Yes, automation has made its presence felt but with the pandemic that shook the entire world, organizations are now forced to rethink as to how will they proceed further. Even though the vaccine rollout promises returning back to normalcy, it definitely doesn't mean that we will return to business as usual. All this has made organizations look forward to exploring options in digital transformation, automation and artificial intelligence like never before. Some areas can surely see these being implemented in the coming days considering the fact how swiftly the pandemic forced us to change the way we look at life.

Robotics

The pandemic led to a complete lockdown at least for a few days in a majority of countries. Also, with stricter rules pertaining to what activities are allowed and what are restricted, most of the manufacturing units saw a temporary shutdown. However, the fact that these units do require deep cleaning and also extra maintenance of equipment was something that couldn't be compromised on. This made the units rely on advanced robotics to get their work done. Now that the pandemic made people realize that everything is uncertain, automation has garnered attention like never before.

Digital workplace

Prior to the pandemic, workplaces were all about people bustling around and working together to get the targets achieved. But now, we get to see a completely different scenario. Needless to say, most organizations now are inclined towards a digital working environment. From collaboration tools like Zoom, MS Teams, etc. to automation tools (intelligent automation, financial process automation and enterprise output management), all of these now form an integral form of our lives. Organizations are trying every possible way to balance out both, employee productivity as well as customer satisfaction.

DNA encoding

This is something that almost all organizations have to deal with. Rather than following the traditional methods, opting for automation will make the entire process smarter, faster, cheaper, and of course better.

Dealing with limited supply

No one can ever forget how the pandemic left us in shortage of supplies be it food, toiletries, etc. Uncertainty and unpredictability are what led to this. However, automation serves to the savior here. The use of robotics to correlate inventory data with POS, warehouse management and order management systems will most likely see a huge demand in the days to come.

The shift to Industry 4.0 solutions

The solutions which mainly talk about connectivity, advanced analytics, intelligent business process automation and advanced manufacturing technologies started way before. But the fact that they gained momentum during the COVID-19 pandemic cannot be overlooked upon. On the same lines, it is very much possible that they will accelerate at a rapid pace even after the pandemic as companies look to build resilience and at the same time improve their operations, production efficiency, customer service, and also end-to-end supply chain transparency.

5G data wave

With 5G that is set to rule the world in the days ahead, it will open up many doors of opportunities. It'll enable companies to transmit, collect and analyse the data (greater than ever). This ultimately would result in formulating better business strategies and decision-making. AI will be the key for achieving document/data classification, sentiment analysis and content extraction as well.

Automation not just improves productivity but also enhances both employees as well as customer experience. Gone are the days when automation was considered to be a thing of the future – it is here and will continue to stay. Also, with uncertainties like the pandemic that turned the world upside down, people are now stepping into the world of automation. Well, better late than never!