Category Archives: Automation

Forbes

How Nonprofits Can Use Automation To Streamline Their Processes Forbes I've been helping nonprofit organizations solve difficult challenges since 1999. During that time, I've noticed they are always trying to solve complex issues with less-than-sufficient resources. With new and rapidly developing cloud-based technologies ...

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How Nonprofits Can Use Automation To Streamline Their Processes - Forbes

TAIPEI, Taiwan, April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- At the forefront of industrial trends for smart factories and energy-efficient buildings, Delta today presented a variety of automation solutions and energy-saving products with high openness and high flexibility at the Techno-Frontier show in Japan. In the spotlight at Delta's booth are the new Delta high-level PC-based EtherCAT multi-axis motion control solution, which features the capability to simultaneously control up to 64 axes and 100 points, and the Delta Building Management and Control System, which supports a number of standardized communication protocols. Delta also unveiled its SCARA industrial robots for the first time in Japan, demonstrating a dynamic workstation that simulates the insertion operations of an electronics industry PCB board production line to present Delta's technology strengths in automation and smart manufacturing.

Mr. C.H. Ko, executive director of Delta Electronics (Japan) said that based on its core technology in power electronics, Delta actively develops automation and energy infrastructure products and solutions that are widely adopted around the world. Delta's first proprietary solar plant, Delta Ako Energy Park, which began operations last year, is generating up to 5,500,000kWh of electricity annually, exceeding original estimates by more than 10%. Delta's SCARA industrial robots and full range of industrial automation products have also been integrated into manufacturing plants in Taiwan, mainland China, Southeast Asia and other areas to implement smart, automated production lines for a range of industries.

Featuring high openness, high flexibility, and a high degree of customization, Delta's new PC-based EtherCAT multi-axis motion control solution integrates EtherCAT open network communication. With the use of Delta's high-end PC-based industrial controller, the solution can connect up to 100 points within 1 millisecond to achieve up to 64 axes of synchronous motion control. With its high scalability for multi-axis simultaneous motion and powerful industrial monitoring functions, Delta provides the best motion control solutions for a variety of applications -- from consumer electronics assembly for mobile phones, lenses, and more; to semiconductor processing for AOI detection, wafer cutting, and others; to stage, lighting and curtain automation equipment.

For building automation, Delta is presenting its fully integrated, high-performance, high-reliability products and solutions developed over the company's many years of industry experience. Delta will also spotlight the Building Management and Control System (BMCS) developed by its subsidiary company, LOYTEC. Delta's BMCS offers an assortment of leading design architectures for building automation, room automation and building infrastructure to meet clients' demands. It provides tailor-made software and hardware with detailed planning and design to help global clients manage their intelligent buildings with greater energy efficiency.

Highlights of Delta's exhibition at Techno-Frontier 2017 include:

Delta is also exhibiting its EC fans, PV inverters, high-efficiency rectifiers for mobile base station applications, data collection systems for smart meters using G3-PLC and/or Wi-SUN, and more. Visitors are welcome to come and see Delta's innovative solutions at Booth 6Q-45 between April 19th and 21st, 2017, at Makuhari Messe, Japan.

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Thomas Chang +886-2-87972088 #5511

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Delta Showcases Advanced Smart Applications for Industrial and Building Automation at Techno-Frontier 2017 in Japan - Yahoo Finance

PUNE, India, April 19, 2017 /PRNewswire/ --

According to a new market research report "System Integrator Market for Industrial Automation by Service Outlook (Consulting, Hardware, and Software), Technology (SCADA, PLC, PAC, RTU, DCS, MES & MOM, PLM, HMI, APC, OTS, Safety Automation), Industry, and Geography - Global Forecast to 2022", published by MarketsandMarkets, the market is expected to reach USD 56.05 Billion by 2022 from USD 41.47 Billion in 2016, at a CAGR of 5.0% between 2017 and 2022.

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Browse 67 market data Tables and 85 Figures spread through 178 Pages and in-depth TOC on "System Integrator Market for Industrial Automation"

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Early buyers will receive 10% customization on this report.

The major factors driving the growth of the system integrator market for industrial automation include the growing use of Internet of Things (IoT) in industrial automation, rising safety and security concerns, demand for low-cost energy-efficient production process by manufacturing plants, automation in manually uncontrollable processes, advancement in cloud computing technology, higher bargaining power of system integrators, and bundled products offered by system integrators.

Software integration service expected to hold the largest market size by 2022

Software integration service held the largest share of the system integrator market for industrial automation in 2016. This can be attributed to the wide acceptance of automation software including SCADA, DCS, MES, and PLM in industries as part of monitor and control solutions.

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Market for PLC, PAC, & RTU technology to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period

The system integrator market for PLC, PAC, and RTU technology is likely to grow at the highest rate during the forecast period. PLC, PAC, and RTU technology controls the work-in-process, collects data from various sources in plants and sends it to SCADA or DCS for analysis, the growth of these segment is attributed to the increasing adoption of control systems in the industry at remote locations.

The Americas likely to hold the largest share of the system integrator market for industrial automation during the forecast period

The Americas is expected to hold the largest share of the system integrator market for industrial automation during the forecast period owing to the presence of major companies, such as ABB (Switzerland), Siemens (Germany), Rockwell (US), General Electric (US), and Cameron (US) providing industrial automation solutions to the customers through system integrators. The Americas has a higher penetration of process industries, such as oil and gas, mining, pulp and paper, chemical, and petrochemical. The processes in these industries are very complex and large. Therefore the implementation of automation solutions is necessary for these companies.

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The report also profiles the most promising players in this market. The competitive landscape of the market presents an interesting picture of the strategies adopted by a large number of players. The key players in this market are Wood Group Mustang (US), Prime Controls LP. (US), ATS Automation (Canada), Maverick Technologies (US), Wunderlich - Malec Engineering (US), Mangan Inc. (US), Avanceon (US), Dynamysk Automation Ltd. (Canada), Tesco Controls Inc. (US), Stadler+Schaaf Mess-Und Regeltechnik GmbH (Germany), INTECH Process Automation (US), Design Group (US), CEC Controls Co. Inc. (US), Burrow Global LLC (US), and Matrix Technologies (US).

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Industrial Control and Factory Automation Market by Technology (SCADA, PAC & RTU, DCS, Safety, MES & MOM, PLM), Component (Industrial Robots, Machine Vision, Control Valves, Enclosures, Cables), Industry (Process, and Discrete) - Global Forecast to 2022.

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System Integrator Market for Industrial Automation Worth 56.05 Billion USD by 2022 - Yahoo Finance

Wall Street Journal (subscription)

Automation in Labor Could Worsen Income Inequality, BoC Official Warns Wall Street Journal (subscription) OTTAWAGovernments in the developed world will need to focus on mitigating income equality that could be made worse by advances in industries' automation, a senior Bank of Canada official said Tuesday. Automation has the potential to lift living ... Canada Must Manage Harmful Effects of Automation, Wilkins SaysBloomberg Automation will have significant impact on jobs, but don't fear the robots says Bank of Canada's WilkinsFinancial Post Bank Of Canada Warns Of Rising Inequality From AutomationHuffington Post Canada The Globe and Mail -Reuters -Bank of Canada all 10 news articles »

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Automation in Labor Could Worsen Income Inequality, BoC Official Warns - Wall Street Journal (subscription)

NEW YORK, April 18, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04826705/Packaging-Automation-Market-Global-Industry-Analysis-Size-Share-Growth-Trends-and-Forecast.html

Global Packaging Automation Market: Overview This report proposes strategic analysis of the global packaging automation market, and growth forecast for the period from 2017 to 2025. The scope of the research study covers competitive analysis of several market bifurcations based on the application, type and industries of the packaging automation market across different regional segments.

It also provides breakdown and analysis of several factors affecting the market growth, which are applicably defined as market drivers, restraints, and opportunities. In all, the report includes a complete analysis of the global packaging automation market, and provides an assessment of progress for the period 2017 to 2025, considering the numerous factors affecting the market.

Global Packaging Automation Market: Key Trends and Growth Drivers Packaging is one of the significant elements of the product manufacturing process. It aids in protecting the products from physical damage, dust, and various other factors, adding further value to the products. In order to attain maximum profits, cost cutting becomes important in the light of intense competition and increasing globalization of manufacturing. Standardized HMI helps in reducing the learning curve required for training machine operators. HMI templates that are designed to offer consistent look and feel help the end users to reduce training and development time. While creating customizable and standardized HMIs, screen and navigation options are planned for various uses, so that the screens are easily customized as per the machines efficiently.

Safety regulations are major concerns among manufacturers especially in health care and food and beverage industry, more so in emerging economies such as India, China, and Latin America. Safety regulations can be adhered to by developing applications which include automated reporting capabilities that helps in generating brief reports for each packaging line.

Automation helps in reducing labor cost both directly and indirectly as well. Directly in the sense that every task that is done autonomously requires no labor force, thereby, cutting down the cost. Indirect labor saving is attained through automation that helps in reducing scraps, defective packaging, material handling and component orientation time.

Large industries where bulk of items are packed per minute require robotic automation to fulfil the packaging demand. Application of automated machines means it requires less labor to accomplish the packaging process, thus lessening the labor cost in the long term period. Automation is boosting the demand of packaging automation in the global market since the present automated machineries needs less maintenance, thereby reducing the machine downtime. Investment in automatic equipment is costly that is easily recoverable; but smaller companies do not want to invest huge amounts as they do not want to take risks at the preliminary stage.

The E-commerce sector is booming globally especially in developing countries. Due to the rapid growth of e-commerce, worldwide logistics has become complex and difficult to keep up with. Packaging is an important part of the e-commerce sector. Demand for online shopping has increased in the past couple of years due to which online retailers require large e-fulfilment centers and efficient machinery for packaging the ordered products in bulk.

Global Packaging Automation Market: Key Segments On the basis of industries, the market is bifurcated into logistics, food and beverages, healthcare, retail, electronics, automotive among others. The food and beverage segment accounted for the highest revenue share in 2016. Health care segment is one of the fastest growing market in the global packaging automation market. The packaging automation market is bifurcated into six segments based on the applications. They are palletizing, labeling, filling, capping, wrapping among others. Among these six application segments, palletizing segment held highest market revenue share during the forecast period. Based on types, the market is bifurcated into packaging robot, automated packagers and automated conveyors. The packaging robot segment accounted for the highest revenue share during the forecast period. Based on the region is segregated into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East and Africa and Latin America. Europe accounted for the highest market revenue followed by Asia Pacific, North America, Middle East and Africa and Latin America.

Companies Mentioned in Report Some of the principal players in the global packaging automation market are Schneider Electric SE (France), Rockwell Automation, Inc. (U.S.), Siemens AG (Germany), ABB Ltd. (Switzerland), Mitsubishi Electric Corporation (Japan), Schneider Electric SE (France), Automated Packaging Systems, Inc. (U.S.), Emerson Electric Co. (U.S.), Beumer Group GmbH & Co., Kg (Germany), Swisslog Holding AG (Switzerland), and Kollmorgen (U.S.)among others.

The market has been segmented as follows: Global Packaging Automation Market, by Application: Palletizing Labeling Filling Capping Wrapping Others

Global Packaging Automation Market, by Type: Packaging Robot Automated Packagers Automated Conveyors

Global Packaging Automation Market, by Industries: Logistics Food and Beverages Health Care Retail Electronics Automotive Others

Packaging Automation Market, by Geography: The market is segmented on the basis of geography into North America, Europe, Asia Pacific, Middle East & Africa and Latin America North America U.S. Canada Rest of North America

Europe U.K. Germany France Italy Rest of Europe

Asia Pacific India China Japan Rest of Asia Pacific

Middle East & Africa South Africa U.A.E. Rest of Middle East and Africa

Latin America Brazil Read the full report: http://www.reportlinker.com/p04826705/Packaging-Automation-Market-Global-Industry-Analysis-Size-Share-Growth-Trends-and-Forecast.html

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Packaging Automation Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2017 - 2025 - Yahoo Finance

Do you imagine artificial intelligence (A.I.) as a distant technology of the future? In reality, A.I., robotics, and machine learning are here and rapidly transforming all industries, markets and lives, potentially opening up a targeted exchange traded fund investment opportunity.

On the upcoming webcast, Investing in Artificial Intelligence and Automation Can Help Your ETF Portfolio, Wyatt Newman, Professor of Electrical Engineering & Computer Science Dept. at Case Western Reserve University, Travis Briggs, CEO of ROBO Global U.S., and William Studebaker, CIO and President of ROBO Global, will help investors gain real intelligence on artificial intelligence and explain how advisors can incorporate exposure to the growing segment into a diversified investment portfolio.

To help investors access the growing industry of robotics and automation, ROBO Global created an index, which served as the underlying benchmark for the ROBOGlobal Robotics & Automation Index ETF (NasdaqGM: ROBO). ROBO provides exposure to global companies engaged in the business of robotics-related or automation-related industries.

Robotics- or automation-related products and services include any technology, service or device that supports, aids or contributes to any type of robot, robotic action or automation system process, software or management.

The robotics ETF follows a two-tiered, equal-weighted system that ensures the strategy provides diversified exposure to a broad global ecosystem of new and enabling technologies as well as established automation/robotic providers. Specifically, the ETF includes a 60% tilt toward non-bellwether robotics with growing revenue contributions and a 40% tilt toward bellwether robotics companies that are well-established in the space.

The robotics ETFs portfolio may also provide exposure to companies with sustainable growth opportunities, as the underlying ROBO Global Robotics & Automation Index has exhibited attractive sales growth, EBITDA growth and earnings-per-share growth. The underlying index has even outperformed the broader technology and S&P 500 index since the 2008 financial downturn.

Sector exposures include consumer cyclical 1.0%, energy 3.9%, industrials 46.8%, technology 38.6% and healthcare 9.7%.

Top holdings include Nabtesco Corp 1.9%, Krones AG 1.9%, Intuitive Surgical 1.9%, Harmonic Drive Systems 1.9% and Oceaneering International 1.9%.

Financial advisors who want to learn more about the robotics and automation industry can register for the Wednesday, April 19 webcast here.

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Investing in A.I., Automation Can Help Your ETF Portfolio | ETF Trends - ETF Trends

For those of you who made our New York DigitalOneOfficeSummit a couple of weeks ago, we had a rumbustious mix of seasoned outsourcing buyers, service provider leaders, advisorsand robovendors under one roof to cogitate, discuss and argue where the hell the industry known as outsourcing and operations is truly heading. Lets just lay down what the hell is really happening in the only unvarnished way we know how

There is a fast realization that the outsourcing industry has reached a phase of almost insufferable tension. Why?

Several of the RPAsolutions vendors are painting an over-glamorous picture of dramatic cost savingsand ROI.RPAsoftware firms are claiming and demonstrating some client cases where ~40% of cost(or more, in some cases) is being taken off the bottom line. While some of these cases are genuine, there are many RPA pilots and early-phase implementations in the industry that have been left stranded because clients just couldnt figure out the ROI and how to implement this stuff. This isnt simply a case of buying software and looping broken processes together to remove manualefforts this requires real buy-in from IT and operations leaders to invest in the technical, organizational change management, and process transformation skills.

Buyers are backed into a corner with broken delusions of automation grandeur as their CoEsfail. Buyer leadershipsare being fed all this rosy information and are under incredible pressure to devise and execute an RPAstrategy, with some sort of set of metrics, that they can demonstrate to their operations leadership. Many are quickly discovering they simply do not have the skills inhouseto set up automation centers of excellence and are frantically turning to third parties to help get them on the right track.

Outsourcing consultants are selling RPAbefore theycan really deliver it. Sourcing advisors are claiming they are now RPAexperts who can make this happen, while struggling to scale up talent bases that can understand the technology and deal with the considerable change management tensions within their clients. RPAis murky and complex, and not something you can train 28-year-old MBAsto master overnight. Meanwhile, we are seeing some advisorssimply do some brokering of RPAsoftware deals for small fees, only to make a hasty exit from the client as they do not have the expertise to roll-outeffective implementation and change managementprograms.

RPAspecialist consultants few and far between. Pure-play RPAadvisorsare explaining this is not quite so easy and requires a lot more of a centralized, concisestrategy. There are simply not enough of these firms in the market, especially with Genfour having been snapped up recently by Accenture. With only a small handful of boutique specialists to go around, these firms can pick and choose their clients and command high rates.

Service providers will set the pace, but many will destroy each other in the process. Service providers are claiming they can implement whatever RPAclients need, but are not willing to do it at the expense of reducing their current revenues. Meanwhile, smart service providers are aggressively implementingRPAinto their own operations to drive down their delivery costs and reduce their own headcount. So we can expect to see providers aggressively attacking competitive clients with automation-led solutions that should create unbearable pricing pressures for service providers looking to retain the talent they need to implement this stuff. Hence, services providers will be hell bent on destroyingeach other and thewinners will be those who eventually succeed in winning more work than they loseamidst all the destruction. This is a war of many battles being fought and the winners will be those who are in this for the long haul, who can absorb some short-term losses to pick up the larger spoils further down the road when they have a fully equipped intelligent automation delivery capability that can deliverhighly-competitive and profitable As-a-Service offerings.

The good news is that half of todays buyers want to turn to service providers to make this work

When we privately polled 60 senior outsourcing buyers, at the recent HfSNew York Summit, on what would improve the quality and outcomes of their current services relationships, the answer was pretty conclusive half want to work with their providers to rollouttheir automation and cognitive roadmaps, while only a third think they should pull back work in-house to figure this stuff out for themselves:

The Bottom-line: The automation gauntlet is now in full effect and the casualties will mount up as the outsourcing industry plays out its most perilousbattle for survivalyet. But all is not lost if we eye a longer-term prize

So weve reached crunch time.Whichever way we look at it, RPAhascreated a lethal environment, which was only just coming to terms with providers and buyers working together to get the basics of delivery right. Most outsourcing buyers have to look to automation to save their jobs and please their ambitious leaders, no longer content with the ~30% they saved on offshore-centric outsourcing justa few short years ago (see our recent State of Outsourcing and Operations data on 454 major buyers).

So, in the meantime, for all the reasons outlined above, this industry will literally go into a destructive war over automation. The skills to make automation a massively profitable reality are few and far between, while greedy corporate leaders demand cost savings that simply are not achievable if their organizations fail to make the necessary investments and partnerships to make this achievable. Did companies become amazing at HR overnight because they bought an expensive Workday subscription? Or amazing at sales and marketing because they slammed in a Salesforcesuite? So why should they become amazing at cost-driven automation simply because they went and bought some licensesfrom an RPAvendor promising bot farms and virtual labor forces?

RPAand Intelligent Automation has sparked a major war in the worlds of outsourcing and operations, where many battles are being fought and the winners will be those who are in this for the long haul, who can absorb some short-term pain in order to benefit from the larger spoils further down the road. While automation is killing outsourcing today costing many people their jobs, their reputationsand destroying the profitability of legacy engagements, those who can hunker down, focus on self-contained projects where they can fix one broken process at a time, can get stakeholders onside by demonstrating meaningful, impactful outcomes without major resource investments, will be the winners. Start with one process at a time, prove how to fix in, then onto the next, then the next that is the only true way to be successful in this destructive automation-infested world.

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(Cross-posted @ Horses for Sources)

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Automation will destroy, then save outsourcing: The industry has spoken - Enterprise Irregulars (blog)

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Cruise Automation is spearheading GM's autonomous-car efforts, and it's about to take a big step forward.

Like many established automakers, General Motors is getting more serious about self-driving cars. The largest United States automaker bought startup Cruise Automation last year to help it develop autonomous vehicles, and now its expanding the companys operations.

GM plans to add more than 1,100 jobs and invest $14 million in a new research facility in San Francisco for Cruise Automation. The autonomous-driving tech company plans to move into the new facility by the end of this year, andhire the 1,100 new employees within five years, according to a GM statement.

Cruise will repurpose an existing facility in San Francisco, which GM says will more than double its research and development space. The California Office of Business and Economic Development, known as Go-Biz is giving GM and Cruise an $8 million tax credit for the new facility.

GM and Cruise personnel are currently testing a fleet of automated Chevrolet Bolt EV electric cars on public streets in San Francisco, as well as Scottsdale, Arizona, and the Detroit metropolitan area. GM announced a major expansion of autonomous-car testing in its home city last year, after Michigans government approved new laws to encourage development of self-driving cars.

Unlike rival Ford, GM has not confirmed a timeline for the launch of a fully autonomous production car. But it may follow a similar strategy to Ford, which plans to use its self-driving car for ridesharing services only. GM already has a relationship with Lyft, and offers carsharing services through its own Maven brand in certain markets.

The use of self-driving cars in sharing services is considered more economically attractive than simply selling them to individual consumers. It also gives companies a greater degree of control over this new technology as it rolls out. But before autonomous ride sharing or car sharing can happen on a large scale, that technology must be perfected.

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GM's Cruise Automation autonomous-driving subsidiary is about to grow - Digital Trends

Building a better model of human-automation interaction Science Daily In his February Human Factors paper, "Intuitive Cognition and Models of Human-Automation Interaction," Robert Earl Patterson found that current taxonomies used to classify systems or teams of humans and computers include only conscious, ...

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Building a better model of human-automation interaction - Science Daily

St Pauls in Adelaide has changed plenty over the years. The bluestone facade, lancet windows and sloping roof of this 19th century Anglican chapel suggest yet another house of worship in Australias city of churches but it hasnt been that for over 30 years.

In the decades since God left the building, St Pauls has been converted into a secular community centre, a hedonistic nightclub, and lately trades as a South Australian government-backed co-working space.

Yet, those seeking salvation are undeterred. The growing number of homeless people left behind by Adelaides rapidly de-industrialising economy still occasionally wander inside, thinking it a place of sanctuary.

Theyd be right, just not in the sense they were expecting.

Within the sermon hall and the labyrinth of corridors beneath, developers stagger around with virtual reality headsets wrapped around their faces, designers and engineers hunch over 3D printers, musicians hone their digital marketing strategies, and tech heads lounge in leather bound chairs debating the internet of things beneath stained glass windows.

Within St Pauls Creative Centre these people have found a refuge from the economic headwinds pummelling Adelaides closing car factories, shuttered retail businesses and abandoned offices.

If I dont know how to code, Im going to be screwed in the next few years.

Many of the buildings new congregation are working in industries or with technologies that didnt exist a couple of years ago, such as Ben Tripodi, the managing director of MIK Health. Tripodi boasts a rather hectic CV that encompasses work with mental health, digital marketing, cutting-edge bike part design, nutrition, development of high-tech sports garments, not to mention an athletic career that inspired most of his bright ideas. He has co-founded three businesses in three different sectors, and won a medley of awards in recognition of his innovative capacity. Despite all that, Tripodi fears being left behind.

If I dont know how to code, Im going to be screwed in the next few years, he says.

It is nothing remarkable that someone with so much professional experience is reskilling, but Tripodi is not some middle-aged veteran trying to keep up with the new wave of talent at 24 years of age, he is the new talent.

It was only 2015 when Tripodi graduated from his bachelor of health sciences at Flinders University the last couple of years part-time so he could tend to his business ventures and since then he has completed four more courses online and developed new professional skills from conferences, networking and a digital mountain of books queued up on his Kindle.

Tripodi might teeter at the leading edge of several emerging industries but, like many of those working around him at St Pauls, he is always looking to leap to the next rising sector as the ones behind him fall away: a work model that futurists predict will become the norm for us all as technology advancements continue to accelerate. Welcome to the fourth industrial revolution: the economy of always learning.

Staying still is more likely than ever to result in obsolescence, as indicated by a report released last month by consultancy firm PwC, which estimated 30% of British jobs could be automated by 2030.

As professionals need to update their skills more frequently than ever, so too the education sector is evolving to cater to a new state of affairs in which young people are projected to have 17 jobs over five different careers, according to the Foundation for Young Australians 2015 report, The New Work Order.

That doesnt mean existing models of education are no longer relevant Tripodi credits his degree in health science with teaching him not just the skills of that particular sector, but the kind of capabilities that will enable him to continue to learn and develop on his own. Studying at a forward-thinking education body such as Flinders University meant he was able to take advantage of additional learning opportunities beyond a mere degree. These included the universitys New Venture Institute that linked him up with other aspiring entrepreneurs, provided him with mentoring by established businesspeople and opened up access to engineering and office facilities. It was at NVI that he established his bike component business, seeking to engage companies that had excess capacity after losing work in Adelaides declining car industry.

After finishing his degree, Tripodi is still working with Flinders University on new projects. This includes his current work with MIK Health, which is developing machine learning processes that undertake sentiment analysis of workers to confidentially assess their mental health, and allows companies to ensure they arent putting too much demand on their workforce.

To deliver this, Tripodi is drawing on his existing health and business skillset and making the most of the tech-proficient people hes met through NVI and St Pauls, the latter of which he joined through working for digital agency Made In Katana, the majority owner of his health venture.

Our generation is really pro-mental health, and I think mental health is ripe to be disrupted, no one is really building anything like this, he says.

If he was relying on the skill set he obtained out of university alone, Tripodis new venture would have been hard for him to imagine, but the online courses he completed after graduating have granted new skills. He is currently studying coding so he can communicate better with the technical side of his team, and says the ability to learn online suits his busy lifestyle.

It is convenient, because you can do it in your own time, he says.

Its there for you, you dont have to rock up to a classroom anywhere, you dont need to wait for someone to teach you, its there whenever you want to access it, 24/7. Its the most convenient learning youll ever get, its just whether you can motivate yourself to do it. Universities are going to start to change their approach at the end of the day people are rushed and want to learn more quickly in a quick amount of time.

Susan Drew, the senior regional director at Hays recruitment, says the projected impacts of the fourth industrial revolution are already being realised. The agency has noticed workers changing roles increasingly rapidly, with many in the manufacturing and finance sectors losing their roles to automation and outsourcing.

She says it is not all forced, however, with Gen Y workers preferring to move around, and employers seeking people with more diverse experiences. The organisations are more accepting of the fact they are getting real value from someone in a very different industry One area in particular is we are seeing not-for-profits looking for candidates with an industry focus.

Drew says a university degree remains important, but of increasing value is a CV brimming with examples of lifelong learning. Candidates have to be involved in professional development, she says.

It is easier than ever for people to demonstrate that want and desire to continually develop by online training, but it doesnt have to be formal networking, being part of groups on social media, following certain people on Ted Talks, broadening day to day knowledge anything to demonstrate that want and desire to improve and develop to be at the forefront of technology.

What is clear is that a generation used to on-demand media content services such as Youtube and Netflix are increasingly wanting the same from their education services binge-learning new skills just as they binge-watch their favourite shows, rather than waiting for a university degree to dole out information the way a TV station drip-feeds content to a set schedule.

Online learning has been a staple of the internet since it first blinked into existence, but from corporations such as Microsoft offering up courses that teach the skills they want potential job candidates to have, to Apple rolling out educational offerings on iTunes, today the options are almost endless.

Some millennials have taken it upon themselves to create formalised education systems they feel best suit the needs of their world. A case in point is 30-year-old entrepreneur Adam Brimo, the co-founder and chief executive of Australian startup Openlearning, one of the medley of platforms hosting Moocs (massive open online courses) that have exploded in popularity over the past half-decade.

OpenLearning itself has grown from 150,000 to 750,000 enrolments over the past two years, and from 500 to over 3,000 courses in the same timeframe. Courses can involve video lectures, interaction with teachers and online readings, often for free or at a fraction of the cost of a traditional degree.

Brimo says the most popular subjects are entrepreneurship, cybersecurity, teacher training and creative arts.

OpenLearning provides the platform for educators to upload their courses, as well as expert advice on how to effectively design an online learning tool, the necessary documentation and online customer service. Many people today are looking to learn new skills, however they dont have the time or patience to complete an entire qualification. Therefore, they are looking for courses that can be completed in weeks or months, rather than years, he says.

Our learning designers are experienced teachers who help educators convert their face-to-face course materials into engaging, active online learning experiences for students.

Openlearning has had particular success in Malaysia, where last year it assisted the national government in rolling out the worlds first national guidelines on credit transfer for Moocs to ensure such courses were as valuable as a conventional education.

A raft of universities now allow Mooc course credits to count towards their final degree, with the UKs Open University and the University of Leeds two of the latest examples to make the leap.

Free study for students is obviously appealing, but how are they economically sustainable for the provider? For Openlearning, the answer is a model thats free to study, but students pay for the certification.

To help his system flourish, Brimo would like to see governments update how they support students.

Most government funding and support schemes for higher education are centred around entire qualifications, thereby allowing students to complete entire degrees without paying any money upfront, he says.

While this is great, it has led to universities and education providers charging upfront fees for individual courses. Therefore, the immediate out-of-pocket costs of a single course are higher than for an entire university degree. Government should consider whether they should provide support or funding for individual, accredited courses in addition to entire degrees.

Openlearning is just one of a plethora of Mooc platforms, with the global leaders including Udemy, FutureLearn and Coursera. Mooc aggregator Class Central last year estimated over 500 universities offer such courses for an estimated 35 million students.

At first, leading academic institutions saw Moocs as a kind of taster to lure students into a full degree, but today many also see them as a tool to help continue relationships with alumni after theyve graduated.

One of the platforms preferred by elite universities is edX, founded by Harvard University and MIT in 2012, which today has grown to include courses from 110 different education providers, including as of last year Oxford University.

The University of Queensland is also on board, having had 1.5m registrations since the institutions first Mooc was uploaded onto edX in 2014.

UQx director John Zornig says the boom in popularity of online learning is reflective of a changing work environment: Having been in the IT industry most of my career, I appreciate the need to keep learning if you want to stay relevant and have access to good employment opportunities.

Today, Moocs are impacting the post-university workforce more than they are pre-university students. I see it everyday in the demographics of our Mooc learners. The fact that the courses are accessible for free means that the barrier to having a look is very low.

He says they even keep old versions of courses available in online archives, with learners still using content that was replaced in 2014.

What I tell students is that they have two options after university: apply for a job, or create their own.

They have integrated those courses into their personal library of knowledge and now dip into it whenever they need to check the accuracy of their memory or to look for an answer to a problem they are facing, he says. This is very different to the common practice of just googling for info. Many Moocs are also forming lasting social networks among learners who connect around the subject matter.

The University of Queensland or UQ as it prefers to be branded these days is not just updating its online presence to better cater to the needs of the modern economy: it is also scrambling to reshape its in-person options.

Nimrod Klayman is the director of the UQ Idea Hub, a startup incubator that seeks to kickstart the careers of entrepreneurs in a similar fashion to how the New Venture Institute launched Tripodis career in Adelaide. He says the hub has attracted registrations from high school students right through to UQ alumni already working in the corporate world.

The program is structured around workshops and Q&A sessions with successful entrepreneurs, cultivating businesses in areas as diverse as drone development, distilleries, food science, automation, financial technology and safety equipment.

What I tell students is that they have two options after university: apply for a job, or create their own, he says. We leave students to work on their idea, they need to present progress each year, go do market validation, find customers, and present a minimum viable product ready for sale.

Universities have always been in a state of evolution the last century alone seeing a transformation of once-stuffy intellectual fortresses for the upper classes into thrumming hotbeds of activism, free thought and formative life experiences, before straightening out into todays professional job-factories. Are they now on a path to becoming providers of online self-help courses that occasionally host on-campus pep talks from corporate successes?

Anne Knock, the director of development at the Sydney Centre for Innovation in Learning, thinks there are certain fundamentals that education institutions will need to retain as they evolve. Moocs havent been the great salvation everyone hyped them to be education is predominantly a relationship activity, she says.

According to Knock, online education is useful for surface learning, which provides the tools to delve into deep learning. What Im finding with universities is because students can access coursework online, theyve discovered places for social learning are equally important, she says.

The question is how do we create an environment where students want to come to campus you cant negate the fact that face-to-face learning is a social activity.

She notes that lifelong learning has never been so important as now, with the projected redundancies from automation in particular requiring a change in focus in what is taught.

What we really need to be focusing on is a sense of being creative in our learning, not locking into one job for the rest of your life. You need a range of skills, she says, pausing for a moment.

The job for life era has truly past.

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Seventeen jobs, five careers: learning in the age of automation - The Guardian