Automation Transformation of Current Classical Organizations
The word “robot” conjures up images of famous Hollywood humanoid characters, but robot is the combination of science, engineering and technology that produces machines called “robots”, that imitates human actions. Generally, robots are mechanical devices programmed to perform specific constant functions. They are regularly used to carry out many tasks that people don’t want to do because such jobs are boring, dirty or dangerous like (restaurants, military, crime fighting, medicine, education, ...etc.) [1]. However, publicity of robotics effect has exceeded the information about how automation completely affects employment and wages, especially robots which do not need humans to operate.
The question here is “Do robots impact our lives disruptively? or will they be able to improve our living standards?”. There’s no doubt that COVID-19 has raised an urgency of different size organizations within all industries to change the way they work, and that is not restricted to the adoption of online video conferencing [2]. Based on the findings of a study in May 2019 of 502 executives conducted, a majority of business executives about 93% consider the automation as a primary step of steering to digital transformation of business. This is in line with the idea of ‘automation’ as the key to making digital transformation a reality. However, realizing the possibility of automation through a commitment to improve robot process automation (RPA) technology does not compulsorily translate to leveraging RPA technology to fully digitize the business [3].
Including new technologies in the last few decades like artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), and robotic process automation (RPA) that substituted humans in industries and organizations has been a permanent attention and an increasing topic for discussion [4,5]. A lot of attention tends to be paid to the effect they will have on the workplace, instead of the benefits that they could bring to people’s daily lives [6]. A recently published paper in [7] by Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo, finds out that industrial robots do have a negative influence on workers. According to researchers, about 400,000 jobs were lost as a result of adding one robot for every 1000 workers. This led to a reduction in the wage’s ratio to 0.42%, and the employment-to-population ratio low by 0.2 percentage points. Specifically, the areas where robots are deployed are more affected with RPA, adding one robot leads to a reduction in job opportunities for six workers in that area [8].
Despite the worries of some people that robots could cause a threat to workers' employment, automation can boost progress in companies. This happens if it is used correctly and appropriately; when companies use automation tools to increase productivity and quality through the use of robots, software and artificial intelligence. Throughout time, automation enhances the skill and efficiency of human labour in the creativity and precision of work. Therefore, to speed up digital transformation effectively, enterprises have to reconsider outcomes processes that customers are looking for. Companies should combine with its DPA (that is based on a proven business process management (BPM)) the promise of emerging technologies such as AI and RPA to fulfil results at scale. They must adopt Agile approaches and drawing thinking the advantages of low-code process to drive business and IT together [2].
Figure 1. RPA to enhance user experience [9].
Eventually, there is an urgent need for efforts to publicize knowledge of automation, highlight its benefits, and thus encourage and sustain digital transformation. The growth of transformation in digital processes within your entire organization is supported by a human perspective, where automation is valuable primarily because it allows your workforce to perform more valuable jobs, and thus feel more satisfied with their jobs .
References:
https://sciencing.com/robots-used-in-everyday-life-12084150.html . https://comptechco.com/business-process-automation-in-the-new-normal/ https://www.cigen.com.au/5-ways-to-scale-rpa-and-transform-your-organisation/ https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/a-new-study-measures-actual-impact-robots-jobs-its-significant Cees Visser, Lidl neemt verlies van half miljard op SAP-project , COMPUTABLE,https://www.computable.nl/artikel/nieuws/erp/6464719/250449/lidl-neemt-verlies-van-half-miljard-op-sap-project.html, 2018. https://martechseries.com/mts-insights/guest-authors/4-ways-robots-will-improve-standard-living/ Daron Acemoglu and Pascual Restrepo, “Robots and Jobs: Evidence from US Labor Markets” , Journal of Political Economy, 2020, vol. 128, no. 6. https://mitsloan.mit.edu/ideas-made-to-matter/a-new-study-measures-actual-impact-robots-jobs-its-significant
Mark Dekker, Sebastiaan van der Meulen, Liudmila Cherenkova, and Martijn Cligge, “Address functional and technical challenges during SAP implementation projects with RPA” , KPMG Technology, 2019.
Mateen Naser Alobaidy