From thermostats and smart homes to autopilot and self-driving cars, automation is already very much present in our everyday lives. And since it is slowly becoming a buzzword, we have to ask ourselves one important question in order not to get lost in the meaningless business drivel: what exactly does it mean?
The meaning of automation
As for the term itself, automation describes a wide range of techniques that minimize or completely eliminate the need of human intervention. Broadly speaking, all tasks that are either too repetitive or too complex to be carried out by a human without failure or efficiency drop can be automated — all you need is the right technology. In the simplest cases, such as an automatic light switch circuit, a straightforward on-off control system might just do the trick. In the more complex ones, however, automation of a given process or task requires a whole different level of sophistication and expertise. Taking that into consideration, one might ask if it’s really worth the trouble. Well, there’s only one answer to this particular question and it reads as follows: yes, it definitely is.
The business value of automation
Not only does automation reduce the possibility of human error; it is also a key to improving any process’ efficiency, wether by simplifying, accelerating or plainly reducing its costs in terms of time and money. It’s also helpful in boosting productivity of employees, since, thanks to automation of tedious and repetitive tasks, they can concentrate on their core functions and gain more satisfaction from the meaningful part of their work. That in turn means an overall increase in revenue, as less money is wasted on processes that don’t generate profit — and as the ones that do are performed more efficiently. But that’s only a fraction of benefits that automation can bring. Let’s take a look at some other examples from this long list:
- overall improvement of process management;
- improvement of compliance;
- standardization of processes;
- better quality assurance;
- reduction of time and resources needed for on-boarding of employees.
Is automation for everyone?
To answer that question, one can simply look back at the list above and ask: would that improve my business? It’s hardly a conundrum, since a company or industry that would not benefit from such improvements is rather difficult to imagine. In fact, every kind of enterprise entails at least one process that could be automated and usually there’s much more, ranging from needless paperwork to tedious manual labor. Let’s quickly consider the hiring process — something that can prove challenging even for the biggest companies — and see how automation makes it much easier.
When tasked with finding the right employees for our enterprise, we must undertake several steps: gather applications, screen them, and finally choose the ones we’d like to process further. Now, what if the most tedious and time-consuming task of those three (that’s obviously screening) was to be automated? Imagine not having to go through hundreds and hundreds of resumes to find the few that actually fit the description and consider just how much time that would save. Yes — a lot. And we know that, because there’s actually quite a few AI based services that provide precisely that functionality: automation of the screening process through keyword tracking.
As you can see, automation is a subject worth exploring — especially since it’s said to be the future of both business and industry. To learn more about its practical applications take a look at our case studies and see how Contee helps business bring about the actual change.