Robotics and automation – the history – the second part of the article on RPA history. We look at the present and we glance towards its promising future.
While the technology was growing for a while before, the development of the expression “robotic process automation” can be dated back to early 2000. RPA is a growing technology. However, it depends on artificial intelligence technology, screen scraping, and workflow automation. Robotics and automation elevate these technologies to a higher level, advancing their capabilities at a significantly improved manner.
RPA is highly dependent on screen scraping and workflow automation, but just to provide more benefits for the users. Instead of being dependent on code as is needed for screen scraping, robotics and automation software lets users set up automation and manage workflows with drag&drop features in a visual manner that will be completely independent of coding knowledge. Also, unlike most web scraping tools, the robotics and automation use optical character recognition (OCR) technologies to accommodate the changing websites without requiring intervention from an individual.
Robotics and automation are also built on artificial intelligence. Deloitte suggests that RPA is the combination of artificial intelligence and automation: “Robotic Process Automation (RPA), a synonym to AI, is the use of technologies allowing the employees in a company to configure computer software or a ‘robot’ to reason, collect and extract information, identify patterns, learn and adapt to new situations or environments.”
How does the future of Robotics and automation look like?
The growth of robotics and automation systems has come a long way, and RPA continues to change how companies approach their business activities, particularly regarding scaling and streamlining processes. The precise automation and robotics superior technology that has made its way into the forefront for the benefits it provides and the ease to obtain them. Yet, the automation market is expected to continue to evolve even further and more advanced RPA solutions are expected to emerge.
The industry analysts expect that mixing the Robotics and automation with more intelligent technologies will have excellent potential for widespread adoption across many industries. Machine learning and cognitive computing, for instance, are technologies that involve learning about the part of the computer or applications beyond their first programming, much like a human would react in similar situations. These platforms can take care of unforeseen errors and exceptions in a business process, learning and adapting based on previous experiences and actions. Unlike conventional automation, they have the ability to apply judgment and creativity to their work, which will allow businesses to get improved visibility, transparency, communication, and collaboration across their value chain.
With the addition of RPA to boost speed and supply the automation process the development of machine learning and the more intelligent technology is only going to be rapidly accelerated. Cognitive automation is on the horizon. Software robots are already able to automate repetitive, simple procedures, and the combination of RPA with these smart platforms will soon be able to enhance their own performance and make complex decisions with very little intervention or programming. This has the potential to make companies more agile and responsive, a vital aspect of today’s increasingly global and complex marketplaces.