Category Archives: Automation

It's a misanthrope's dream.

You can go through an entire day working, commuting, shopping, dining, recreating without encountering another human being.

OK, you can't do that now. But, it's coming.

Thanks to automation.

I was reading that cashiers in stores and restaurants and retail workers are the next group with a bull's eye and sign painted on their backs: Replace with robot.

A report by the McKinsey Global Institute states that half the tasks done by cashiers and salespeople can be automated using technology available today. And two-thirds of tasks done by grocery store workers can be automated.

Proponents of automation say it will replace only routine jobs, routine tasks.

Routine? What's routine? A 90 mph fastball is routine to Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, but not to the rest of us.

It takes skill and ability to do the routine. Does anyone claim robots do these routine jobs better than people? No, what's behind automation is money. Robots are cheaper and less trouble than human beings.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 million people (six percent of American workers) are cashiers or in retail sales. What will happen to them?

Again, automation enthusiasts say these workers will be freed to do other tasks. Or, they will be trained to do jobs that aren't replaceable (yet) by robots.

Do you honesty believe honestly that this will happen? Isn't it much more likely businesses will fire the former routine task workers, that millions of people without the skills and perhaps the aptitude to learn these new jobs will be out on the street? Will there even be enough of these brave-new-world jobs to go around?

And who is thinking about us the customers, the consumers? When I shop or dine I like to deal with people.

I like chatting with the cashier at the grocery store.

I like to explain my needs to a sales clerk.

And most of all, I like to be a regular at a restaurant where the servers know me and make me feel welcome. Yet, horribly, waitresses and waiters are on the automated hit list.

We are creating a society of isolated individuals, of people who don't have don't want to have interaction with other humans.

And that is unhealthy, dangerous and very sad.

But I don't see any way to stop it.

Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist.

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Column: Automation is dangerous and sad for American workers, consumers - Chicago Tribune

While manufacturers embrace the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) by outfitting systems with sensors and connecting factory machines to the cloud to perform remote diagnostics, machine builders are challenged with how to leverage the IIoT value proposition. Specifically, OEMs need to meet end users equipment performance requirements, yet, they have no information about their machines once deployed at the customer site.

The lack of visibility into their own equipment is an enormous obstacle as machine builders strive to differentiate their offerings to customerswho are becoming more like partners, noted Todd Smith, Rockwell Automations product manager for FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines, a new offering which will be available to OEMs at the end of this year.

Smiths presentation at Rockwell Automation TechED last week in Orlando, FL, addressed the companys upcoming analytics release and how the cloud and IIoT are a perfect match for OEMs looking to wrap new service offerings around equipment that may be deployed all over the world.

To date, the inability to be predictive or proactive has meant that they cant prevent machine problems. The only option OEMs have had is to react. Problems become fire drills, Smith said. But that scenario is shifting. The cloud is the perfect enabling technology for the dispersed installation of machines and the experts servicing them.

The technology suite for OEMs will start with data structured in the controller via the RAPID line integration add-on instructions (AOI) with auto-discovery, using PackML definitions, to make sure the system is populated with the correct data needed for machine analytics. A FactoryTalk cloud gateway, the 9300-ENA, an existing product for doing remote access into a factory, finds the AOI in the controller, discovers tags and uploads them to the cloud. So the process of doing configuration and deployment is almost trivial, Smith said. Theres nothing you have to do but enter a hardware key in an activation script.

Once in the FactoryTalk Cloud, data is contextualized to feed into the cloud-based FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines, which takes care of data models, storage and aggregation, computation, elasticity, gateway configuration, user management and access to the Rockwell Automation knowledge base.

The subscription service will cost about $750 per year per machine with any number of users able to access each machine. The cost equals one plane ride, said Smith, referring to the fact that the only alternative is to fly an expert out to the customer site to fix the problem.

The first release will evolve quickly, Smith said, noting they are still accepting feedback from OEMs on what their customers would want to have in the product. But the two application scenarios right now include the ability to log into the machine to see historical information on the equipment in order to diagnose and debug remotely. Or, an OEM could offer a service in which they constantly monitor the machine remotely on behalf of the customer to share information that will make the machine run better, or to point out potential problems.

In the initial roll out, anyone associated with the OEM can see all of the machines at any customer site, but eventually Rockwell will layer on capabilities that allows individual users to only see certain machines. Within the dashboards, users can see the machine state history and drilldown to see underlying causes of change or apply some logic. The dashboards are fixed at this point, Smith said, but will grow over time.

Another new Rockwell Offeringfor OEMS:

Safety Assessment Tool for OEMs

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Analytics for OEMs - Automation World

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Pat Reynolds - Automation World

Cisco will next week reveal something called Project Starship that it promises will allow greater and easier automation of UCS servers and its HyperFlex hyperconverged appliances, no matter if they run in the data centre, remote office or a small business.

Details are scarce at the time of writing, but next week's Cisco Live! gabfest includes a session titled Cisco UCS: The Road to Full-Potential Automation in which Switchzilla promises to share our outlook and strategic plans for the next levels of data center automation.

In a colossal non-surprise, Cisco reckons that Predictive analytics and autonomous capabilities create new opportunities for AI assisted operations in IT and promises architecture and roadmap information on how it will address those opportunities.

The company also describes Starship as next-generation cloud-based management for UCS and HyperFlex that delivers faster deployment, simplified operations and richer analytics that are especially powerful in a multi-site Edge environments.

The edge is important because ahead of next week's Starship ride Cisco's slipped out news of some new HyperFlex appliances intended for use in remote offices.

The new HX220c nodes pack a pair of E5-2600 v4 Xeons, can be equipped with up to 1.5TB of RAM and house half a dozen disk drives, either 1.2TB spinning rust or 3.8TB SSD. There's a vanilla appliance and an all-flash affair.

Cisco expects you'll run vSphere on the appliances and has provided a pair of FlexFlash SD cards to boot it from. Connectivity comes from 2 x 10 Gigabit Ethernet and Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FcoE), plus native Fibre Channel fabric to each node with 2 x 80-Gbps networking available.

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Cisco to reveal 'Starship' ride to cloudy server automation heaven - The Register

Price-comparison site Gocompare.com has found a way to boost the efficacy of its TV spots mid-campaign.

Because oftechnical and commercial barriers, Gocompare.com isnt able to switch ads during live broadcasts. But by optimizing the creative for its TV campaigns, the brand is ensuring thatonly the most effectiveads featuring its portly, opera-singing mascot Gio Compario are putbefore U.K. viewers.

To do this, the brand is working with data analysis tool Adalyser to identify the best-performing ads by measuring the visits they generate to the price-comparison site. Code embedded on the site allows Adalyser to compare each visit to data from Broadcasters Audience Research Board and Mediaocean on when the ad aired. Meanwhile, the brand uses machine learning and datato connectactions on the site to the ads creative. Gocompare.com then amends the TV schedule via its media agency Carat to ax the worst-performing ads and replace them with the bestones.

Gocompare.com cant buy media in real time this way, but it will be able to spot the best- and worst-performing ads faster than before.

Working with Adalyser led to a 17 percent increase in spend efficiency and a 15 percent drop in cost per referral (CPR) when a test on around 14,000 versions of four different ads ran on Sky between November and December. After two weeks, 86,000 ($108,900) of spend on the ad with the highest CPR at 34.57 ($43.78) featuring Gio Compario on a gondola was moved to the one with the lowest CPR in the period at 26.37 ($33.40) featuring the mascot flying. The ad, dubbed Flying High, saw its CPR for the following two weeks increase slightly by 18 pence to 26.55 ($33.62) despite taking on the extra spend, suggesting the performance had not been stunted by people seeing the ad too many times.

As a result, 86,000 ($108,900) worth of media spend was optimized from the test, which had an efficiency gain of 15,845.76 ($20,100). As a proportion of the optimized spend, this represents an 18.4 percent gain, the brand added. While Gocompare.com could have optimized the campaign faster, it opted to do so over four weeks due to the sheer amount of data that had to be crunched prior to the strategy being tweaked.

By planning campaigns this way, Gocompare.com can put more airtime against the ads thathave a higher response rate and better ROI,said Nick Hall, head of brand and partnerships for Gocompare.com, adding that the platform is testing Gocompare.coms creative as well as its media buying.

Hall stressed that this automated use of analytics showed how for now, automation in TV ad buying islikely tobe applied to planning campaigns, not buying them. He sees the potential to use the approach to tailor Gocompare.coms creative to the types of people watching each channel, something advertisers cant do now due to the high cost.

Were able to use direct response TV and programmatic marketing to start going after those difficult-to-reach audiences or those people who are in-market, he added.

Looking forward, Gocompare.com will continue to wade into addressable TV as it takes more ownership of its media. Hall has recently taken video buying for the business in-house, adding to the display and search budgets it already manages. He calls it a hybrid model rather than fully in-house programmatic, given how closely it is working with its digital agency 360i and Carat to shape its strategy.

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Gocompare.com uses automation to identify and show its best-performing TV ads - Digiday

Honeywell (NYSE: HON) Process Solutions (HPS) today announced the introduction of LEAP for Operations, a program that utilizes the innovative and proven LEAP project execution methodology to help customers optimize, simplify and run ongoing industrial operations more efficiently. LEAP for Operations includes a variety of solutions with a flexible deployment strategy to get more value out of plant processes. HPS made the announcement at its annual Honeywell Users Group symposium. With companies in the process industries under increasing pressure to show return on investment earlier on automation projects, they are emphasizing the efficiency of operating expenses (OPEX) and their longer-term impact. Honeywell can resolve the complexities of todays industrial operations with LEAP methodology that applies efficiency to ongoing operations through edge device integration, cloud-enabled execution, and universal and connected assets. LEAP for Operations helps our customers take operational intelligence to the next level, said John Rudolph, vice president and general manager, HPS Projects and Automation Solutions. This program enables plant engineers to continue to use the LEAP principles to run their facility more efficiently, squeeze more out of the assets they have, and avoid major capital expansions. It provides a step change in productivity and throughput once an automation project is implemented. Honeywell is uniquely positioned to support customers throughout the entire lifecycle of an industrial facility. The companys focused new product development programs have expanded its capability to address more project and operational challenges in both brownfield and greenfield applications. Before evolving the LEAP methodology to include operations, LEAP for projects began with lean execution techniques to eliminate waste by removing repetition, rework, and redundant tasks. Honeywell revolutionized automation project execution by extending this approach through simplification with independent workflows, standardized design, and enabling engineering to be done from anywhere in the world. This keeps automation off the critical path. While a growing number of plant owners/operators are embracing technology advancements that are driving value in connectivity, the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), Industrie 4.0, and smart solutions, cyber security remains a concern for many. Honeywells holistic solutions in support of LEAP for Operations include not only automated documentation, collaboration tools, integrated controllers, advanced alarm management, real-time analytics, proactive asset management, but also cloud-based execution with built-in cyber security. Its certified development process ensures end users get cyber security right out of the box. Honeywell keeps control systems updated, provides management of change, offers up-to-date security and patches, simplifies troubleshooting and collaboration, and excels at field and control integration.

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HONEYWELL SOLUTION HELPS CUSTOMERS OVERCOME AUTOMATION LIFECYCLE AND EFFICIENCY ... - Automation World

Some have suggested that automation can relieve crews from having to deal with routine tasks to ease their workday, and thanks to the data generation and advanced computational capabilities of the newest generation of aircraft, more options for task automation are emerging.

Photo: Alexander Hassenstein/Getty Images

Like most prescription drugs, the remedy sometimes has unexpected side effects. So it is for automation, when applied as a solution to aviations ongoing problem of crew fatigue. While artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced analytics hold much promise for task automation on aircraft, airlines may want to coordinate any automation efforts with state-of-the-art crew fatigue management plans for the best results.

The risk of crew fatigue persists for airlines, despite the 2013 flight-time regulations known as FAR 117 from the U.S. Federal Aviation Administration. The rules incorporated the latest in fatigue science, but similar rules have yet to be adopted worldwide, and the science of fatigue management itself has continued to advance.

Fatigue is not just about being tired; sleep will remedy being tired. Fatigue is cumulative, the product of an incomplete recovery from days of insufficient sleep. It affects people who consistently work long hours under stressful conditions, and for aviation, its consequences include declining health and productivity of flight crews, rising staff attrition and safety concerns.

Some have suggested that automation can relieve crews from having to deal with routine tasks to ease their workday, and thanks to the data generation and advanced computational capabilities of the newest generation of aircraft, more options for task automation are emerging.

While airplanes have long been able to fly on autopilot, researchers are now testing resilient machine-learning-based autopilot systems that can adapt to changing conditions and even crises. These systems learn from experienced pilots how to react to situations, rather than having to be explicitly hard coded with instructions for every conceivable circumstance.

Ultimately, technology is likely to evolve over time to the point where one cockpit crew member is able to handle a sizable chunk of a flight, with automation as the co-pilota potential boon given the anticipated pilot shortage. Eventually, a remote pilot on the ground could take the second cockpit seat on some flights or flight segments. But those advances are many years off.

Among other future automation possibilities are artificial-intelligence-based weather and radar monitoring that allows pilots to see a more complete picture of the weather ahead without consulting several different monitoring systems and electronic stability and protection systems that monitor and maintain the altitude of an airplane even when autopilot is off. Also being tested are virtual assistants that use speech recognition and voice commands to alert crew members of cockpit tasks that need to be completed.

Of course, technology is even tackling the fatigue question with the development of machines that monitor fatigue and adjust the level of automation to ensure sufficient crew engagement. For instance, the trucking industry already uses a system to monitor eye and eyelid movements of drivers to ensure they are alert.

Still, automation is not a panacea and may introduce unexpected risks. Research suggests that reducing or eliminating the stimulation of manual tasks may slow reaction times and bring other fatigue symptoms to the fore. One danger is the phenomenon of microsleepingmoments when part of your brain goes offline, so to speak, while other parts may remain in wake mode. The phenomenon has been identified as a frequent cause of automobile accidents.

The smart way to incorporate automation is by developing a long-term crew fatigue strategy that recognizes automations risks as well as its rewards. A robust fatigue management strategy includes conducting a detailed assessment of fatigue causes; correlating data on actual duty times and activities with fatigue reporting; gathering crew feedback through interviews; and developing a fatigue risk management system that focuses first and foremost on fatigue prevention.

A big part of prevention is developing realistic and resilient crew schedules that incorporate the latest in fatigue science and accurately reflect the challenging operational environment. FAR 117 has gone a long way to begin that process, but in some cases, regulations have fallen short on addressing the full spectrum of issues that lead to fatigue.

While rules exist that govern how many hours crews can work (and how often they can work overtime), regulations vary by geographic market, and limits on flight duty periods do not always take into account more qualitative factors, such as tough routes, cumulative schedule intensity (such as during the busy summer travel season), and the impact of standby duty.

Before making decisions on task automation, it is important to determine which phases of flight present higher risks for fatigue. And, for days when things dont go as planned, standard protocols need to include enough emphasis on crew fatigue and the impact of the disruption on crews.

As airlines adopt technology to collect and analyze the reams of technical flight and equipment data being generated, they have an opportunity to incorporate into those new systems capabilities to gather more information on human factors that could provide greater insights into fatigue.

No doubt, this is a tricky balancing act for both airlines and regulators. Still, the payoff for good fatigue management coupled with cautious adoption of AI systems can be substantialexcellent safety records, higher crew productivity, and happier customers.

URL: http://www.brinknews.com/will-automation-solve-the-ongoing-risk-of-aviation-crew-fatigue/

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Will Automation Solve the Ongoing Risk of Aviation Crew Fatigue? - BRINK

Let me get this out of the way: Im a technology geek and a marketing aficionado. I adore working with marketing automation to drive business. The bright thrill of success bubbles over when various marketing technologies are stacked together to improve the user experience and boost engagement that results in sales.

Nothing is better than building the digital pathway. For example, consider a lead who visits a well-designed Drupal web page and submits a form. Data runs directly to a marketing automation tool like Eloqua. Eloqua then engages with the lead through a variety of processes and sends pertinent information to Salesforce.Using Salesforce, the sales team can see who they should contact to close the sale.

My affinity for marketing automation is validated. Its the wave of the future. In fact, it continues to be one of the fastest-growing technologies in the marketing stack, according to Aberdeen Group.

And it works. A June 2016 survey highlighted that email one of the core uses for marketing automation had a median ROI of 122 percent, more than four times higher than other marketing formats examined.

But alas, marketing automation is not the only component of a marketing mix that effectively generates and converts leads to buyers.There are other non-digital options that, to a marketing automation disciple, are frightening.

Two shining stars that are on the rise for marketing effectiveness are direct mail and in-person events.Both techniques have greater longevity than marketing automation, and they have both evolved in order to remain valuable.

But how can these analog tactics be effective in a world where digital usage is on the rise?Without technology to pave the way, how can lead engagements be managed?

Below is a brief description of these tactics the how and why they produce successful results is included as a guidepost for digital junkies like me who want to begin taking advantage of these more tangible options in the marketing mix.

Known for high ROI results, in-person events deliver the opportunity for non-directive, face-to-face interaction and experience-sharing, helping to generate net-new leads.They are also key to escorting existing buyers through multiple stages of the funnel, recycling old buyers and delivering qualified, sales-ready leads.

These four tips from industry experts will ensure event participation produces results:

Direct mail is actually on the upswing. In 2016, customer response rates increased 43 percent year over year, and prospect response rates rose 190 percent.

Direct mail, which provides a tangible medium through which leads can engage, helps shift the brain into a deeper level of engagement while building knowledge. Strong engagement and conversion rates are the results.

Even better, direct mail avoids many of the challenges of the digital world like (email) sender reputation, spam traps, bounce rates or IP-blocking.

While it evolved from spraying a batch of postcards to everyone, direct mail is now highly customized for the intended target (thanks to the digital world!).Forbes Summer Gould provides these four tips for customizing and engaging leads:

Yes, neither direct mail nor in-person events are digital-based.And maybe thats the point.

However, all is not lost for this marketing automation junkie. After all, marketing automation and other digital tools escalate the impact of direct mail and in-person events.

Marketing automation powers the invitations that drive attendees to in-person events.And it powers the follow-up communication that is a must to maintain the conversations started on the showroom floor.

Data from digital engagements provides the basis for direct mail campaigns to help you focus on a specific target.Not only does the data help with segmentation, but marketing automation enables you to personalize it in the online realm.

Though the trend for digital usage remains on the rise, we still live in a world of 360-degree interactions. And not all engagements can be managed by a marketing automation platform.

Some opinions expressed in this article may be those of a guest author and not necessarily MarTech Today. Staff authors are listed here.

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Confessions of a marketing automation addict - MarTech Today

As US president Trump has made bringing jobs back to America a rallying cry, others have pointed out that even the factories that stay are, thanks to automation technology, getting more work done with fewer people.

According to a new survey, the same is happening with factories in China, a major outsourcing partner for US manufacturing companies.

The Wuhan University study, according to the South China Morning Post, followed 11,300 employees and their 1,200 employers in the provinces of Guangdong and Hubei for two years. It found that labor shortages were among manufacturers biggest concerns and that 40% of manufacturers in those provinces have introduced automation technology.

Average manufacturing wages throughout China, although they are still much lower than in the United States, have been rising steadily for more than a decade, and, according to the survey, worker turnover in Guangdong and Hubei is high. About 25% of workers in the study transferred jobs in 2015 and 2016. With high worker turnover, they have to pay workers more to retain them, Albert Park, a professor at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a co-designer of the survey, told the Post.

One reaction to rising wages in some areas of China has been for manufacturers to shift work toward poorer places, where wages can differ greatly, or out of the country entirely. Cities meanwhile use tax breaks and subsidies to keep factories competitive: About half of the companies in the Wuhan University study had accepted such aid. And, as in the US, more expensive labor makes automation more attractive. In 2015, according to the International Federation of Robotics, factories in China bought 68,000 industrial robots, 20% more than the year before, and more than all European countries combined.

The choice between outsourcing and automation, in other words, isnt necessarily a binary one.

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It's not just the US: Chinese factories are turning to automation as wages rise - Quartz

Forbes

Marketers: Check Out These Hot New Trends In B2B Marketing ... Forbes Throughout the past couple of years in my consulting practice, I've seen the market for marketing automation appear, develop, and completely change the face ... and more »

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Marketers: Check Out These Hot New Trends In B2B Marketing ... - Forbes