International

Recently Armand Angeli, Président du groupe CSP/RPA/AI de la DFCG and Président du groupe International de la DFCG, initiated an international CFO round table discussing all aspects of automation. The round table addresses shared challenges for CFO’s, and the need for reliable information on automation, based on the experience of peers.

FedEx and Nuro have announced a multi-year, multi-phase agreement to test Nuro’s next-generation autonomous delivery vehicle within FedEx operations. The collaboration between FedEx and Nuro launched with a pilot program across the Houston area. This pilot marks Nuro’s expansion into parcel logistics and allows FedEx the opportunity to explore various use cases for on-road autonomous vehicle logistics, including multi-stop and appointment-based deliveries.

Organizations running on SAP S/4HANA or SAP ECC can manage a great deal of processes, but there are several challenges. Earlier we talked about these challenges with Tanja Breitling-Zboril, Sr. Manager Partner & Alliance Management at UiPath: Processes stretch beyond SAP systems; expert work can be expensive and integration with SAP S/4HANA requires specific tasks.

Maybe you experienced it yourself: after a long flight (do you remember those days) you left the plane and walked through the airbridge. You saw some commotion in front of you. Customs officers are walking upstream. You see them coming in your direction. And then you see what the commotion is all about: they brought their sniffer dog.

One of the many questions I almost always get when talking to organizations about RPA -the other one I covered in the column about Automation Anxiety-: Isn’t RPA just a band aid?

Blue Ocean Robotics, the manufacturer of UVD Robots for autonomous UV-C disinfection, announced that it was selected by ISS World Services to provide autonomous robots for disinfection as part of ISS’ global offering.

The promise that IT will support people in their work above all, which  has been hanging over the market for years, seems to be reached now with RPA, though this cannot happen on its own. A successful automation project requires the cooperation of IT and business, including the use of HR to guarantee the acceptance of technology. The ultimate aim is people-centred IT.

By 2024, 80% of technology products and services will be built by those who are not technology professionals, according to Gartner. This trend is driven by a new category of buyers outside of the traditional IT organisation who are occupying a larger share of the overall IT market. Today, total business-led IT spend averages up to 36% of the total formal IT budget.

Humans expect that AI is Benevolent and trustworthy. A new study reveals that at the same time humans are unwilling to cooperate and compromise with machines. They even exploit them.

Industrial robot manufacturer FANUC has received a major order in the field of e-mobility. Scheduled for delivery in 2022, the company will supply the Cologne plant of Ford with around 500 robots to assist in the construction of electric car bodies.