Digitizing Operations and Automating Processes

Choose your location to get a site experience tailored for you.

Machines can do what humans do: sense (with cheap data sensors), remember (with cloud and data lakes), make decisions (with AI and advanced analytics), provide inputs on-site (with mobile), and take action (utilizing robots and autonomous vehicles). Increasingly, all of this can be accomplished at a reasonable cost. Once developed, machine and AI-automated or augmented processes will outperform humans because they will be cheaper and more robust. Most important, the learning from these processes will be captured more systematically and effectively than is possible with human-only operations. The speed of learning will give organizations that adopt these processes a real competitive advantage.

As machine and AI processes take over company’s operations, the role of humans will change. Many new jobs will be created for people to design augmented/automated processes and continuously improve them. Over time, we expect to see a shift from processes operated by humans to processes designed and audited by humans. But for AI or advanced analytics to work well, they need a set of data on which to “train.”

Will Flexible-Cell Manufacturing Revolutionize Carmaking?

Product complexity is pushing conventional conveyor belts beyond their capabilities. Recent advances in Industry 4.0 technologies are making possible a more efficient approach to assembly.

READ THE REPORT

AI in the Factory of the Future

Tomorrow’s end-to-end manufacturing AI will think alongside—and sometimes ahead of—human coworkers. But ambitions for the technology far outstrip today’s reality.

READ THE REPORT

Artificial Intelligence

AI has made its way to the business world. What happens next?

Learn more about ai

Centralizing Digital Processes

To fully capture the benefits of AI and learning, and to make the economics of investing in technology work, companies will be pushed to adopt common, end-to-end processes around the world, supported by common technology platforms. The governance structures of these global processes and platforms will necessitate a more central and global structure as well.

It is inefficient (and often not economically possible) to continuously upgrade and improve massive numbers of small-scale systems. On the other hand, centralized processes can be improved, or monitored, or operated from anywhere in the world—offering the benefit of low-cost or superior talent regardless of where an operation is occurring.