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Utilizing the combined forces of Industry 4.0 and Intelligent Automation

Mar 4, 2022 | 2 min read

Author

Frida Kjidderö

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Driving business transformation
The fourth Industrial Revolution, or Industry 4.0 as it’s more commonly known continues to extend capabilities of operational effectiveness, information transparency, and process interconnectivity within the manufacturing industry.

The introduction of connected technologies opens a world of possibility for intelligent automation to both support the digitalization journey of traditional manufacturing firms as well as re­engineering value creation and driving business transformation.

The use of connected technologies provides a deep level of insight into the interactions and processes of an organization and its product lifecycles through advanced data gathering, creating a foundation to build analytical capabilities. The ecosystem expansion that the Internet of Things (loT) brings also spurs the possibility for stakeholders to collaboratively share data and perform joint ventures to accelerate intelligent automation efforts. As a result, the levels of strategizing, decision making, and change management are elevated, which enables organizations to gracefully move into co-creation of value.

A powerhouse of value creation
The combination of loT and intelligent automation can create a powerhouse of value creation capability. Connected products and their journey through the ecosystem can tell us much about changes needed in logistics and processes which increases the capacity to make informed decisions. It also enables the visualization of data into stories of the organization’s internal workings and can enhance the client experience.

This is where Process Mining comes into its own by finding and adjusting organizational bottlenecks. By deploying process mining, it’s possible to create data-driven visualizations at an operational and performance level. Automation initiatives can then be prioritized and implemented.

Other automation capabilities extend to using input from sensors in loT products to trigger RPA tasks. Automating maintenance tasks or taking necessary measures based on input allows manufacturers to act quickly on time-sensitive tasks. Furthermore, it can utilize data and triggers from user input to better the customer experience and quality of delivery by instantly acting on customer needs. This can be used to speed up current processes as well as innovate new processes to improve the quality of performance and maintenance through the lifecycle of a product.

An extension of this is to use the input from the sensors for predictive analysis through Al to support innovation and re-engineering of a product or service over time.

Tailoring your automation journey
A good place to start an automation journey is to get a clear view of the goals, what value it should provide, and for whom. It can start as a minor polishing of the status quo, a change in core processes, or a complete reengineering of the ways of working. Much can be gained by analyzing overall strategy and automation potential in the organization, to see how both humans and robots can thrive. The important part is that it’s strategically aligned, organizationally anchored, and data driven.
The journey is more than merely technical implementation – the organizational readiness to embrace these changes also affects the outcome. To properly know where to start combining intelligent automation and loT might be tricky, but one journey can enhance the other where 1+1 can be 10.

Sources and references:
Centerholt, V., Kjidderö, F., Saarikko, T., & Grahn, S. (2020). Value Chains vs. Ecosystems: Current Perspectives Among Swedish SMEs Entering the Interconnected World of loT. SPS2020, 489-500.

Data Sharing is a Business Necessity. Gartner, 2021

Top Five Business Trends in Manufacturing. Gartner, 2021

Bringing Insights to a World of IoT Data. Automation Anywhere, 2020

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