27 Jan 2022

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How can companies provide training for using smart machines?

There has been a major upheaval in the manufacturing industry in recent years. It is because customer expectations have been growing rapidly because of the coming up of the startups.

Reshoring is causing production to shift at home

Also, companies face increased pressure of reshoring, i.e., bringing the production back home. Thanks to the pandemic, it became tough to hire workers in other countries. The demand has also considerably reduced due to which it’s no longer feasible to operate production facilities everywhere. In 2022 reshoring will be a norm rather than just a response to the pandemic. Also, due to the pandemic cutting down production in different locations, companies can no longer choose offshoring and hence want to produce close to home. Hence, the companies have to keep pace with such changes accordingly. The manufacturing sector is largely driven by demand, due to which sometimes urgent hiring needs to be done to pace up with such changes. The companies have to adopt machines installed with sensors because competitors use the same. Hence, simulations will be needed to teach employees how to use such machines. A major use of such smart machines is happening in inventory management because, due to the pandemic, companies have been facing a precarious situation.

Smart mining

Mining is also an industry where smart machines play an important role because the human entrance into the mines is eliminated. Smart mining is one concept where no humans enter the mining area, and robots and autonomous vehicles are left to do the job. Such machines reduce the fatalities to nil, and carbon emissions are null.

A smart machine is getting used popularly in companies now. They include devices such as cars and robots, which don’t require any assistance from humans to finish anything delegated to them. These machines impart a lot of competitive advantage to businesses because they allow a cut in operating costs. Smart machines are also getting used because of the high access to systems such as the internet, due to which large data transfer is possible between different manufacturing facilities. Also, the data storage capabilities of businesses have multiplied over the years.

Unlike ordinary machines, smart machines have better cognitive capabilities and can be programmed with artificial intelligence-based algorithms to make decisions. These machines are endowed with special capabilities such as voice recognition, natural language processing, etc. They can analyze human instructions.

Scheduling of preventive maintenance

Smart machines can help humans by minimizing the downtime caused due to equipment failure. When companies get the privilege of predictive maintenance on machines, they can eliminate downtime and prevent material wastage caused due to it. They can help schedule their maintenance so that no harm is caused to machine breakdown. Since these machines have sensors, they can collect and share data with a control system, leading to faster decision-making. They also reduce the need for human intervention and help take timely action in circumstances where a delay can cause losses. Hence, any production stoppage is handled in time.

Lack of accidents

Smart machines are built with security considerations in mind, and hence they can prevent operators’ accidents. Such machines minimize the risk of accidents because they ensure complete adherence to the safety norms.

Since these smart cameras are empowered with AI-enabled video analytics, they help businesses ensure maximum employee safety, such as workers wearing PPE kits while handling dangerous chemicals. Such cameras help detect smoke emanating from a machine on time so that no fire-related accidents are there. These cameras are even faster than the traditional fire detectors in discovering a potential fire because they use thermal imaging technology.

With the pandemic playing havoc, companies have to use such machines due to the nonavailability of labor. The companies can do remote monitoring without anyone present on-site through such machines. The operator can check the entire site’s operations through these machines, allowing a safe work routine mandated by the pandemic.

With such machines increasingly used by companies, the new hires have to be trained quickly in using them so that they don’t face any issues. Hence, using an LMS is mandatory for companies to train such employees. Besides learning how to use such machines, the recruits also learn about the vision and policies of the company. The companies can’t afford any delays in the onboarding training of such employees because that means a delay in fulfilling customers’ demands.

How can employees be trained to use such machines?

Employees should be given proper training to operate such machines. Training in Artificial Intelligence skills can address skill shortage in this sector. The companies have to understand that the employee has to be trained in using such smart machines. A large majority of companies agree that there is an absence of skills in employees for handling such machines. The companies can’t impart such training because employees don’t have time for it and the former also lack a budget. But they can’t avoid any more delay if they want to stay in the race. Companies also have to understand that reskilling employees to use such machines has to be done on a large scale throughout the enterprise, rather than only for a smaller workforce section.

Data literacy must be essentially taught to the employees when working with such machines. Since such machines generate a lot of data, the employee must analyze such data based on their requirement. It involves concluding data as per the company policies.

The employee also needs to convert data into a usable form so that there are no errors. Raw data is generated by the machines and hence employees have to ensure that it’s free from any errors. It’s because when any erroneous data is uploaded to the control center,it can lead to wrong conclusions.

It is the companies’ job to ensure that all AI-based training is properly given to interact with smart machines.

Although humans can work with autonomous machines like driverless cars, there can be accidents, and to avoid them, they have to be trained.

The employees have to be trained on how to use machines like maintaining a distance from them during certain tasks, and animations can help them get a better idea. Simulations by the machine manufacturers can be given to employees prepared to have a clear idea about how to react in certain situations with the machine.

The companies can use screencasts for simulations, but they are no longer handy when the software changes. Hence, the employees should be given practice sessions on the real software of the machine. During these sessions, the hardware must not be attached to the machine so that no accidents are caused due to the operator’s faults.

Hence, companies can impart training to ensure employees learn how to work with smart machines.

26 May 2021

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What can be the problems in RPA?

Robotic process automation has taken over the world when the companies have a lesser workforce to work with now because of the pandemic.

But there are some risks involved with it also.

Implementation risks

Companies should understand what to implement in an RPA project. The RPA project should be executed by subject matter experts because they understand the nature of repetitive jobs. Only such jobs can be automated. Apart from them, employees can also be consulted about which jobs should be automated or not.

There are often mistakes done by companies when they are trying to implement RPA. The first mistake is that they don’t understand that these are large-scale projects. The companies must know that they require a huge infrastructure to maintain RPA bots. The companies should not think that they can give the tasks of human beings to bots so easily. The task of setting up the infrastructure and making the bots do the work is a mammoth task. The companies, hence need continuous IT support to make the RPA infrastructure work.

Firstly the companies should have done proper planning for installing RPA. It’s because there can be big economic losses when the bots don’t work properly.

Risks in security

There can also be risks in security when RPA is implemented by a company. Major data breaches are not a possibility when this technology is implemented. This is because the technology of RPA is not penetrating the data layers of the company. However, security is still a concern with this technology because data access can still happen because humans involved in this technology can misuse administrative privileges. They can access the systems without proper privileges through bots.

Robotic process automation can also cause problems when the passwords are exchanged. Then, there can be problems in terms of unauthorized access to networks and computers. Sometimes, users who have better privileges than others can also get passwords misusing their powers. Therefore, protecting the RPA systems is necessary. The passwords of the RPA bots can be stolen by someone hence the companies have proper security guidelines in place.

Everyone can’t access a bot

Every bot must have proper credentials so that no one can access them easily. Humans must not be able to access them. Their credentials should be stored safely because the scripts of bots can contain usernames and passwords in them. In fact, every human trying to access them must go through proper two-factor authentication.

RPA enforcement

There should also only be limited account permissions given to the robots. There should not be complete access to systems given to them. They should only have minimum tasks listed for them. The robots should not be able to write values in a database rather than only read them.

21 Apr 2021

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Why should companies shift to Robotic process automation?

Ever since technology has taken over the world, everyone is worried that the bots will start doing the jobs of human beings. But bots are just able to make simple decisions. These decisions include if something happens, what to do next. The bots can cause so many enhancements in productivity because they do tasks that are monotonous for human beings. For example, bots do tasks like taking simple decisions based on what they see on an input screen.

They make a decision based on that input and then enter some data on another input screen.

The main reason why bots are deployed is that enterprise applications are needed in a company. However, this requires information has to be moved between legacy software and a modern-day application. So shifting information manually is an easier task as compared to using application programming interfaces to integrate two different kinds of software.

Robots don’t make mistakes

Robotic process automation(RPA) also makes sure that the processes which are prone to error by human beings are carried out correctly.

Apart from that, the robots can also rework a process without getting bored. Robots also follow all rules with complete accuracy. The capability of an organization is increased multifold when robots are used. There is no human laziness factor involved which can happen when they have to work long hours.

No intrusion

RPA does not intrude on the way the current software is getting operated. Moreover, the results delivered by robots are consistent all the time.

Better analytics

The company gets better process results when the robots are used to carry out tasks. This is because they execute tasks with accurate results. So, the entire company benefits from correct data and can take better decisions.

Better employee productivity

RPA makes sure employees don’t have to do monotonous tasks any more. They can focus on more intelligent tasks such as interacting with customers and clients. They can give a better output than robots when doing such tasks. So, instead of chatbots interacting with customers, humans do which leads to better customer satisfaction and repeat business. When companies are delegating data entry and processing to robots, they are making them do what they are good at. The goodwill of the company improves when their calls are handled by human beings instead of robots who cant answer complex questions. Making robots answer the calls is like using IVR(Interactive voice response) to handle them.

When RPA is handling the calls, the humans have to choose one option from the different options IVR presents to them. So, if the customer is having a trivial problem, then the call is not passed to a human call operator rather a chatbot handles it. This is the solution to ordinary problems where the chatbot has been fed with the solution.

Checking of data stored in different systems

RPA makes sure that the data from various systems are compared and then integrated. When the data is compared, then the different processes can be easily carried out. Some processes don’t have to put on hold for lack of data.

So, these are the advantages of using RPA in a company.

20 Apr 2021

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What are the advantages of robotic process automaton?

There have been a lot of changes in technology ever since the Covid19 pandemic happened. Robotic process automation is one of them. It has been there for a long time.

Robotic process automation is used for creating software robots that copy human beings while dealing with digitized systems.

These robots use artificial intelligence to work as human beings. These robots have been programmed to understand what’s happening on a computer screen and hence browse through the systems. So, these robots are a kind of digital workers. They can also take actions just like human beings based on data shown on screen. Just like humans they also note down the important data from the screen. The best part is that unlike human assistants these robots don’t feel bored with their work and don’t need any kind of breaks.

Can take over human tasks

When artificial intelligence is made a part of Robotic process automation it can have further benefits. Using artificial intelligence robots have a complete idea of what to do with the information. So they can get figures from an invoice and if they have been programmed for artificial intelligence can forward it to human beings if the figures are within certain limits.

RPA first started getting used in different industries such as telecoms, government and financial sectors. But, now it is getting used across sectors for common tasks such as taking care of invoices and making sure that customer service is handled. So, the task set for this kind of technology is that they happen again and again and have an anticipated nature.

The basic need for RPA was to see that human actions on a computer like mouse strokes could be copied. But now it has become more advanced and it can copy the more advanced actions of human users on computers.

For data movement between applications

Human data entry is an easy prospect with the help of robots. This is because applications have different requirements for data. So, data can be moved from one application to another with the help of robotic process automation. It’s because it can be costly to convert data to another form suited for another application. But the entire data can be entered into different fields compatible with a different application through robotic process automation.

Sorting of data

There are some processes within a business that need RPA. For example, processes that need the collection of data. Also, some processes have standardized data operating behind them and work with a certain set of rules so robots can handle them better than human beings. So, this way when robots are used for business processes, they can yield better results. For example, some processes require that data is sorted as per text for this purpose, robots can sort data based on the speech-to-text facility. They can also sort data based on the optical character recognition technology leading to saving time in business processes. So, the time to send services to the market also moves for a business. This kind of speech recognition technology is useful in translation services.

The best part about RPA is that these software robots don’t err. Human beings can work poorly because they might be having a bad day. But this not the case with robots that never respond badly.

So, this is how robotic process automation is useful in moder
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