Robotic automation can create value, but it’s at its best when it’s part of a bigger story of intelligent automation transformation. Making a fundamental business change means doing our homework and considering the entire end-to-end process.
Here in California we love our wine and grow a lot of grapes. Now, let’s suppose for a moment you and I are in the wine business, and we’ve heard about a fabulous new grape varietal. It gives a high yield, it’s robust, the sugar content is perfect and test crops indicate it has all the makings of a great vintage.
Do we go straight out, buy this new varietal and plant as much as we can? It’s a winner, right? So why wait? What’s stopping us?
No. Of course, we don’t. Producing a fine wine requires a lot more planning and work than just planting grapes. We need to analyze soil samples to make sure they’re suitable. We should see if the irrigation and the run-off are going to work for this new varietal. We must satisfy ourselves that there aren’t any crop pests in the neighborhood that need addressing. We also need to assess whether our harvesting, fermentation, and storage is optimal, and we need to consider sales, distribution, and marketing.
Making such a fundamental business change requires us to do our homework and consider the entire end-to-end process of growing and harvesting new grapes, through to selling the wine we produce.
Part of a wider process
Robotic automation is a bit like deciding to produce a new wine using a brand new and better varietal of grape. However, in the midst of all the technological excitement surrounding robotic process automation (RPA) and artificial intelligence (AI), it’s easy to forget the same rules apply.
Just because robotic automation can deliver significant benefits to an organization (and it can!), it doesn’t mean you should rush headlong into implementing it.
So what do you need to do? Click here to read: https://www.capgemini.com/2018/03/robotic-automation-a-bunch-of-benefits/