Category Archives: Automation

Dublin, Jan. 18, 2021 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The "Europe Irrigation Automation Market By Application, By Irrigation Type, By Type, By Component, By Country, Industry Analysis and Forecast, 2020 - 2026" report has been added to ResearchAndMarkets.com's offering.

The Europe Irrigation Automation Market is expected to witness market growth of 21.8% CAGR during the forecast period (2020-2026).

From the past few years, it is observed that there has been a shift in the irrigation process from manual to automatic systems. Feedback based approaches united with automated systems have allowed more efficient and effective handling of resources compared to the traditional irrigation systems. Automatic irrigation involves the incorporation of hardware components, like controllers, sensors, sprinklers, valves, and other components, in order to build an automated system for both agricultural and non-agricultural applications. These automatic systems facilitate the user to adjust the irrigation process depending on the real-time data, volume, time, and computer-based systems that help to control the watering. Furthermore, irrigation automation systems are frequently used in a massive irrigated area, which is further divided into small segments that are termed as irrigation blocks. These segments are then watered in sequence in order to match the discharge that is available from the water source.

The market is likely to show an incremental rise in demand owing to an increase in water scarcity conditions and a changing trend concerning the mechanization of agricultural processes in the world. Growing water crisis along with random and unpredictable rainfall patterns is markedly hindering the use of traditional agrarian irrigation techniques, therefore it is accelerating the demand for the use of more advanced irrigation techniques that were adopted for cultivation globally. Irrigation automation systems require no or minimum manual intervention in addition to surveillance. Similarly, these automation systems also minimize the wastage of water, labor costs, and constant monitoring.

Based on Application, the market is segmented into Agricultural and Non-Agricultural. Agricultural Segment is further classified across Open Fields and Greenhouses & Others. Based on Irrigation Type, the market is segmented into Drip Irrigation, Sprinkler Irrigation and Surface Irrigation & Others. Based on Type, the market is segmented into Time-based, Volume-based, Realtime-based and Others. Based on Component, the market is segmented into Controllers, Sensors, Valves, Sprinklers and Others. Based on countries, the market is segmented into Germany, UK, France, Russia, Spain, Italy, and Rest of Europe.

The market research report covers the analysis of key stake holders of the market. Key companies profiled in the report include The Toro Company, Valmont Industries, Inc., Lindsay Corporation, Orbia Advance Corporation (Netafilm Ltd.), Hunter Industries, Inc., Rain Bird Corporation, Jain Irrigation Systems Limited, Rubicon Water, Galcon Ltd. and Telsco Industries, Inc. (Weathermatic).

Scope of the Study

Market Segmentation:

By Application

By Irrigation Type

By Type

By Component

By Country

Unique Offerings from the Publisher

Key Topics Covered:

Chapter 1. Market Scope & Methodology1.1 Market Definition1.2 Objectives1.3 Market Scope1.4 Segmentation1.4.1 Europe Irrigation Automation Market, by Application1.4.2 Europe Irrigation Automation Market, by Irrigation Type1.4.3 Europe Irrigation Automation Market, by Type1.4.4 Europe Irrigation Automation Market, by Component1.4.5 Europe Irrigation Automation Market, by Country1.5 Methodology for the research

Chapter 2. Market Overview2.1 Introduction2.1.1 Overview2.1.2 Executive Summary2.1.3 Market Composition and Scenario2.2 Key Factors Impacting the Market2.2.1 Market Drivers2.2.2 Market Restraints

Chapter 3. Competition Analysis - Global3.1 Cardinal Matrix3.2 Recent Industry Wide Strategic Developments3.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations and Agreements3.2.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions3.2.3 Mergers & Acquisitions3.3 Top Winning Strategies3.3.1 Key Leading Strategies: Percentage Distribution (2016-2020)3.3.2 Key Strategic Move: (Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements : 2019, Jan - 2020, Oct) Leading Players

Chapter 4. Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Application4.1 Europe Irrigation Automation Agricultural Market by Country4.2 Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type4.2.1 Europe Open Fields Irrigation Automation Market by Country4.2.2 Europe Greenhouses & Others Irrigation Automation Market by Country4.3 Europe Irrigation Automation Non-Agricultural Market by Country

Chapter 5. Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type5.1 Europe Irrigation Automation Drip Irrigation Market by Country5.2 Europe Irrigation Automation Sprinkler Irrigation Market by Country5.3 Europe Irrigation Automation Surface Irrigation & Others Market by Country

Chapter 6. Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Type6.1 Europe Time-based Irrigation Automation Market by Country6.2 Europe Volume-based Irrigation Automation Market by Country6.3 Europe Realtime-based Irrigation Automation Market by Country6.4 Europe Other Type Irrigation Automation Market by Country

Chapter 7. Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Component7.1 Europe Controllers Irrigation Automation Market by Country7.2 Europe Sensors Irrigation Automation Market by Country7.3 Europe Valves Irrigation Automation Market by Country7.4 Europe Sprinklers Irrigation Automation Market by Country7.5 Europe Others Irrigation Automation Market by Country

Chapter 8. Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Country8.1 Germany Irrigation Automation Market8.1.1 Germany Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.1.1.1 Germany Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.1.2 Germany Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.1.3 Germany Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.1.4 Germany Irrigation Automation Market by Component8.2 UK Irrigation Automation Market8.2.1 UK Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.2.1.1 UK Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.2.2 UK Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.2.3 UK Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.2.4 UK Irrigation Automation Market by Component8.3 France Irrigation Automation Market8.3.1 France Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.3.1.1 France Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.3.2 France Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.3.3 France Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.3.4 France Irrigation Automation Market by Component8.4 Russia Irrigation Automation Market8.4.1 Russia Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.4.1.1 Russia Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.4.2 Russia Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.4.3 Russia Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.4.4 Russia Irrigation Automation Market by Component8.5 Spain Irrigation Automation Market8.5.1 Spain Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.5.1.1 Spain Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.5.2 Spain Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.5.3 Spain Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.5.4 Spain Irrigation Automation Market by Component8.6 Italy Irrigation Automation Market8.6.1 Italy Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.6.1.1 Italy Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.6.2 Italy Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.6.3 Italy Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.6.4 Italy Irrigation Automation Market by Component8.7 Rest of Europe Irrigation Automation Market8.7.1 Rest of Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Application8.7.1.1 Rest of Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Agricultural Type8.7.2 Rest of Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Irrigation Type8.7.3 Rest of Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Type8.7.4 Rest of Europe Irrigation Automation Market by Component

Chapter 9. Company Profiles9.1 The Toro Company9.1.1 Company Overview9.1.2 Financial Analysis9.1.3 Regional & Segmental Analysis9.1.4 Research & Development Expenses9.1.5 Recent strategies and developments:9.1.5.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions:9.1.5.2 Acquisition, Mergers, and Investments:9.2 Valmont Industries, Inc.9.2.1 Company Overview9.2.2 Financial Analysis9.2.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis9.2.4 Research & Development Expenses9.2.1 Recent strategies and developments:9.2.1.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:9.2.1.2 Acquisition, Mergers, and Investments:9.3 Lindsay Corporation9.3.1 Company Overview9.3.2 Financial Analysis9.3.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis9.3.4 Research & Development Expense9.3.5 Recent strategies and developments:9.3.5.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions:9.3.5.2 Acquisition, Mergers, and Investments:9.3.5.3 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:9.4 Orbia Advance Corporation (Netafilm Ltd.)9.4.1 Company Overview9.4.2 Financial Analysis9.4.3 Segmental and Regional Analysis9.4.4 Research & Development Expense9.4.5 Recent strategies and developments:9.4.5.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:9.4.5.2 Product Launches and Product Expansions:9.5 Hunter Industries, Inc.9.5.1 Company Overview9.5.2 Recent strategies and developments:9.5.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:9.6 Rain Bird Corporation9.6.1 Company Overview9.6.2 Recent strategies and developments:9.6.2.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions:9.7 Jain Irrigation Systems Limited9.7.1 Company Overview9.7.2 Recent strategies and developments:9.7.2.1 Product Launches and Product Expansions:9.7.2.2 Acquisition, Mergers, and Investments:9.8 Rubicon Water9.8.1 Company Overview9.8.2 Recent strategies and developments:9.8.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:9.9 Galcon Ltd.9.9.1 Company Overview9.10. Telsco Industries, Inc. (Weathermatic)9.10.1 Company Overview9.10.2 Recent strategies and developments:9.10.2.1 Partnerships, Collaborations, and Agreements:

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Outlook on the European Irrigation Automation Market to 2026 - Industry Analysis and Forecast - GlobeNewswire

Automation is used in traditional manufacturing for efficiency and speed. Researchers want to bring that same advantage to additive manufacturing (AM), which involves 3D-printing machinery and processes.

Innovations in 3D printing hardware such as five-axis machines have moved beyond the reach of the software that operates the equipment. To help solve this problem, researcher Xinyi Xiao helped to develop an automated process-planning software to save money, time, and design resources.

Related: New Process Allows 4D-Printed Objects to Resume Original Shape

A researcher from Penn State University developed an automated process-planning software to help save money, time, and design resources when creating parts with five-axis additive manufacturing machines.

Five-axis AM is a young area, and the software isnt there yet, said Xinyi Xiao, an assistant professor of mechanical and manufacturing engineering at Miami University in Ohio. She recently received her doctorate at Penn State University where she worked under the supervision of Sanjay Joshi, professor of industrial engineering.

Related: New Material Could Transform How Electronics Are Built

Five-axis machines are designed to move linearly along an x, y, and z plane and rotate between these planes to change the objects orientation. The machines are an innovation beyond traditional three-axis 3D-printing machines, which lack rotation capabilities and require support structures.

While these new machines are potentially more efficient and can yield cost savings, there is a drawback to their reaching their full potential, Xiao said. They currently lack the same design planning and automation that three-axis machines have. Xiao tackled this problem as part of her doctoral program at Penn State.

At Penn State, Xiao developed a methodology to automatically map designs from CAD computer-aided design software to AM to help cut unnecessary steps. You save money by taking less time to make the part and by also using less materialfrom three-axis support structures, said Xiao.

Joshi noted that Xiao invented is software that uses an algorithm that can automate the decision process for manufacturing designs with the goal of push-button additive manufacturing. The idea of the software is to make five-axis AM fully automated without the need for manual work or re-designs of a product, said Joshi.

Xiao compared the way the software works to putting Lego building blocks together. The algorithm automatically determines both the sections and orientations of a part. The software designates when each section will be printed, as well as the orientation in the printing sequence.

Each section of the part can be printed without support structures and are made in order, giving the machine the ability to rotate throughout its axes to reorient the part and continue printing.

The algorithm can create automation and efficiency by helping to inform a designers plan before the part is printed. This allows the user to make corrections or alter the design to avoid waste and save on costs. It also can determine the feasibility of printing a part using support-free manufacturing. With an algorithm, you dont really need expertise from the user because its in the software, said Joshi. Automation can help with trying out a bunch of different scenarios very quickly before you create anything on the machine.

Researchers published a paper on their work in the Journal of Additive Manufacturing.

Xiao plans to continue her work to expand the scope of the software. She would like to see it automate AM is aerospace and automotive where she believes efficiencies are needed. Large metal components, using traditional additive manufacturing, can takes days and waste lots of materials by using support structures, Xiao said. Additive manufacturing is very powerful, and it can make a lot of things due to its flexibility.

Elizabeth Montalbano is a freelance writer who has written about technology and culture for more than 20 years. She has lived and worked as a professional journalist in Phoenix, San Francisco, and New York City. In her free time, she enjoys surfing, traveling, music, yoga, and cooking. She currently resides in a village on the southwest coast of Portugal.

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New Software Brings Automation to Additive Manufacturing - DesignNews

Research N Reports has recently published a new research that provides detailed insights on the working dynamics of the IT Process Automation Tool Market. The research report offers in-depth information about the key market segments, vendor landscape, geographical outlook, and the factors driving and inhibiting growth.

This report is presented in a clear and concise way to help you better understand market structure and dynamics. Recent trends and developments in the IT Process Automation Tool Market have been analyzed. Opportunities leading to market growth have been analyzed and stated. The report focuses on the global market and provides answers to the most important questions that stakeholders are facing today in the world. Information on the size of the market raises the issue of expanding competitiveness and hindering market-leading sectors and market growth.

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This report studies the IT Process Automation Tool market size by players, regions, product types and end industries, history data 2014-2018 and forecast data 2020 to 2027; this report also studies the Global market competition landscape, market drivers and trends, opportunities and challenges, risks and entry barriers, sales channels, distributors and Porters Five Forces Analysis.

The main goal for the dissemination of this information is to give a descriptive analysis of how the trends could potentially affect the upcoming future of IT Process Automation Tool market during the forecast period. This markets competitive manufactures and the upcoming manufactures are studied with their detailed research. Revenue, production, price, market share of these players is mentioned with precise information.

In 2020, the Global IT Process Automation Tool market size was xx million US$ and it is expected to reach xx million US$ by the end of 2027, with a CAGR of xx% between 2020 and 2027.

Major key players are covered in this report:Optessa, Microsoft, Micro Focus, SMA Technologies, Resolve Systems, Vmware, AutomationEdge, Broadcom, ServiceNow, BMC

Regional Outlook:North AmericaEuropeAsia PacificMiddle East & AfricaLatin America

This report provides comprehensive analysis of:Key market segments and sub-segmentsEvolving market trends and dynamicsChanging supply and demand scenariosQuantifying market opportunities through market sizing and market forecastingTracking current trends/opportunities/challengesCompetitive insights

Opportunity mapping in terms of technological breakthroughs

Analysis tools such as SWOT analysis and Porters five force model have been inculcated in order to present a perfect in-depth knowledge about IT Process Automation Tool market. Ample graphs, tables, charts are added to help have an accurate understanding of this market. The IT Process Automation Tool market is also been analyzed in terms of value chain analysis and regulatory analysis.

The report is presented in a clear and concise manner so that readers can understand the market structure and dynamics effectively. Recent trends and developments in the Global IT Process Automation Tool market have been analyzed. Opportunities leading to the growth of the market have been analyzed and stated. The report focuses on the Global IT Process Automation Tool market, and answers some of the most critical questions stakeholders are currently facing across the globe. Information about the size of the market (by the end of the forecast year), companies that are most likely to scale up their competitive abilities, leading segments, and challenges impeding the growth of the market are given.

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The information for each competitor includes:

IT Process Automation Tool Market report has used top-down and bottom-up approach to make a complete report on IT Process Automation Tool Market. Further, it has used reliable data from trusted sources to evaluate and validate the size of the entire market along with its sub-markets. Various qualitative as well as quantitative research has been conducted to analyze IT Process Automation Tool Market thoroughly. Key players involved in the manufacturing of IT Process Automation Tool Market are identified through secondary survey and on that basis, maximum shareholding companies are identified and profiled in the IT Process Automation Tool Market report.

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Key questions answered in this research study

Table of Contents

1 Study Coverage

2 Executive Summary

3 Breakdown Data by Manufacturers

4 Breakdown Data by Type

4.1 Global IT Process Automation Tool Market Sales by Type

4.2 Global IT Process Automation Tool MarketRevenue by Type

4.3 IT Process Automation Tool MarketPrice by Type

5 Breakdown Data by Application

5.1 Overview

5.2 Global IT Process Automation Tool MarketBreakdown Data by Application

6 North America

7 Europe

8 Asia Pacific

9 Central & South America

10 Middle East and Africa

11 Company Profiles

12 Future Forecast

13 Market Opportunities, Challenges, Risks and Influences Factors Analysis

14 Value Chain and Sales Channels Analysis

15 Research Findings and Conclusion

16 Appendix

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Research N Reports is a new age market research firm where we focus on providing information that can be effectively applied. Today being a consumer driven market, companies require information to deal with the complex and dynamic world of choices. Where relying on a sound board firm for your decisions becomes crucial. Research N Reports specializes in industry analysis, market forecasts and as a result getting quality reports covering all verticals, whether be it gaining perspective on current market conditions or being ahead in the cut throat Global competition. Since we excel at business research to help businesses grow, we also offer consulting as an extended arm to our services which only helps us gain more insight into current trends and problems. Consequently we keep evolving as an all-rounder provider of viable information under one roof.

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IT Process Automation Tool Market: Industry Trends and Developments 20202027 - KSU | The Sentinel Newspaper

Global Cognitive Robotic Process Automation Market Research Report Along with Leading Players, Revenue, Production Techniques, Business Overview, Forecasted to 2026

TheCognitive Robotic Process Automation Market reportoffers a plethora of essential components such as the size of the market as well as its share along with forecast trends, specifications, and applications. The report clarifies the summary of present innovations, specifications, parameters, and creation in a detailed manner. The Cognitive Robotic Process Automation industry report also provides a complete abstract of the economic fluctuations in terms of fulfillment ratios and demand rates.

The global market is a broad field for playersAutomation Anywhere Inc, Verint System Inc, Arago, Pegasystems Inc, WorkFusion, UiPath, IBM Corporation, Blue Prism, NICE Systems Ltd, IPsoft Inc.

The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the strengthen of multinational companies with a powerful sense of purpose.

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Segments [Product Types:Hardware, Software, Service;End-User Applications:Retail, Transportation, BFSI, Healthcare, Manufacturing, IT & Telecom, Others] are broadly divided based on the constant upgrades in the development parameters, reliability parameters, quality parameters, applications, and end-user demand. The report for the global Cognitive Robotic Process Automation market also verifies a series of factors comprising manufacture CAGR, size, share, forecast trends, sales, supply, production, demands, industry, and analysis.

The slight modification in the product profile results in a major alteration in the product prototype, development platforms, and production methods. These overall factors are associated with manufacturing and are very well enlightened in the Cognitive Robotic Process Automation report. The Cognitive Robotic Process Automation market research report also offers a forecast on the basis of the present analytical techniques and business trends. It also offers a detailed examination of the important growth factors that are verified on the basis of end-user demands, restraining elements, regulatory compliance, and variable market changes.

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A number of trends such as globalization, over-capacity in developed markets, technology advancement, environmental concerns, Cognitive Robotic Process Automation market fragmentation regulation, and proliferation of products are mentioned in the Cognitive Robotic Process Automation research report. The characteristics and performance of the global Cognitive Robotic Process Automation market are calculated on the basis of the qualitative as well as quantitative technique to offer a clear view of the future and current forecast trend.

The players are analyzed through:

Company ProfileBusiness Segments AnalysisFinancial AnalysisSWOT analysis & Porters Five Forces AnalysisPossible Impact of COVID- 19 on Latest Market Conditions

Geographical Segments:

The primary geographical areas North America(U.S., Canada, Rest of North America), Europe(UK, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Rest of Europe), Asia Pacific(China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia, Rest of Asia Pacific), Latin America (Brazil, Argentina, Rest of Latin America), Middle East and Africa(GCC Countries, South Africa, Rest of Middle East & Africa) are also examined in this report.

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Global Cognitive Robotic Process Automation Market Research Report Covers, Future Trends, Past, Present Data and Deep Analysis 2020-2026 - KSU | The...

The pandemic has ushered more robots into factories, warehouses and back offices. They are here to stay

MARY BARRA, boss of GM, took to the virtual stage on January 12th to launch BrightDrop. The carmakers new logistics division will peddle such unsexy things as delivery vans and autonomous electric pallets for use in warehouses (see article). Hardly stuff to set pulses racing.

Suppress your yawn, for Ms Barras announcement is the latest sign of a quiet but powerful revolution. The convergence of software and hardware seen in the carpeted parts of enterprises is now seen on factory floors in every industry we serve, says Blake Moret, chief executive of Rockwell Automation, a giant of the industry. His firm runs a full-scale manufacturing facility at its Milwaukee headquarters, to prove that automation enables it to make competitive products despite Americas high labour costs. Its share price has risen by 28% in the past year, nearly twice as much as the S&P 500 index of big American firms. Other purveyors have done even better.

Bosses have boasted of automating their operations for years without an awful lot to show for it. Covid-19 has spurred them to put their money where their mouths are. Hernan Saenz of Bain, a consultancy, reckons that between now and 2030 American firms will invest $10trn in automation. Nigel Vaz, chief executive of Publicis Sapient, a big digital consultancy, says that the downturn offers bosses the perfect cover. The unrelenting pressure for short-term financial results from investors has temporarily been suspended, he says. Firms are not just going back pre-pandemic, but completely reimagining how they work, says Susan Lund, co-author of a forthcoming report from the McKinsey Global Institute, a think-tank. A recent survey by the institutes sister consultancy found that two-thirds of global firms are doubling down on automation.

Robots are the most prominent winner. Robo Global, a research firm, predicts that by the end of 2021 the worldwide installed base of factory robots will exceed 3.2m units, double the level in 2015. The global market for industrial robotics is forecast to rise from $45bn in 2020 to $73bn in 2025.

We have had a catbird seat during the pandemic, says Michael Cicco, the head of the American operations of Fanuc, a Japanese robot-maker. With supply chains whacked, manufacturers were forced to find ways to build flexibility, he says. Companies reshoring production have sought to offset the high cost of human labour with the engineered sort. And robots are becoming much more capable. The most dexterous can now pick delicate objects such as individual strawberries.

Fanuc has seen a surge in demand for material-handling equipment and collaborative robots, designed to interact with people. These cobots are particularly useful in e-commerce, which covid-19 has given a huge boost. The pandemic has, on one informed estimate, led consumer-goods firms to increase buffer stocks by around 5%. To counter this, firms are snapping up robots for use in warehouses, made by companies like GreyOrange and Kiva (which Amazon acquired in 2012 to assist its e-commerce fulfilment).

Right now cobots help with social distancing. But, says Dwight Klappich of Gartner, a research firm, robots that move goods to workers will be a boon for post-pandemic productivity, too (as well as for the morale of humans, by sparing their weary feet). Luke Jensen of Britains Ocado, an online grocer and robotics pioneer, insists that his low-margin industry must find ways of fulfilling the recent surge in online orders with less labour. His firm already serves the bulk of its British customers from just three highly automated sites. Kroger, a big American grocer, is now expanding its roll-out of Ocado equipment both in warehouses and at its retail outlets.

A survey of supply-chain executives published on January 13th by Blue Yonder, another consultancy, found that the share of firms with fully automated fulfilment centres may rise by 50% within a year. And, as Sudarshan Seshadri of Blue Yonder puts it, Automation is just the table stakes. The pandemics bigger long-term impact may be a fuller embrace by firms of data their operations generate, and predictive algorithms to help guide real-time decisions.

Stuart Harris of Americas Emerson, a big automation firm, says that pervasive sensingwhich combines AI and clever sensorshelped his companys revenues from remote monitoring grow by 25% last year. Emersons clients range from a Singaporean chemicals factory to a Latin American mine. Peter Terwiesch of ABB, a big Swiss-Swedish industrial-technology firm, also reports a boom in remote-operations systems, from marine vessels to paper mills. His firms annual sales of such products have doubled to $400m from pre-pandemic levels. Drishti, an American startup, has come up with a way to apply artificial intelligence (AI) and computer vision to analyse busy video streams of workers on assembly lines. Marco Marinucci of Hella, a big German car-parts supplier, says his firm used Drishtis kit to analyse and fix problems at a high-volume assembly line. This allowed its throughput to rise by 7% last year. Publicis Sapient automated the inventory forecasting of a division of a big European retailer which found itself repeatedly out of stock amid the change in consumption patterns during the pandemic. The consultancys software allowed its client to prevent shortages of its top 100 items 98% of the time.

It isnt just production floors and warehouses that are being automated. So are back offices. By one estimate, Americas health-care system could save $150bn a year thanks to automation of paper-pushing. Allied Market Research, a firm of analysts, predicts that the global sales of process-automation products will balloon from $1.6bn in 2019 to nearly $20bn in 2027. In December UI Path, a trailblazing Romanian startup in the area, filed for an initial public offering. It may start with a market value of $20bn. On January 12th Workato, an American rival, said it has raised $110m in fresh funding.

Last year Alibaba, Chinas biggest e-emporium, unveiled the results of a more ambitious project, code-named Xunxi (fast rhino). Alain Wu, who runs Xunxi, explains that this involved digitising and integrating whole value chainsfrom product design, parts procurement and manufacturing to logistics and after-sales service. This allowed merchants on Alibabas e-commerce platforms to fulfil customised orders within days while eliminating excess inventory. Time from production to delivery was reduced from several months to a fortnight.

Sceptics note that history is littered with examples of supposedly world-changing technologies that beguiled bosses, only to fail to live up to the promise. (Remember the blockchain?) Once covid-19 has been defeated, companies enthusiasm for new technologies may subside. Those that have missed the opportunity to automateas many have because they were busy trying merely to survive the pandemic recessionwill lose the cover that Mr Vaz speaks of.

Optimists counter that this time really may be different. In the past the biggest returns to automation accrued to giant, well-capitalised firms. Today advances in technology and business models allow smaller ones to enjoy similar benefits. That should increase demand for clever systemsand in time reduce their cost further. And so on, in a virtuous, fully automated circle.

This article appeared in the Business section of the print edition under the headline "Bearing fruit"

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After years of dithering companies are embracing automation - The Economist

Microsoft and Yellow Messenger have announced a collaboration that will work on transforming Yellow Messengers voice automation solution using Azure AI Speech Services and Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools. With this initiative, Yellow Messenger aims to increase the accuracy of its voice bot solutions and help enterprises across sectors enhance consumer experience automation.

Microsoft and Yellow Messenger's R&D team will be working on building a more human-like voice assistant platform that is capable of understanding and responding on the basis of sentiment, dialect and workflow.

According to industry estimates, 60-70% of overall business to customer interactions across the world take place over telephone calls today, while the rest is over chats and email. Conversational interfaces are changing how customers relate to brands and voice plays a key role in enabling smarter brand-to-consumer engagement.

Also Read: Noida Police ties up with Microsoft for tech support

In collaboration with Microsoft, Yellow Messenger is going to work on enabling brands to increase their sophistication and usage of automated voice assistants for regular use.

Yellow Messenger has natively integrated Azure Cognitive Services on its platform, for improved customer experience and operational efficiency without compromising on security. And this helps them with better understanding of conversations with customers, both voice and text, for more intuitive interactions. This also helps build custom voice bot models using Azure Speech stack for specific industry verticals like banking etc.

Some of Indias largest private banks are already using Yellow Messengers voice virtual assistants for inbound and outbound customer service and up to 65% support queries can be addressed and resolved by voice AI assistants so that customer care teams can focus on critical issues.

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Microsoft, Yellow Messenger team up to transform voice automation solutions - HT Tech

Israeli company Quali, which develops solutions for the automation of computing, communications and cloud infrastructure, announced on Tuesday that it has completed a $54 million series C funding round led by Greenfield Partners and JVP. Quali employs 130 people, 70 of them in Israel, with the company's headquarters being based out of Austin, Texas. Quali had previously raised a total of $60 million. Kreos Capital and Hamilton Lane also participated in the latest round.

"We are a cloud automation company that simplifies cloud infrastructure and makes it straightforward and secure," Quali CEO Lior Koriat told Calcalist. "We make working on the cloud, which is very complex, into something very simple. We have 150 big clients like Cisco, Microsoft, Dell, Verizon and Bank of America. All of these companies have tens of thousands of developers who need access to the infrastructure and the only way to do that at scale is by using tools like ours."

Quali, which was founded in 2004, intends to use the new funds to expand its client base, promote new partnerships, strengthen its position as a market leader, accelerate innovation in the company's flagship products and increase its staff to around 200 employees by the end of the year, with most of them to work out of Israel.

"We had really good support over the past couple of years and we want to accelerate that growth further and also sell to medium-sized companies and to become a better known solution. Greenfield is a new investor which joined in a significant way and Hamilton Lane have also joined. We will invest a lot over the coming year in raising awareness for our brand. Most of our clients don't know our story," added Koriat.

"Quali has proven itself as a leader in the public and private cloud sector among corporations and significant global companies in a range of industries," said Erel Margalit, founder and CEO of JVP. "Quali succeeds in simplifying the complexity of cloud infrastructure with its CloudShell platform."

More:

Quali raises $54 million to expand cloud infrastructure automation at scale - CTech

Claims automation is really the Holy Grail of insurance, said Lewis-Weber. Fundamentally, it works on the three most important metrics that insurance companies care about: retention, expenses, and loss ratio. If we can solve the common pain points in claims through automation, then we can improve all three metrics dramatically.

Read next: Telematics and vehicle build data the next frontier for auto claims

Lewis-Weber has experience in building out companies but Assured is the entrepreneurs first foray into insurance. Before this, he drew on his Bachelor of Science in Aeronautics and Astronautics from Stanford University to create two companies focused on autonomous aircraft and wireless energy beaming spaces, respectively.

The natural question is: why insurance? I wanted to work on something in software [] that I viewed as important and integral to the core functioning of society, he told Insurance Business. Obviously, fintech is working on core financial services that are very important and I believe insurance is the most important of the lot.

There are very few privatized products that are required by US law for consumers to own car insurance is one of them if you have a car. I think thats quite profound. I viewed insurance as this place that had been traditionally overlooked by really great software, and if we can bring great software to the space, then we could make improvements by leaps and bounds.

To wet his feet in the insurance claims space, Lewis-Weber spent a lot of time in the early days of Assured at claim centers across the country, observing common practices and listening to adjudication calls and FNOL intake. He quickly came to realize that incumbent insurers are attacking the FNOL problem the wrong way.

The problem lies in the underlying data, he said. Right now, FNOL is inexact and unstructured. Its generally done by phone agents in long phone calls spread over several days, with the adjuster asking really open-ended questions like: What happened? A normal person doesnt know exactly what the adjuster is looking for, so they offer a narrative-style speech to cover all their bases. That then results in FNOL specialists trying to paraphrase what the claimants said into empty text fields called claim notes, which are almost impossible to adjudicate accurately.

Whats needed, therefore, are structured, standardized and machine-readable data sets. How do you get there? We believe the only way to solve this problem is to ingest claims data from the onset in a structured and regimented way. Having deep, accurate and standardized data enables adjusters to compare apples to apples, which reveals meaningful differences and helps adjusters to provide the best possible customer experience at a really pivotal point in the claim cycle.

Read more: Three snagging points slowing the progression of telematics in insurance

Assureds digital FNOL point solution acts as a single touch point for the user via a seamless and slick web application. The web app interfaces directly with the consumer and then writes the data gathered directly via the carriers existing core platform records. Lewis-Weber describes the data input as intuitive and what you would expect in 2021, using tools like GPS location, image compression upload and optical character recognition to reduce the amount of workload on the user. The solution also uses data enrichment and augmented data, such as historical weather satellite data or roadway geometry, to influence FNOL decisions mid-flow.

The experience has a dynamic flow. There are a lot of different ways to crash a car, meaning that there are a lot of different pieces of information you have to gather depending on what happened, said Lewis-Weber. This often results in a really complex flow beneath the water line. Every single question we ask depends on previous answers, which means our questions are always relevant and the app is improving every day. Were currently at over 8.55 million permutations of the flow, which is huge - and its all of that complexity that gives rise to a really intuitive user experience.

Weve ended up improving FNOL conversion significantly. Weve been able to do that through our obsessive dedication to the user experience. There are no process edits, no confusing messages, really beautiful interfaces, and, most importantly, the process is easy and low touch for claimants.

View post:

Fixing FNOL: Claims automation the 'Holy Grail' - Insurance Business

This article will reflect on the compensation paid to Andrew Hider who has served as CEO of ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. (TSE:ATA) since 2017. This analysis will also evaluate the appropriateness of CEO compensation when taking into account the earnings and shareholder returns of the company.

Check out our latest analysis for ATS Automation Tooling Systems

According to our data, ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. has a market capitalization of CA$2.2b, and paid its CEO total annual compensation worth CA$4.0m over the year to March 2020. We note that's a decrease of 21% compared to last year. While we always look at total compensation first, our analysis shows that the salary component is less, at CA$935k.

On comparing similar companies from the same industry with market caps ranging from CA$1.3b to CA$4.1b, we found that the median CEO total compensation was CA$5.0m. So it looks like ATS Automation Tooling Systems compensates Andrew Hider in line with the median for the industry. What's more, Andrew Hider holds CA$4.7m worth of shares in the company in their own name, indicating that they have a lot of skin in the game.

On an industry level, around 60% of total compensation represents salary and 40% is other remuneration. It's interesting to note that ATS Automation Tooling Systems allocates a smaller portion of compensation to salary in comparison to the broader industry. If non-salary compensation dominates total pay, it's an indicator that the executive's salary is tied to company performance.

Earnings per share at ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. are much the same as they were three years ago, albeit slightly lower. In the last year, its revenue is up 4.4%.

A lack of EPS improvement is not good to see. The fairly low revenue growth fails to impress given that the EPS is down. It's hard to argue the company is firing on all cylinders, so shareholders might be averse to high CEO remuneration. Looking ahead, you might want to check this free visual report on analyst forecasts for the company's future earnings..

We think that the total shareholder return of 40%, over three years, would leave most ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. shareholders smiling. As a result, some may believe the CEO should be paid more than is normal for companies of similar size.

As we touched on above, ATS Automation Tooling Systems Inc. is currently paying a compensation that's close to the median pay for CEOs of companies belonging to the same industry and with similar market capitalizations. Some investors may take issue with this, especially considering shrinking EPS for the past three years. On the other hand, shareholder returns are showing positive trends over the same time frame. We do not think CEO compensation is a problem, but shrinking EPS is undoubtedly an issue that will have to be addressed.

While CEO pay is an important factor to be aware of, there are other areas that investors should be mindful of as well. That's why we did some digging and identified 3 warning signs for ATS Automation Tooling Systems that you should be aware of before investing.

Switching gears from ATS Automation Tooling Systems, if you're hunting for a pristine balance sheet and premium returns, this free list of high return, low debt companies is a great place to look.

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This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned. *Interactive Brokers Rated Lowest Cost Broker by StockBrokers.com Annual Online Review 2020

Have feedback on this article? Concerned about the content? Get in touch with us directly. Alternatively, email editorial-team (at) simplywallst.com.

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How Much Is ATS Automation Tooling Systems' (TSE:ATA) CEO Getting Paid? - Simply Wall St

By David Brightman, Director of Product Marketing at BlackLine

The coronavirus pandemic has underlined the vital role that automation plays in the finance function. Manual tasks, inefficient processes and a lack of data insight are holding back finance functions that have not yet automated and preventing them from competing effectively in a tumultuous market. For these organisations, the ongoing business challenges caused by the pandemic should be seen as an opportunity to ensure future projects have the best chance of success. This means facilitating standardisation and planning, as well as redesigning processes so that the same inefficiencies are not perpetuated.

Unfortunately, the finance function, like most aspects of business, are facing severe disruption as a result of the pandemic. Numerous projects relating to implementing or scaling automation have been delayed or cancelled, and many distributed teams are battling with an over-reliance on paper-based documents or office-bound tasks that are no longer feasible. Many of these issues would have been softened had companies already completed the move to digitise their processes before the pandemic, but research suggests that very few companies have fully addressed the automation gap.

The automation gap

In fact, a survey commissioned by BlackLine and conducted by FSN suggests that only 9% of organisations managed to completely transform their finance function through automation before the pandemic. This is despite the fact that digitally transformed companies are two and a half times less likely to report delays in their existing project timescales compared to companies that have not invested in finance automation and 20% are less likely to report delays to future automation projects.

Having already experienced the benefits of automation, these companies are also less likely to have reduced their budgets for finance automation projects. Furthermore, the research found that finance and accounting (F&A) teams that entered this crisis further down the automation path were better positioned to weather the pandemic. This is because automation enabled these finance professionals to spend a greater amount of time on valuable, strategic tasks that could help guide the organisation through the changing business landscape. And when business was in flux, and teams had to transition to remote-working with little time to prepare, they had more resiliency to ensure the financial close ran like clockwork, without compromising financial statement integrity.

With such a strong case for automating, what is holding finance teams back?

Challenges to effective finance transformation

The majority of organisations are yet to jump on the automation bandwagon and there are a number of reasons why. Challenges include a lack of commitment to fully instigate automation across the business, a lack of resources, short timeframes for implementation, and pressure from executives who want to see a faster ROI, to name a few. With pandemic-related issues added to the mix, its understandable that there is some hesitancy when it comes to investing in automation.

However, from managing data, assessing risk factors, stress testing, to uncovering inefficiencies and budgeting, automation can and has been proven to help. For those organisations that still have reservations, looking at existing automation successes and learning from their peers is an excellent way to kick-start your own business automation strategy.

David Brightman

Its important to remember that modernising your finance function can have a huge impact on business outcomes, producing real-time updates that can be used to guide decision making and risk management. However, moving to modern accounting means taking a unified approach. Integrating systems and data for a single source of truth, so you can standardise and control processes for consistency, efficiency, visibility, and change management is the only sustainable path forward.

Tips for initiating automation within your business

To begin with, businesses must have a clear understanding of the current state of their finances and where they stand within the industry landscape. What are the challenges? Where are the potential bottlenecks and opportunities for efficiencies to be created? This is a vital step in improving transparency. If businesses dont have a clear view over what is happening within their own organisation, how can they expect to make important decisions that will improve business outcomes?

To achieve this, finance teams should look to migrate any on-premise applications to the cloud. This will enable easier access and control over how and where data is stored, while also integrating applications to function as one whole system that communicates with all necessary business departments. This will give a clearer, real-time overview of where the business is at and where necessary changes are most critical.

Next, CFOs need to look at simplifying and streamlining some of the tasks F&A teams face day-to-day. For example, when automating financial close and reconciliation processes, its essential that process owners, not technical staff, can make changes quickly. Updates like adding or changing accounts for reconciliation automation, or applying technology like artificial intelligence to transactional matching, modifying variance exception thresholds, changing standard or custom report fields, should all be within accountings span of control. Ensuring the right people have access to the right data and reports, as and when these are needed, reduces bottlenecks considerably. This in turn leaves more time for making sure reports are up to the highest possible standard and insights are used to make any necessary adjustments fast.

Once transparency is instilled and time wasting bottlenecks are reduced, businesses can begin to regain control of their systems, through investing in new ERP systems and automating their budgeting, planning and forecasting (BPF) processes. Without transforming the BPF process that provide agility and insights, businesses would be forced to run in circles, producing forecasts that would become obsolete within days. In these uncertain times, companies need to be reforecasting daily and weekly, or at the very least monthly to have any sort of handle on the business. Where some organisations were getting by with minimal sophistication in their BPF, the unprecedented effects of lockdown have exposed significant weaknesses in these processes.

Finally, F&A teams should seek to connect with a community of experts dedicated to driving modern accounting and the automation journey, to achieve a more collaborative accounting experience. This could include networking, tapping into virtual best practices and finance transformation summits, and hearing from peers at other organisations about what has worked (or hasnt) on their modern accounting journey. For automation to succeed, its also critical that F&A control their destiny. Ownership means F&A can take charge of process automation themselves, without relying on IT or technical consultants. This ensures that technology can be confidently owned and managed by end-users those closest to reengineering the business processes themselves. If the technology creates friction to driving change, digitisation efforts will ultimately grind to a halt.

This has been a trying year, and businesses have a lot to learn from recent months successes and failures alike. Taking a holistic approach to automation, understanding the benefits of automating each process, and identifying the competitive insight that can be generated through new techniques and technologies will enable CFOs to work their investment in automation harder and smarter. If you havent already decided what your automation plans are for the upcoming year, this is the time to begin.

See more here:

Automating your way out of disruption - Global Banking And Finance Review