It would not be far-fetched to assume that we are moving from the digital age to the robotic age. Robotic process automation (RPA) has emerged as a transformative technology that is facilitating the continual evolution of the manufacturing business.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been heralding a revolution in the manufacturing industry by streamlining production processes, improving quality control, facilitating data-driven decisions and also by contributing towards optimising supply chain management. Robots can play a facilitative role in performing monotonous and error-prone tasks demanding long hours of sustained labour, by working with speed and devoid of human errors.
Various Applications
The edge of quality control can often make the difference between success and failure in today’s highly competitive manufacturing business. RPA has the potential to ensure better quality control in production by automating quality control processes, monitoring product defects, and carrying out real-time inspections. By automating data analysis and identifying anomalies in production line also RPA can enhance quality control.
Complex and even cumbersome supply chains are an important facet of today’s manufacturing industry. The application of RPA here can optimise supply chain management by automating order processing, tracking of shipment, and vendor management.
Then the role of RPA in facilitating data analytics also cannot be undermined. The role of data analytics has assumed critical importance in manufacturers’ strategic decision-making. RPA can automate data analysis, through gleaning valuable insights from production data and thereafter coming up with actionable reports.
No wonder, the role of robotic automation has been increasing across industries. According to a market analysis report titled Robotic Process Automation Market Size, Share & Trends Analysis Report By Type, By Application, By Deployment, By Organization, By Region, And Segment Forecasts, 2023-2030, the global robotic process automation market size was valued at 2.3 billion USD in 2022 and is projected to expand at an impressive CAGR of 39.9 percent from 2023 to 2030. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, businesses worldwide had to shift towards automating business workflow, which has helped accelerate the growth of robotic process automation during the forecast period.
The report states that RPA robots can also perform activities across different systems to get information on digital platforms. For instance, adopting RPA in the finance industry helps bank customers check account details online and process KYC verification, along with other functions, through the internet. Such services have resulted in reduced manual involvement and enabled the offering of improved customer experience.
RPA and AI
One of the innovative applications of RPA is to integrate it with artificial intelligence. RPA’s strength lies in handling routine tasks, which complemented by AI’s cognitive capabilities, has the potential to give immense momentum to efficiency and productivity. With the support of AI, robots can address more decision making and problem solving tasks, which enhances the scope of RPA.
We can also expect that increased capability of RPA solutions with the integration of AI technology will generate improved ROI, and reduced wage costs, among others. Unlocking the immense potential of AI-RPA combination can elevate manufacturing businesses to new heights. Moreover, with AI’s help, robots can safeguard your business from unauthorised digital access.
The above-mentioned report states that companies in the robotic process automation market have been collaborating to work towards offering enhanced RPA solutions in the market.
For instance, in March 2021, Google partnered with Automation Anywhere to make the Automation Anywhere platform available in the google cloud, enabling both companies to develop AI mutually and RPA-powered solutions. Such collaboration has helped the availability of better RPA solutions in the market, enabling wider adoption in the market.
Facilitating Cybersecurity
RPA can also be very much beneficial in alleviating the growing danger of cyber- attacks, which in this digital world has emerged as an omnipresent threat to businesses. It can act as an enabling tool towards more resilient cybersecurity solutions. Investigating cyber threats entails performing many repetitive tasks and workflows which the application of RPA can automate, thereby saving precious time of cybersecurity analysts and saving on human resource in the realm of cybersecurity.
According to Automation Anywhere, a San Jose-based global software company engaged in developing robotic process automation (RPA) software, software bots built for security can protect sensitive data, identify and strengthen vulnerabilities, and instantly shut down security risks. This keeps business processes running and keeps sensitive data from getting into the wrong hands. Additionally, using RPA for IT security maintains an audit trail, so the IT team can trace the source of vulnerabilities and data leakage.
Affecting Employment
In a futuristic scenario, we can perceive a much more efficient production process powered by software robots. However, the flip side of robotic process automation on the employment scenario cannot be overlooked.
A report of August 2022 by Forrester, a leading London-based market research company, forecasted that working populations in the five largest economies in Asia Pacific — India, China, South Korea, Australia, and Japan — were more at risk due to physical robot automation than Europe and North America.
The report predicted that by 2040, 63 million jobs were expected to be lost to automation, with more than 247 million jobs expected to be in jeopardy across industries that are more susceptible to automation, such as construction and agriculture. It also analysed that 69 percent of India’s jobs were under threat from automation.
Especially in a country like India, with its huge reserves of untapped human resource, we need to come up with a policy where robotic process automation doesn’t unduly disturb the already disturbed employment scenario.
