Automation is basically the authorization of human control function to technical equipment. Automation is directly proportional to higher productivity, better product quality, short work hours of labor, higher production rate, better use of the products, and easy and hassle-free work. Automation now has the potential drop to change the daily work bodily function of everyone, from mineworker and landscape gardener to commercial banker, fashion graphic designer, welder, and CEOs to household works.
We are living in a new automation age in which robots and computers have not only taken over manual work but also have increased the capability to accomplish body processes that include subjective capabilities.
There is much debate about if workplace automation will lead the economy, but observers tend to agree on one thing- the trend is only gaining propulsion.
Automation is not something new to us. It started back with the evolution of human beings. Automation, propped up by artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML), is already having profound impacts on the lives we live, on a daily basis.
In this 21st century, where both men and women are working, automation has become an integral part of their lives. From preparing coffee to pasting spices, from switching off fans and lights to locking the doors, everything is just a click anyway. Our homes are getting ‘smarter’ as we tend to depend more on smart home appliances driven by the Internet of Things (IoT). Our home is safe when we are not there and alert us of breaching. We play our favorite music by just giving commands. Our home lives are benefiting from automation as routines become undeviating.
There is no denying that we are in the midst of a digital revolution that is rapidly changing our society and economy in vast ways. This takes me back to my history lessons of Industrial Revolution of 18th century. How hand-crafted products where replaced my machine-made products. People then inclined towards the latter as they were cheap and easily available (as they took less time for production), slowly boycotting the hand-made products as they were costly and the production was time consuming.
Despite its pros, the cons of automation are as follows:
• Work displacement
• High capital expenditure
• Automation technology will ultimately subjugate rather than serve humankind
Lastly, customers do not care about how much the company is innovative but rather rely on its outcomes. Similarly, they do not look for how automated the business is but how it helps to gain them better experience.