Willing but unready
INTELLIGENT AUTOMATION
Aye , robots Intelligent automation can take many forms , and the question of what , exactly , the term entails is a topic Dwight Klappich often encounters . In his role as Research Vice President and Gartner Fellow , Gartner , and an authority on emerging technologies in supply chain management strategy , he defines intelligent automation as “ some combination of cyber , physical and digital system ”. Here the IA journey can help level out the balancing act of moving beyond large-scale automation . Purpose built infrastructure , bolted to the floor is enormously efficient at its task , but when demands require even small deviations , they are simply too rigid .
“ There ’ s still place for large-scale ,” Klappich says . “ But now , with the use of mobile robots , we can introduce automation at a much lower cost , and accelerate the time to value - the payoff . A conventional system might eventually bring the variable cost per unit down to zero , but that could take as long as , for instance , seven years to realise . Robots , on the other hand , can be up and running in months , and the payback might be only a year later . A client I was speaking to recently expects its fleet to grow 4-5x in the next couple of years , and with how easy robots are to scale up or down , you need very little of that traditional large-scale investment to do that .”
But it ’ s not just about direct cost comparison ; modernised systems almost always squeeze at least a few cents the right way up the balance sheet . Instead , IA “ can impact revenue by enabling businesses to meet customer needs seamlessly and consistently , particularly during periods of uncertainty ,” says Wright .
This is as much about improving the experience for an organisation ’ s human
Willing but unready
60 +% of companies surveyed have plans to invest in Intelligent Automation However An equal 60 +% say they are not organisationally prepared for its adoption Gartner
68 March 2021