, or program fault diagnostics, and so forth. But the other two elements that we see a lot now are training. We went with the OpX Leadership Network and our Industry Relations Committee on sort of a field trip to Emerson last year, and that was certainly something that they were a proponent of. And it's possible now to conduct training in a way that we've never been able to do it before through augmented reality and virtual reality. There are training elements that can be conducted with staff remotely that just were never possible before. So, I think that's a second element of remote access.

To learn more about OpX Remote Access, click here.

And I think the third one is predictive maintenance, and the ability now to get into a piece of equipment remotely to see what's happening with motors, and drives, and temperatures, and loads, and things like that, is just a tremendous leap forward. It's been around in other industries for some time, and there's a trickle-down effect. Certainly, the cost of the equipment has a lot to do with the ability, or the viability, of that kind of predictive technology. But remote access now has become a needed technology, and there are a couple of really interesting things that are going on. First of all, the OpX Leadership Network published a document on best practices for allowing that connectivity between the CPG and the OEM supplier. That's always been a roadblock. Again, that's coming down, but there a number of different ways that you can look to see how that can be done safely. And it's really up to a collaboration between the OEM and the CPG as to how they go about that.

The CPG can turn that on and turn that off as needed, but that's a big element of making it happen. We've also seen instances in the service realm where we're now, out of necessity, there are trained professionals on one side being able to walk less skilled employees of CPGs through very complex tasks. So, that not only saves money in terms of that service element, but there's that training element involved as well. And for the CPG in the time of need, as we've seen over the last nine months or so, that up time. Being able to keep that equipment up and running as necessary. So, there's tremendous benefit that we've seen in the short-term. There's been more progress in the last year with this kind of thing than there has been in the 10 years prior to this point. So, you're seeing an accelerated adoption, and tremendous benefit on both sides. It's beneficial to the OEM to be able to conserve that limited resource, and not spend so much time traveling back and forth between places.Service, training and predictive maintenance are the three main areas of remote access use.

And for the CPG, there's cost savings, there's speed involved in fault diagnostics, and remediation. So, just tremendous benefits on both sides. I think all of those things are playing into what you see, and it's, again, trickle-down effect. A lot of the suppliers of this type of equipment are seeing this happen, and they're being pushed to adopt it more rapidly. So, you're seeing not only innovation, but adoption in this technology.

In September of 2020, PMMI's Business Intelligence group published a study on trends in the adoption of remote access. So, that's a great reference document to see some of the different things people are doing, and how it's being deployed because I think it's interesting to see the innovation, and the imagination, in some of the suppliers, and how that technology is being deployed.

To download the PMMI Business Intelligence, Trends in Adoption of Remote Access report, click here.

Bryan Griffen:

I think beyond just the great applications that Glen mentioned, which really justified the need and the cost for doing these technologies, we also have to look at how we do remote access to make sure that it's safe, it's secure, that we avoid cybersecurity issues. And OMAC, the Organization for Machine Automation and Control, is just now releasing a new best practice document on how to implement remote access technologies in factories. There are a few key subjects from the guide that merit some comment here. Perhaps the biggest component to a successful remote access solution is not necessarily the technology, but the people that are involved. One of the biggest things that we have seen over the years as we've tried to implement remote access is the conflict between IT and OT. IT is all about cybersecurity, and maintaining control of those networks, and they do a fantastic job of it. But OT is all about we need to manufacture right now. We can't stop for doing a patch, for example, because stopping right now to do that patch means we throw away the batch, which could be hundreds of thousands of dollars of lost product.

So, there needs to be a point where those two factors come together and discuss what are the needs of both sides. Understand what each side of that equation needs in order to successfully implement remote access tools. Then once all of the players are on the right page, and communicating well, then they can turn to the task of developing the remote access solution, which type of remote access they want to use, assessing the current situation within the factory, and what the needs would be from a technology standpoint, and then getting everything to play well together. But it all starts really with that human aspect of the solution, not the technical one.

Tom Egan:

Yeah, and for me I'm going to take off from what Bryan said there for a little bit, still with that OMAC report, which I agree. I thought was very good. Some real success ideas for implementing remote access. I learned a new term there when that IT/OT piece, first time that I saw it in a report anyway, which was CIA and AIC. And Bryan, I hope I have this right. But the CIA element was that the IT group looks at confidentiality, integrity, and then availability, meaning the availability of whatever the resource is. Whereas the OT group looks at availability first. I just thought that that was an easy statement to look at and say, "They're looking at the same problem. They're looking at it through two different facets of the same problem. And so that's why until that discussion takes place, sometimes we have the conflict." So, I think that was a good takeaway on that piece.

For more information on OMAC, click here.

The other overarching part for me on the remote access, Dave, is that I just don't believe that there's an option. Glen alluded to the point that there's a benefit for both groups now. There always has been. Perhaps the pandemic has really pushed that to the fore because of the restrictions on travel, for example. But the benefit is that the cost of downtime is just too high. It's too high for the company that's trying to make a product to get into the marketplace to sell, and it's too high for an OEM that's trying to support the equipment and has to get a human resource to the location. So, if you're able to at least go in, and take a look at whatever the issue might be on a production line, or even to be monitoring that in the ultimate as a way of accessing, and utilizing beneficially that remote access, it's that understanding that just downtime is just too, too expensive now. What can we do to reduce that timeframe? Remote access is one approach that will absolutely work.

Glen Long:

Dave, I think we've always looked at this as the OEM and the CPG being the two sides of the remote access question, and I think for the CPG, in and of themselves, there's tremendous capability for being able to remotely access equipment in different facilities, or for supervisors that are in big plants that have the ability to be notified, even outside the plant, to be notified that something in the line is not functioning correctly, or it's not functioning at its optimum efficiency. I've been with CPG employees outside the plants on visits when they're notified via their cell phone that something in the line is dropping below a certain point. And they literally excuse themselves to be able to go, and get ahold of the plant, and address it. So, there's definitely that OEM and CPG connection. And it's that remote access part, but for the plants that have multiple lines and multiple facilities just within their own organizations there's tremendous capability and promise in the development in the machinery world for that data to be gathered and then output. So, remote access, I think, has two connotations. There's the outside connotation where you're talking about the OEM, and the CPG.

But then the inside connotation where it's being used within a big group. So, you're seeing tremendous appreciation for the ability to do it, and finding ways that it can be done safely, and just beginning to realize the benefit because there's a lot of data that's available there. And the question is now how do you gather it, and how do you use it properly?

David Greenfield:

Yeah, I think to both of your points what we've been talking about here in just the past couple of minutes about is those cultural issues, organizational issues, and bottom-line cost issues. And I can remember when I first started writing about remote access technologies several years ago now, that the big factor was the cost issues, the bottom-line benefits to end users who adopted this. But that didn't seem to be able to overcome the cultural and organizational issues that existed in these companies - and have for years for obvious reasons. But it's interesting that what's happened in the past year has forced industry's hand to rethink how things have to operate. And so, I think at this point they're starting to see those bottom-line benefits that have been talked about forever. They're being able to see - like not having the amount of downtime, or virtually no downtime, the reduced cost of travel, and having to send someone to these sites all the time, or to go physically check out these various facilities, or pieces of equipment that they don't have to travel there to do now.

I think all of that it that falls to the bottom line, and they see that it's kind of coming full circle back around again now that we've gotten over some of those cultural and organizational issues that have always existed. So, that's been an interesting development for sure.

Augmented Reality Augmented reality is on the rise in predictive maintenance and training usage.

David Greenfield:

So, one other technology area associated with remote access that's seen a big boost in this past year has been augmented reality for preventative maintenance. And much of what I had seen in terms of application examples over the past few years had almost always been in the discreet manufacturing industries, but I've been seeing more and more references to it in food and beverage. For example, through Cisco's project with the dairy farmers of America that we covered recently. Are any of you hearing much about the use of augmented reality for preventative maintenance and/or training, as you mentioned Glen, with food and beverage, and CPG producers?

Read Cisco Aids Dairy Farmers of Americas Digital Transformation, click here.

Glen Long:

Yeah. There was an article in this month's ProFood World magazine about using it for training for sanitation, which is a very specialized thing. And through the use of augmented reality, and virtual reality technology, they were able to walk a lesser skilled worker through the very complex process of sanitizing a particular piece of equipment. So, surely that technology is out there. I think it's also very helpful for operators and maintenance people in food plants to be able to deploy that in terms of maintenance and repair, even without the OEM being involved. There's a tremendous amount of information from OEMs on simple things, like threading film, for example. I've seen it used for that when they have such turnover in the food plants with the operators for the equipment. Even what you would consider relatively simple tasks are difficult because the training isn't there to pass that knowledge from worker to worker. And then with the turnover, this technology allows even a lower skilled worker the ability to walk through a step-by-step process, and get that job, or that task accomplished. So, for sure it's becoming more widely available as the price drops, and the technologies advance.

Tom Egan:

And Dave, the article that you reference about Cisco I was reading for the first time, and I really liked what Cisco was looking at, which is they have a technology, and there is a need. How do they partner with organizations to do that? I thought the use where Cisco said, "We're going to give you, or provide at a very reduced cost, a full suite of tools, so that the workers, the managers, and the corporate can really understand just what's happening with those. Excellent example. It involved all parts of the organization. The individuals that are down on the plant floor are getting information to help them do their job. The managers are then getting information from what the workforce is doing in terms of handling any issues, or doing a solution, as Glen mentioned, about the sanitation work. They're understanding what can improve that particular project from the workforce. And then on a corporate basis, just being able to manage overall. I thought it was a great example where a whole suite of tools was brought in.

Read Will AR Change the Game for Packaging Operations? Click here.

Bryan Griffen:

I think one of the other interesting things that we're seeing as a use of these sorts of augmented reality and remote access being combined, is where we can take a technician who is the premier technician on a particular piece of equipment, but maybe tied up at somebody else's site. And we can send another technician to the site that's in question, and that technician can connect remotely with the premier technician, and get online, real time assistance for solving whatever the problem is. And so effectively you've turned your standard technicians all into the same level and quality as your premier technicians by having that connectivity.

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Automation Trends in Food Processing and Packaging: Remote Access - Automation World