Automation Use Cases

FountainBlue’s October 9, 2020 VIP Roundtable: Automation Use Cases

FountainBlue’s October 9 VIP roundtable was on the topic of ‘Automation Use Cases’, conducted online with introductory remarks provided by our host company at Automation Anywhere. Below are notes from the conversation.

We were fortunate to have a diverse range of executives in attendance who shared a wide range of perspectives across organizations, across industries, across roles, across teams. 

It was exhilarating and exciting to hear of all the automation use cases envisioned, designed and implemented across industries by some smart, collaborative innovators and leaders. The future is bright for continued advancements in automation, providing more efficient, more effective support and information. Fundamental to the success of automation use cases is an understanding of:

• the needs of the customer
• the origination of, type of, format of and volume of the data produced
• the processes underlying the solutions
• the desired efficiency and effectiveness goal of the automation
• the role of collaboration in the automation
• AI to rapid process the volumes of available data and understand trends

One of the challenges for producing effective automation use cases is the latency involved in getting the right information to the right places/location/software/person. As we move from 4G to 5G, the latency get better addressed (going from 50 to 1 millisecond). Strategies for minimizing that latency were proposed.

Below is a list of potential innovations around automation.

• Documenting transfer of property and information from one party to another
• Humans training robots how to do what they do on the manufacturing floor for example
• Further integration of 360 and other sophisticated cameras to better understand status before and after an event
• Bridge between the AI which understands the data of the now/past to the Machine Learn – predicting a trend/action/pattern/event based on past data
• Move between just the collection of data (what temperature is it) to the second degree of sensors which summarizes what a collection of data could mean and alerts the user (temperature plus respiration plus oxygen might mean infection)

Below are some best practices for producing automation use cases.

• Test each software and hardware element independently and collectively.
• Automate things that need to be frequently measured, processed in detail, etc.,
• Provide actionable dashboards for the user.
• Curate and collect data quickly and efficiently, filtering out what’s irrelevant.
• Protect the privacy of users, but gather the aggregated data to make decisions, inform users, etc.,
• Frequently track the time-to-value for your own company, and for your clients.
• Figure out what’s true data, and only include the data that’s true within the offering you’re providing.

The discussion turned to the role of humans in automation use cases (process automation vs attended automation). We concluded that humans will never be obsolete and we listed specific circumstances where humans are needed.

• Humans will have to be the decision-maker/fall-guy (or girl). This can not be delegated to a robot or hardware or software.
• Humans decide what data is important and how important for what scenarios. In other words, the automation use case is generally designed by humans.
• Humans need to evaluate the automation use case and make improvements. 
• Humans define how to make the customer experience valuable for each type of customer – something which may not be inherently logical.
• Humans have the creativity to solve a problem whose solution is not logical.
• Humans know best how to bring the joy and passion to other humans.
• Humans will have empathy for other humans, something difficult to program in. 

We conclude by looking at hybrid models, where humans and robots with hardware and software elements are fully integrated. What would it take to make this happen? 

All industries, all companies, all people will be progressively impacted in ways big and small by automation. Embrace this reality and do your own part in leading and innovating so automation is well integrated into your work and life. And while you’re doing it, make sure you’re focusing on the ‘human’ problems, not just the business opportunities which are profitable for some.

Please join me in thanking our hosts at Automation Anywhere, and our participating executives.

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