Category Archives: Automation

Keeping a lid on costs while maintaining productivity has become a key objective for many Australian businesses, but successfully balancing these imperatives requires fundamental change.

The way tasks were handled before COVID-19 must be re-engineered while the short-term fixes rolled out during 2020 have to be examined and refined.

To achieve this, increasing numbers of businesses are sizing up the potential of process automation and artificial intelligence. Theyre keen to understand how the tools and technologies can be put to work and what benefits they might deliver.

There are four key ways in which automation and AI will help Australian businesses in the coming years. They are:

Based on current development trends, within the next five years, it is likely that up to 25 per cent of decisions made in human-centric workflows will be made by AI and Machine Learning (ML) tools. These tools will examine existing processes and past results and develop basic rules for common scenarios.

As an example, AI tools could develop rules for staff leave requests. Such requests currently require manual processing by a person who needs to check entitlements, leave already granted to other staff, and critical events within the business.An AI tool could do all this automatically.

Customer complaint handling could also be changed. Rather than a manager needing to approve a discount or other remediation, an AI tool could automatically review previous similar events and take the appropriate steps.

The tools will also increasingly help improve data governance, security, and compliance. Automation can not only streamline data management, but also flag anomalies and prevent potential breaches.

Its something thats been promised for decades, but may soon actually become a reality for many businesses. Forced to work remotely, many staff have already come to terms with swapping paper documents for electronic equivalents, and the trend is likely to accelerate.

The benefits of going digital are significant. Digital forms can be more user friendly and automate processes. Additional features like barcode scanners, geolocation tags, and attachment uploading make them a natural fit for dispersed workforces.

Also, with health precautions likely to remain top of mind for some time to come, replacing paper with digital alternatives can help reduce the chance of viral spreading.

Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality (VR) have been evolving rapidly in recent years and are shifting from being novelty items to powerful business tools. The technology is already in use by companies in the manufacturing, medical and aeronautics sectors.

AR and VR can help to streamline processes and automate tasks. Examples include staff onboarding, training, and user support. For example, a personalised digital virtual assistant could walk new staff through preliminary paperwork and processes when they first join a firm.

Accessed through a headset, the assistant could answer simple questions and guide systems and processes. Such capabilities will be particularly beneficial when staff work remotely and need support to complete their tasks.

AR and VR tools could streamline everything from equipment repairs to answering client queries for field workers.

With business conditions changing rapidly, ensuring staff has the skills they require to meet new opportunities can be challenging. Knowing process automation technologies and how they can be applied will become vital and extend how they can add value to organisations.

To help achieve this, the curriculums in use at all levels of Australian education will soon incorporate subjects focused on diverse types of automation and how they can streamline workplaces.

The topics covered will also be designed to ensure that future staff members understand how automation and robotics can add value and why they should not be concerned that their jobs will simply disappear. Rather than teaching students how to build robots, the focus will instead be on finding ways to incorporate them in workflows to boost overall organisational productivity.

Automation has already had a noticeable impact within many firms, but what has been achieved is nothing compared with what will be seen in coming years.

Those Australian firms who invest in the technologies and skill development required now will be best placed to take advantage of new opportunities as they appear in the future.

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Four ways automation will change the future of Aussie workplaces - DynamicBusiness

AI and Automation in Banking Marketreport focused on the comprehensive analysis of current and future prospects of the AI and Automation in Banking industry. This report is a consolidation of primary and secondary research, which provides market size, share, dynamics, and forecast for various segments and sub-segments considering the macro and micro environmental factors. An in-depth analysis of past trends, future trends, demographics, technological advancements, and regulatory requirements for the AI and Automation in Banking market has been done in order to calculate the growth rates for each segment and sub-segments.

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Note In order to provide more accurate market forecast, all our reports will be updated before delivery by considering the impact of COVID-19.

Top Key Vendors of this Market are:

Automation Anywhere, ComplyAdvantage, Feedzai, Finn AI, Kasisto, Kount, Lemonade, NetGuardians, Onfido, Personetics, Scalable Capital, UiPath, Upstart, Wealthfront, Zest AI.

Various factors are responsible for the markets growth trajectory, which are studied at length in the report. In addition, the report lists down the restraints that are posing threat to the global AI and Automation in Banking market. It also gauges the bargaining power of suppliers and buyers, threat from new entrants and product substitute, and the degree of competition prevailing in the market. The influence of the latest government guidelines is also analyzed in detail in the report. It studies the AI and Automation in Banking markets trajectory between forecast periods.

The report provides insights on the following pointers:

Market Penetration:Comprehensive information on the product portfolios of the top players in the AI and Automation in Banking market.

Product Development/Innovation:Detailed insights on the upcoming technologies, R&D activities, and product launches in the market.

Competitive Assessment: In-depth assessment of the market strategies, geographic and business segments of the leading players in the market.

Market Development:Comprehensive information about emerging markets. This report analyzes the market for various segments across geographies.

Market Diversification:Exhaustive information about new products, untapped geographies, recent developments, and investments in the AI and Automation in Banking market.

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Regions Covered in the Global AI and Automation in Banking Market Report 2021:The Middle East and Africa(GCC Countries and Egypt)North America(the United States, Mexico, and Canada)South America(Brazil etc.)Europe(Turkey, Germany, Russia UK, Italy, France, etc.)Asia-Pacific(Vietnam, China, Malaysia, Japan, Philippines, Korea, Thailand, India, Indonesia, and Australia)

The cost analysis of the Global AI and Automation in Banking Market has been performed while keeping in view manufacturing expenses, labor cost, and raw materials and their market concentration rate, suppliers, and price trend. Other factors such as Supply chain, downstream buyers, and sourcing strategy have been assessed to provide a complete and in-depth view of the market. Buyers of the report will also be exposed to a study on market positioning with factors such as target client, brand strategy, and price strategy taken into consideration.

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Table of Contents

Global AI and Automation in Banking Market Research Report 2021 2027

Chapter 1 AI and Automation in Banking Market Overview

Chapter 2 Global Economic Impact on Industry

Chapter 3 Global Market Competition by Manufacturers

Chapter 4 Global Production, Revenue (Value) by Region

Chapter 5 Global Supply (Production), Consumption, Export, Import by Regions

Chapter 6 Global Production, Revenue (Value), Price Trend by Type

Chapter 7 Global Market Analysis by Application

Chapter 8 Manufacturing Cost Analysis

Chapter 9 Industrial Chain, Sourcing Strategy and Downstream Buyers

Chapter 10 Marketing Strategy Analysis, Distributors/Traders

Chapter 11 Market Effect Factors Analysis

Chapter 12 Global AI and Automation in Banking Market Forecast

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AI and Automation in Banking Market to Witness Stunning Growth to Generate Massive Revenue by Top Key Players Automation Anywhere, ComplyAdvantage,...

Report Monitor has recently added a new report to its vast depository Global Network Automation Software market. The report studies vital factors about the Network Automation Software Market that are essential to be understood by existing as well as new market players. The report highlights the essential elements such as market share, profitability, production, sales, manufacturing, advertising, technological advancements, key market players, regional segmentation, and many more crucial aspects related to the Network Automation SoftwareMarket.

This is the most recent report, covering the current economic situation after the COVID-19 outbreak.

The report specifically highlights the market share, company profiles, regional outlook, product portfolio, a record of the recent developments, strategic analysis, key players in the market, sales, distribution chain, manufacturing, production, new market entrants as well as existing market players, advertising, brand value, popular products, demand and supply, and other important factors related to the market to help the new entrants understand the market scenario better.

Important factors like strategic developments, government regulations, market analysis, end users, target audience, distribution network, branding, product portfolio, market share, threats and barriers, growth drivers, latest trends in the industry are also mentioned.

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The Major Manufacturers Covered in this Report:, SolarWinds, Itential, BlueCat, Entuity, Micro Focus, Cisco, Veriflow, Redhat, NetMRI, Apstra, NetBrain, Apstra Operating System (AOS) and more

Years that have been considered for the study of this report are as follows:

on the basis of types, the Network Automation Software market from 2015 to 2026 is primarily split into:Cloud BasedWeb Based

on the basis of applications, the Network Automation Software market from 2015 to 2026 covers:Large EnterprisesSMEs

Regional Segmentation:

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Additionally, the analysis also delivers a comprehensive review of the crucial players on the Network Automation SoftwareMarketalong with their company profiles, SWOT analysis, latest advancement and business plans.

The analysis objectives of the report are:

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To conclude, the Network Automation Software Industry report mentions the key geographies, market landscapes alongside the product price, revenue, volume, production, supply, demand, market growth rate, and forecast, etc. This report also provides SWOT analysis, investment feasibility analysis, and investment return analysis.

Contact Us:Jay MatthewsDirect: +1 513 549 5911 (U.S.), +44 203 318 2846 (U.K.)Email: sales@reportsmonitor.com

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Network Automation Software Market is Expected To Pick Up In Healthy CAGR BY 2021-2026 , Top Keyplayers , SolarWinds, Itential, BlueCat, Entuity,...

(Credit: Unsplash)

This article is brought to you thanks to the collaboration ofThe European Stingwith theWorld Economic Forum.

Author: Martha King, Chief Client Officer, Executive Vice-President and Head of the Infosys Retirement Services Center of Excellence, Infosys Limited & Mohit Joshi, President, Infosys Ltd

The world is facing a pensions crisis by 2050.

AI-assisted technology could both increase pensions access and improve financial outcomes for savers.

Pensions stakeholders must foster trust in such technology.

How can we fix the pensions timebomb? Previous World Economic Forum analysis has predicted at least a $400 trillion savings gap by 2050 and thats only across the eight most populated or developed savings markets. Meanwhile, the UN predicts that, globally, the population of over-60s will double to 2 billion people between 2020 and 2050. Around 80% of these will be in less or least developed countries.

Future generations are faced with the increasingly impossible task of funding the needs of an ageing population, as well as their own future. A challenge that is being compounded by structural issues in retirement funding, shifts in employment stability, and a lack of financial inclusion and literacy.

In 2017, a World Economic Forum paper analyzed the multiple aspects of this challenge. It lists the demographic factors above, but also describes several other obstacles, including long-term low growth for investment returns; lack of easy access to pensions; and the shift to direct contribution (DC) savings models.

This third point is crucial because savings rates are typically 10% to 15% lower under DC. They also require more self-directed investment decisions, and therefore higher financial literacy amongst the populace. While financial literacy is slowly improving, there is still a big gap, and this is worse in younger people, and in less developed economies.

On top of this, individuals find it incredibly difficult to get a holistic view of their finances that is relevant to their long-term savings perspective. A big obstacle is the lack of data-sharing and integration between financial products and providers. The challenge is further compounded by the large number of jobs people tend to have over their lifetime each coming with its own different pension plans.

We believe technology and automation tools that coach positive behaviours and enable easy long-term financial planning are a necessary part of the solution. Indeed, this supports recommendations to policy-makers made in the previous World Economic Forum paper, which included a focus on making savings easy for everyone, supporting financial literacy and standardizing pension data.

In the last decade, innovations at the intersection of technology, regulation and behavioural finance have strengthened DC savings vehicles. In large part, this has been done by making the process of investing more automatic for individuals.

Automatic enrolment sets up employees to contribute to their retirement as a default. Automatic escalation bumps up savings rates slightly each year. Together, these can increase retirement savings readiness by well over 33% and improve savings rates by 56% (see below). Target date funds, used widely in the US, automate the process of investment selection for individuals, leading to more balanced, risk-appropriate choices.

And even more can be done through creating a personalized and holistic view of an individuals finances, combining this with artificial intelligence technology that supports appropriate and responsible day-to-day nudges toward long-term financial thinking.

This nudge thinking has been central to many fintech business models, particularly in retirement savings. For once, the technology is not the barrier. It enables scalable mass automation, meaning individuals can access low-cost but personalized recommendations opening up financial coaching to a much wider audience globally.

The real challenge to optimizing this benefit is in encouraging interoperability between financial providers. The challenge is not technical, but rather one of competitive concerns within the industry. Who wants to let their customers easily compare their financial products side by side with their competitors?

Lessons can be taken from the experience of the UKs Open Banking regulations (based on the EUs Revised Payment Services Directive). This requires banks to release their data in a secure, standardized form so that it can be shared between authorized organizations online. The default method has been for banks to use open Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) that enable customers to share their data across different banks, often aggregating them in new fintech apps or platforms that help with money management.

While the full success of this approach has yet to be determined, it does show that, with regulatory backing, the financial industry can be made to modernize and reshape the competitive nature of their services.

For all the potential good technology and automation can bring to retirement savings, none of it will come to pass unless the institutions and stakeholders governing the technology can deliver transparency and foster consumer trust as they deliver and develop these new ideas.

On the transparency front, technology must move fast and be packaged up as an attractive and rewarding experience but also remain explainable. Users need to understand financial services clearly enough to trust them. Automation requires consumers to disclose personal information and to be comfortable with an algorithm providing advice.

Individuals, regulators and experts will also need to be able to audit, inspect and monitor the black box that provides advice or direction to individuals, ensuring it is appropriately stress-tested and free of bias.

Stakeholders from government, private enterprise and non-governmental organizations ultimately hold responsibility when retirement savings fall short. Technology and automation, moderated by empathetic human hands, hold the potential to guide more and more workers to grow into savers and make better decisions in each stage of their life journey. Artificial Intelligence

In 2019, the World Economic Forums Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution convened an informal multi-stakeholder group of leaders, known as the Global AI Council (GAIC) a keen interest in creating positive futures with advanced AI systems.

One of the goals of the Council is to provide strategic guidance to the global community on the priorities for AI governance and cooperation as well as the policy implications linked to advances in AI.

The project is taking place over several months and brings together a diverse group of individuals that includes science-fiction authors, economists, policymakers, and AI experts.

The council aims to open up the possibilities for its Positive AI Economic Futures using the creativity and expertise of these participants as well as opening up the process to a much wider range of contributors.

It is also in the process of initiating a second thread of the project, running in parallel with the workshops: a movie competition in partnership with the XPRIZE Foundation. Participants will create short movies showcasing their ideas for a future economy in a concrete form that speaks to individual aspirations and fears.

Together, under the aegis of the World Economic Forum, behavioural scientists, financiers, pension advisors, technologists, ethicists, consumer groups and regulators may help create a framework that engenders trust and transparency, which will enable technology to improve retirement outcomes for many individuals and their communities.

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Can we automate our way out of the savings crisis? - The European Sting

In a significant industry first, a US company has received FAA permission to fly its automated drone-in-a-box system. This is a pretty big deal, with ramifications down the road for many other players in this sector.

The concept of a drone-in-a-box has been around for years. The idea is simple: A drone departs from some sort of housing that is capable of charging the UAS and offering safe harbor from weather. The drone carries out its mission. And then it returns to the same station (or, possibly, another identical station), where it recharges. That downtime in the station might also include a data dump and diagnostics checkup. And then, when the time is right, off heads the drone on another mission.

Most importantly? Theres no pilot on-site flying the drone.

You can see the appeal, of course. A drone carrying out a repeated mission can truly be a flying robot, autonomously gathering data over and over again. There are multiple use-case scenarios, including inspection and surveillance, doing volume calculations, precision agriculture, and more. Any recurring job that would normally require a pilot could, theoretically, be automated and monitored remotely.

We seem to recall that one of the first to develop this technology was Israel-based Airobotics, which received permission from the countrys civil aviation authority back in 2017 to carry out flights without a pilot on location. This video might ring a bell with some of you:

Now, American Robotics has received FAA clearance to operate its drones on autonomous flights. Its Scout System has received a partial green light with an FAA Waiver valid until January 31, 2023; you can read the FAA documents here. It delineates specific areas where these flights can be carried out and requires that NOTAMs be issued so that those operating manned aircraft will be aware of the flights.

Still, its a very big step.

Heres how American Robotics describes its offerings on its website:

Everything is automated, from landing to charging to data processing. Once installed, Scout systems will run missions autonomously, collecting, processing, and analyzing data. Never touch a remote control again. Scout drones live in yourfield inside a ScoutBase, a weatherproof charging and data processing station. With the help ofproprietarysoftware and hardware they are able tooperate without the need for ahuman pilot. Interact withone Scout, or a fleet of Scouts, from your office remotely via ScoutView, ourweb and mobile application. Set your Scout Systems to collect dataon a schedule, or initiate missionson demand.

https://www.american-robotics.com

There are many applications where this kind of deployment makes perfect sense. If the mission is a recurring one and even if new missions are uploaded remotely the long-term efficiency of this approach makes sense.

With these approvals, American Robotics is ushering in a new era of widespread automated drone operations. Decades worth of promise and projection are finally coming to fruition. We are proud to be the first company to meet the FAAs comprehensive safety requirements, which had previously restricted the viability of drone use in the commercial sector. We are very grateful for the FAAs willingness to work closely with American Robotics over the past four years on this precedent-setting authorization. With this set of approvals, American Robotics can begin safely operating our automated Scout platform for the benefit of the energy, infrastructure, agriculture, and security market verticals, helping unlock the projected $100 billion commercial drone market.

Reese Mozer, CEO and cofounder of American Robotics

This doesnt mean that the floodgates have opened yet. But its a strong indicator these kinds of autonomous systems are likely to flourish down the road.

The commercial drone industry is growing quickly and providing significant benefits to the American public, but enabling expanded operations beyond visual line of sight is critical for the industry to truly take off. Automated BVLOS operations are particularly important to opening the commercial sectors to the drone economy, including the agriculture and industrial verticals. Key to these operations is the use and FAA acceptance of new and innovative safety technologies, such as detect and avoid (DAA) sensors and software-enabled automation. American Robotics groundbreaking and exciting FAA approval is an important and significant step forward for the commercial drone community as a whole. The commercial drone industry looks forward to building on American Robotics success and continuing to work with the FAA toward safe integration of UAS into our National Airspace System.

Lisa Ellman, executive director of the Commercial Drone Alliance

I once worked for a Canadian startup drone company that also was experimenting with charging stations. Its business model is long-range asset monitoring, with its VTOL aircraft nesting in similar stations.

The idea, clearly, makes a lot of sense. Weve also seen, with Skydios AI-enhanced drones, a willingness from the FAA to grant BVLOS waivers when its assured that the missions can be carried out with minimal risk to manned aircraft or people (and property) on the ground.

The future of this industry, or a significant part of it, will belong to those enterprise suppliers that combine AI with end-to-end automation. Why have a pilot or other support on the ground if the process can be automated?

Its not going to happen over night. Were looking at years, rather than weeks or months. But for some tasks this will undoubtedly be the future. Congrats, American Robotics.

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FAA approves American Robotics to fly its automated drone-in-a-box - DroneDJ

This year, organisations have had to adapt and evolve to the challenges of the pandemic at a pace and scale never seen before. Disruption is widespread and the constant challenge is to try and find smarter ways to get things done.

IT complexity can inhibit innovation

Digitally-connected organisations can move at a faster pace, however the complexities of IT systems can also inhibit innovation. Deploying a modern infrastructure can be a real struggle, due to the maintenance cost and management complexity of existing systems. This complexity places a heavy burden on IT operations teams. They are now asked to move faster, manage increasingly complex IT environments, and accommodate new development approaches and technologies.

What is automation?

No matter the complexity of your environment or where you are on your IT modernisation journey, an IT operations automation strategy can help you improve existing processes.

Automation is the use of software to perform tasks in order to reduce cost, complexity, and errors. IT automation uses repeatable instructions to replace an IT professionals manual work. This could be a single task, groups of tasks, or even a complex orchestration of tasks. Its key purpose is to help overburdened staff regain control and shift their focus from tedious day-to-day matters to strategic initiatives. IT automation can help staff better perform their tasks and increase job satisfaction.

Getting started on your automation journey

Red Hat considers not just the automation technology, but the people and processes across the organisation. While automating your network may seem like a daunting task, you can start small and make incremental changes at your own pace. Focus on solving the contained, tactical problems your teams face every day. As you move forward, evaluate progress by developing success criteria and specific goals for the organisation. A phased approach can keep people and processes aligned across the integration.

Automation in practice

The British Army, as with many frontline services, depends on its IT to run smoothly, and this is particularly important for its Information Application Services (IAS) Branch. Based in the UK, this team delivers software applications, hosting, and web services to the British Army. By deploying Ansible automation software, all of the IAS IT environments including development, test, preproduction, and production remain consistent.

Faster, more agile service delivery

IAS IT administrators can access Ansibles user-friendly interface to deliver software and updates across environments with minimal manual effort. Upgrades that previously took a day and caused system downtime of several hours each month can now be performed in less than two hours with high availability, scheduled to minimise user disruption. Emergency patches that previously took around three days can now be implemented in three or four hours. Overall, change delivery is now typically 75 per cent faster.

With automation, you can save time and costs, increase quality, improve employee satisfaction, and meet the growing demands and needs of your stakeholders and citizens.

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Automation in the public sector - FutureScot

Throughout the pandemic, logistics has become the center of attention well beyond the e-commerce world. Consumers running out of hygiene supplies; shortages of food on the shelves at their local grocery stores; difficulties reserving a reasonable time slot for online food delivery these have brought heightened visibility into logistics for consumers, industry professionals, and venture capitalists, alike. This global realization that effective logistics is now more critical than ever in society has made it apparent that meeting customer demand and managing growth requires improved efficiency in the supply chain. Automation is no longer a choice, it's a necessity.

As companies look for ways to keep up with increased demand, a smart approach is to add automation into an existing system. At this time of digital transformation, companies look to cutting edge technologies that they can embed into their existing operations to provide short-term improvements. Unfortunately, incremental upgrades in the system for processes that were not designed for automation often cause unforeseen problems, subsequently leading to blaming the new technologies for these significant issues. Traditional hardware components and methods, however, rarely mesh well with new technologies. The key to solving this problem is stepping back and looking at the overall system as a whole to really gain the most out of these new high-tech products.

However, this concept is not new visualizing automation in warehouses has been going on for around 30 years. What is new is the rate of innovation and the level of automation now available. Today, automation can impact the heart of your core business with new technologies that can automate picking, pack-outs, and even front-door delivery. It requires team effort to ensure that you can meet customer demands without disrupting your supply chain.

A brilliant example of team effort and the steps it takes to meet customer demands is in the 2019 movie, "Ford v Ferrari." This film depicts the American automaker Ford putting together a winning formula consisting of a powerful driving machine, a skilled driver and a team that was fully in tune with the need for all parts to work seamlessly together in order to get the most out of the Ford GT40. To be victorious required synchronizing different variables -- from the race car designer to the ownership team and talented pit crew; the right wheels and engine; to the driver who knew how to handle the track properly. All these came together to make the Ford GT40 program a success a true team effort.

So, how does this apply in a warehouse? Ask yourself, "Who is my team now?" Your team is beyond your four walls. When we think about going through a digital transformation, these are the three most critical parties involved and scenarios that typically take place:

1) You and the warehouse/logistics division that are investing in the new technology and putting resources into it. You know that automation is about being lean, and you are prepared to implement process improvements such as Kaizen to get the most out of automation.

2) The companies that are developing breakthrough products. You must work hand-in-hand with your innovation partner to ensure that your needs are being included in their roadmap.

3) The integrators (sometimes the technology companies themselves) who are in charge of meeting your needs with the available solutions. When a core step is affected, the limitations of the technology may not allow your expectations to be met, and integrators are crucial for bridging the gap between what the technology can provide and what you need achieved.

At this point, integrators play a critical role. Working with older systems while adapting newer technologies is not an easy task. The result is that projects take longer, and both the customer and the technology provider go through multiple iterations. Each party shares responsibility in the success of these projects.

Take for example one of the most successful case studies of digital transformation ever seen from our previous generation: Kiva Systems. Kiva was created by Mick Mountz (now board member at RightHand Robotics) after he experienced the burden of fulfilling customer expectations by relying on legacy technology for a growing industry while working at Webvan. What Mick and the Kiva team did was not just integrate autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) into an existing solution, he also analyzed the problem and developed a solution that completely changed how logistics and warehousing industries were thinking about automation. AMRs have been around since the 1950s, but until Kiva introduced their solution to the market, they had never been used the way they are today.

Since then, the pace of digital transformation has accelerated dramatically. Computing power and the evolution of vision systems, along with advancements in machine learning, opened up all-new possibilities that were not conceivable a decade or so ago. Right now, the challenge is not about developing components to solve these problems. Today's innovators must build a solution for a complete overhaul of the legacy systems, so that the industry can get the most out of these breakthrough technologies.

Major players in the industry are looking at this problem by taking a step back just like Kiva did 20 years ago. Large ASRS (automated storage and retrieval systems) companies such as AutoStore and ASRS integrators such as Element Logic are considering the capabilities that are needed to utilize these newer technologies at full capacity. Additionally, automated piece-picking, which is what RightHand does, is a growing market that ASRS companies are looking into for additional support within their systems. As the warehouse landscape improves for these breakthrough technologies, integration will be faster and continuous.

Successful automation is defined by how well exceptions are handled, and that requires a complete solution rather than small fixes. For example, an exception could be dropping an item during transfer. With a well-thought-out product in place, the automated piece-picking system would be able to detect this issue and either resolve it automatically or notify the site operations team to assist. These types of systems would consist of a flexible, nimble gripper connected to a robot arm, enhanced with vision capabilities and enterprise-level artificial intelligence software, integrated and designed to detect and address such issues effectively. New innovations and upgrades in these systems are now more widely available thanks to rapid technology developments. With the right system in place, exceptions can be minimized and easily resolved, leading to higher overall equipment efficiency a key metric for automation systems.

At the macro level, companies that are undertaking digital transformation would benefit more by doing a complete overhaul with buy-in from every team member. For a successful transformation, vendors and integrators must align around continuous improvement processes, including KPIs and timelines. At the micro level, your choice of partner is as important as the solution they are providing.

Now more than ever, implementing automation in warehouses is critical for a business to sustain itself, keep up with increasing demand, and manage growth. For warehouse professionals who are contemplating how to automate their systems, remember to apply lean processes and make it a team sport that is the recipe for success.

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RightHand Robotics exec: Automation is no longer a choice, it's a necessity - Business Insider - Business Insider

Summary

Rockwell Automation held its 29th Annual Automation Fair as a virtual, online event: Rockwell Automation Fair at Home. The event attracted around 40,000 registered attendees, with more than 25,000 of those attendees taking the virtual tours. As always, the event provided a great opportunity for customers to learn, network, and keep informed about new products, technologies, and services.The company held virtual tours of its Rockwell Automation Experience, which featured the digital engineering experience and the digital thread experience in addition to an extensive products and technology showcase. More than 65 companies from Rockwell Automations PartnerNetwork program participated in the exhibit hall. Other highlights of the event included a dedicated track for the companys Process Solutions Users Group (PSUG) a Digital Strategists(DX) track, a Bold Conversations track (about the need for diversity and inclusion), and opportunities for participants to accumulate professional development hours by participating in virtual hands-on labs and technology sessions.

As a general theme, the event focused on letting the companys customers know whats next in industrial automation and digital transformation.

In his opening keynote, Blake Moret, Rockwell Automations Chairman and CEO, commented: Its been a year of challenges like weve never seen before, but its also been a year of opportunities to increase resilience, agility, and sustainability.

According to Mr. Moret throughout the pandemic and all this change, Rockwell Automations strategy has remained the same: bringing the Connected Enterprise to life. Its about expanding human possibility, turning what-if into what is, and providing real value to customers.

He also mentioned how Rockwell Automation has been working with companies such as Roche and Johnson & Johnson to help with the pandemic. For example, when Roche needed to quickly transform three plants to manufacture COVID-19 antibody test kits, Rockwell Automations engineering experts worked collaboratively with Roche using the Pharma Suite MES software solution. Johnson & Johnson needed to change its production setups to enforce social distancing requirements and worked with Rockwell Automation and robotics to create a safe working environment for J&Js employees.

According to Mr. Moret, Rockwell Automation helps its customers improve resilience by minimizing supply chain pain points; supporting traceability to help ensure safe, high-quality products; providing technology to support remote operations and monitoring and help organizations re-shore/near-shore their manufacturing to be closer to their customer markets. The company supports increased agility via flexible manufacturing, including using precision motion control to add control from one packaging format to another with software to schedule production down to an economical lot size of one. And when it comes to sustainability, Rockwell Automation is committed to a carbon-neutral future, including increased energy efficiency and recycling for the circular economy.

When it comes to the Connected Enterprise, Rockwell Automation practices what it preaches. The company uses this strategy across its own manufacturing and internal supply chain to gain experience and help solve real-world challenges related to macroeconomic conditions, manufacturing resilience, avoiding unplanned downtime, and improving manufacturing processes. Ernest Nicolas, Senior Vice President, Integrated Supply Chain, provided a virtual tour of Rockwell Automations manufacturing plants and supply chains from around the world and explained how its own experience has helped customers.

Chris Nardeccia, Senior Vice President, Software and Control and CIO, discussed the importance of information management and digital transformation. According to Mr. Nardeccia, the company is in a unique position to understand customer challenges and apply learning to their journeys. He believes that it is important for companies to accelerate their digital maturity and take advantage of advanced technologies.

The company released updated FactoryTalk AssetCentre software, designed to help its users more efficiently manage plant-floor devices and protect against unscheduled downtime. This latest software release helps users to more easily manage device firmware and expands disaster-recovery support to several new devices. Users can see product safety advisories, release notes, and product notices from a centralized location. The updated FactoryTalk AssetCentre software now also provides disaster-recovery support for more Rockwell Automation managed switches, overload relays, drives, and CompactLogix and ControlLogix process controllers. In addition, expanded integration between the AssetCentre software and ThinManager thin client software allows companies to limit user access to specific files.

Rockwell Automation announced the release of a set of new capabilities for FactoryTalk InnovationSuite, powered by PTC. This software suite offers integrated Industrial IoT, edge-to-cloud analytics, manufacturing execution system (MES), and augmented reality (AR) capabilities to support digital transformation. New enhancements to InnovationSuite include FactoryTalk Edge Gateway. This enhances the fidelity of operational technology (OT) data with contextualization using the Rockwell Automation FactoryTalk Smart Object capability and packages it to a configurable data model that can be mapped to upstream IT applications to support visibility into the enterprise.

The company recently expanded its relationship with Microsoft to help accelerate digital agility from edge to cloud by integrating this unified data model with PTCs ThingWorx IIoT Solutions Platform and Microsoft Azure IoT Hub. In addition, FactoryTalk Analytics now offers an array of simplified data science and other new capabilities.

Rockwell Automation released a new communication module developed with its Encompass Partner, HMS Networks. The new module is designed to improve CENTERLINE 2100 and CENTERLINE 2500 motor control center (MCC) integration into Modbus TCP networks. This includes existing distributed control systems (DCS) that use Modbus TCP as the communication protocol, making it particularly significant for the heavy process industries.

The companys motion business introduced an expansion to its Kinetix line of servo drives with its new Allen-Bradley Kinetix 5300 servo drive. This is an integrated, CIP Motion solution for machine builders looking to help increase performance and leverage a single design environment for control and motion. The new drives are designed for diverse machine applications, such as electronics assembly, packaging and converting, printing, and web (CPW). Like other Kinetix integrated motion drives, Kinetix 5300 leverages Studio 5000 as a single design environment. This allows machine builders to program all their drives in this one design environment and reuse code across drives.

Rockwell Automation launched a new brand at Automation Fair at Home: LifecycleIQ Services. It represents a full suite of professional services across the customers lifecycle from digital consulting to cybersecurity to workforce support. LifecycleIQ Services combines the companys deep domain knowledge and technology. For example, the company has technical experience and specific cybersecurity services to address complex security challenges in IT/OT environments. These services can help customers adopt a more proactive cybersecurity approach. As more companies connect their plants to remote workers and partners, Rockwell Automation can help manage those connections and provide secure remote access.

LifecycleIQ Services can also help companies address their unique workforce challenges and gaps by assessing needs, identifying priorities, and creating workforce development programs. Rockwell Automation uses remote support capabilities and augmented reality technologies to help companies interact virtually with support engineers, strengthen skills with virtual training, and provide remote safety and security services.

Rockwell Automation has also been busy over the past few years acquiring new companies, forming new partnerships, and enhancing older partnerships to help fulfill the promise of the Connected Enterprise.

For example, Rockwell Automation acquired privately held Avnet Data Security, LTD, an Israeli-based cybersecurity provider and Oylo, a privately-held industrial cybersecurity services provider based in Barcelona, Spain. Avnets IT cybersecurity expertise, complements Oylos OT cybersecurity expertise and allows Rockwell Automation to accelerate its global delivery capability in this rapidly developing market and expands the offering of cybersecurity services available to the industrial market.

Rockwell Automation acquired privately held, Kalypso, LP, a US-based software and consulting firm with customers in the life sciences, consumer products, and industrial high-tech sectors. Kalypso offers a suite of consulting, digital innovation, enterprise technology and business process management services that help enable the transformation of product design and development, production management, and client service models.

Rockwell Automation acquired ASEM, a leading provider of digital technologies for industrial PCs and software. Based in Italy, this acquisition will help Rockwell Automation further expand its reach in Europe. At Automation Fair, ASEM exhibited visualization and control hardware and software and Industrial IoT gateways that can integrate smart devices, control platforms, and design and operational software on a single network.

Rockwell Automations Blake Moret and Jim Heppelman, President and CEO of PTC also announced an extension of their already successful partnership. The company also announced an extension of its partnership with Microsoft, including co-innovation of cloud-native solutions.

Simulation software supplier, ANSYS, provides an end-to-end solution for design, automation, production, and lifecycle management. Rockwell and ANSYS will partner to help customers design simulation-based digital twins of products or manufacturing processes. The goal is to enable customers to use simulation to design and test products to accelerate development, reduce testing time, and improve product quality.

As Mr. Moret commented, While these technologies and digital twins and engineering simulation may have been optional a decade or two ago, in todays environment, they are necessities. Its about bridging the chasm between engineering and manufacturing. Its about solving problems such as unpredictable downtime, quality issues during assembly, and launch delays challenges that have existed for decades.

Virtual simulation on the front-end of production allows users to better leverage the entire digital thread. Once a machine or production line is running, manufacturers can create a digital twin of their manufacturing process to create and test virtual what-if scenarios.

Rockwell Automation acquired Emulate3D in 2019, an engineering software developer whose products digitally simulate and emulate industrial automation systems. By using simulation models to help improve systems planning and decision-making, followed by emulation trials that test the control system before installation, Emulate3Ds software enables customers to virtually test machine and system designs before incurring manufacturing and automation costs and committing to a final design. Rockwell Automation added Emulate3Ds technology to its digital design portfolio to deliver solutions to automotive, logistics, material handling, and other industrial applications. Software is sold as Emulate3D by Rockwell Automation, as part of the companys FactoryTalk DesignSuite.

Rockwell Automation announced an agreement to acquire Fiix, a privately-held, AI-enabled computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) company. Headquartered in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, Fiixs cloud-native CMMS creates workflows for scheduling, organizing, and tracking equipment maintenance. It connects to business systems and helps it drive data-driven decisions. The addition of Fiix aligns well with Rockwell Automations digitalization software strategy. It also helps enhance the capabilities of the companys Lifecycle Services business.

Rockwell Automation Fair at Home was all about the Connected Enterprise and, accelerating digital transformation, and whats next for industrial automation. While participation for this online event was virtual, the company still did a good job of getting its points across.

This virtual event made it apparent that even during the pandemic, the company has continued to pursue its aggressive adoption approach to the digital transformation through new acquisitions, new technologies (such as digital thread and digital twins), and new products, services, and more.

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Keywords: Rockwell Automation Fair 2020, Digital Engineering, Cybersecurity, ARC Advisory Group.

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Rockwell Automation Fair at Home - What's Next for the Connected Enterprise and Automation - ARC Advisory Group

Applied Industrial Technologies Inc. (NYSE: AIT) in Cleveland has made an acquisition that the company says will grow its automation offerings.

Applied Industrial has acquired Gibson Engineering Co. in Norwood, Mass., for an undisclosed amount. Gibson provides automation products, services and engineered solutions with a particular focus on "machine vision, motion control, mobile and collaborative robotic solutions, intelligent sensors and other related equipment," according to a news release. The company has more than 40 associates.

"We are pleased to announce the addition of Gibson Engineering and the continued expansion of our next generation automation offering and footprint. Gibson is a leading provider of emerging automation technologies across the U.S. Northeast and Mid-Atlantic markets," Applied Industrial president and CEO Neil A. Schrimsher said in the release. "They bring established customer and supplier relationships, along with an experienced team highly regarded for their technical and engineering expertise that aligns with our growth strategy, market focus and value proposition."

Schrimsher also said Applied Industrial had completed three acquisitions in the past 16 months, expanding its automation offerings. The company is a distributor and technical solutions provider of products in spaces such as industrial motion and fluid power.

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Acquisition grows Applied Industrial's automation offerings - Crain's Cleveland Business

Seamlessly converting manual processes to active automation flows at the click of a button, the new capability speeds up time to value and boosts operational efficiencies

NICE (Nasdaq: NICE) today introduced new AI-based Robotic Process Automation (RPA) capabilities that fast-track the time to value by rapidly operationalizing optimal process automation opportunities. Available as part of NICE RPA version 7.4 is the new Click to Automate feature, that instantaneously transforms recommended process sequences into live operational automations. This enables businesses to rapidly expand existing process automations, improve efficiencies and strengthen organizational resilience even during unpredictable market conditions. Additional capabilities enable tighter human-robot collaboration via smarter, visual-based automation discovery and a more customizable development process per employee needs.

Smarter automation discovery and developmentClick to Automate takes the benefits of Automation Finder, NICEs AI-infused automation opportunity discovery tool, to the next level. Following Automation Finders capture and display of all the recommended process sequences, the Click to Automate capability seamlessly and rapidly builds the process automations with NICEs Automation Studio design tool. The result is end-to-end working automations, including the logic and connectivity elements. NICEs attended and unattended robotic workforce then manages the full execution of these processes in complete collaboration with each employee, at scale.

Additional enhancements included in NICE RPA version 7.4 include:

Visually inspired automation discovery: With NICE RPA's Automation Finder, business analysts can now get a visual snapshot of the employee's screen together with clustering of the different process sequences, variations and their respective scores. This provides business analysts with a holistic understanding of the real-life processes employees regularly execute. With these rich, practical insights, the analyst is equipped to make an informed decision about the optimal processes to automate, allowing for more efficient automation development, higher user adoption and improved results.

Customized attended automation development: The callout builder within NICE's Automation Studio enables enhanced customization of callouts, a critical element in the successful deployment and uptake of attended automation. As a result, developers can personalize the way NEVA, NICE's attended automation offering, communicates and interacts with employees, allowing them to better relate to and connect with attended robots at work. The user-friendly drag and drop interface with built-in intelligence allows automations to be created with ease and speed, as well as resonate with the unique culture of the organization and its people. This ensures connected, productive human-robot collaborations in the virtual and physical workplace.

Unified connectivity for accelerated automation development: With a unified connectivity layer, automation developers can seamlessly access all applications across different technologies from a single interface. This ensures faster development and time to value for organizations and enables employees to benefit from the process automations more quickly.

"What businesses need right now are solutions that will accelerate the efficiency of their business, maximize the value of every process automation and empower employees to do more from any location and at any time," Barry Cooper, President, NICE Enterprise Group, said. "The new capabilities in NICE RPA version 7.4 power agility across the automation lifecycle including intelligent, optimal process discovery, instantaneous operationalization of process automations and stronger employee collaboration. We believe this helps organizations ensure business continuity, boost their bottom line and enhance both employee and customer experiences."

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About NICENICE (Nasdaq: NICE) is the worlds leading provider of both cloud and on-premises enterprise software solutions that empower organizations to make smarter decisions based on advanced analytics of structured and unstructured data. NICE helps organizations of all sizes deliver better customer service, ensure compliance, combat fraud and safeguard citizens. Over 25,000 organizations in more than 150 countries, including over 85 of the Fortune 100 companies, are using NICE solutions. http://www.nice.com.

Trademark Note: NICE and the NICE logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NICE Ltd. All other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. For a full list of NICEs marks, please see: http://www.nice.com/nice-trademarks.

Forward-Looking StatementsThis press release contains forward-looking statements as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements, including the statements by Mr. Cooper, are based on the current beliefs, expectations and assumptions of the management of NICE Ltd. (the "Company"). In some cases, such forward-looking statements can be identified by terms such as "believe," "expect," "seek," "may," "will," "intend," "should," "project," "anticipate," "plan," "estimate," or similar words. Forward-looking statements are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause the actual results or performance of the Company to differ materially from those described herein, including but not limited to the impact of changes in economic and business conditions, including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic; competition; successful execution of the Companys growth strategy; success and growth of the Companys cloud Software-as-a-Service business; changes in technology and market requirements; decline in demand for the Company's products; inability to timely develop and introduce new technologies, products and applications; difficulties or delays in absorbing and integrating acquired operations, products, technologies and personnel; loss of market share; an inability to maintain certain marketing and distribution arrangements; the Companys dependency on third-party cloud computing platform providers, hosting facilities and service partners;, cyber security attacks or other security breaches against the Company; the effect of newly enacted or modified laws, regulation or standards on the Company and our products and various other factors and uncertainties discussed in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). For a more detailed description of the risk factors and uncertainties affecting the company, refer to the Company's reports filed from time to time with the SEC, including the Companys Annual Report on Form 20-F. The forward-looking statements contained in this press release are made as of the date of this press release, and the Company undertakes no obligation to update or revise them, except as required by law.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210106005358/en/

Contacts

Corporate Media Christopher Irwin-Dudek, +1 201 561 4442, chris.irwin-dudek@nice.com, ET

Investors Marty Cohen, +1 551 256 5354, ET, ir@nice.com Yisca Erez +972 9 775 3798, CET, ir@nice.com

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NICE Breaks New Ground in Robotic Process Automation with Innovative AI-Driven Click to Automate - Yahoo Finance