Forbes | Inventing The Telephone, The Mechanical Automation Of Work, And Searching By Associative Links Forbes This week's milestones in the history of technology include the invention of the telephone, automating telephone exchanges and textile weaving and the idea of searching for information through associative links. March 6, 1997. The first-ever nationally ... |
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Recently there was a programmer from San Francisco who had managed to automate his work. For six years he didnt lift a finger to his workplace. Thankfully, he didnt have any friends who would check up on him just some developers who would occasionally ask him about the software he was testing. Automation helped him play League of Legends by skipping work.
Even though it sounds fun, there is an underlying horror at this instance. This means that this guy was able to create software that would put him out of work. Eventually, the man did lose his job when his officials found out what he had done. Whats worse is he forgot how to code in these six years and has now become completely skill-less to find another job.
The implications of industrial automation are threatening to the workplace. To this day politicians and campaigners have been focusing on how the immigrants are eating up jobs. But we are neglecting the one issue that we face immediate implications from automation.
A 2013 study by Oxford University academics Carl Benedikt Frey and Michael Osborne suggests that automation will replace a lot of white collar and blue collar jobs. This has drawn the attention of several governments around the world. Further, a recent report from the United Nations stated that there is a high chance that industrial automation would disrupt the labor market. But this report was more detailed indicating that most of the disruption will occur in the routine tasks. This is why it will affect the developing, rather than the developed, countries.
Despite this announcement, it is pretty clear that such announcements and predictions had been made in the past. When automation solutions were coming in the country, many people were afraid they would lose their jobs. Even many did lose their jobs, but eventually, a different sector developed that needed a different skill set.
The US Labor Department predicted that some fields will exist in future appointing 65% of the school children. These kids will have to gain skills in specific areas that give them the opportunity to get those jobs. But in the meantime, those adults who do not have the necessary skills to adapt to the changing nature of employment will lose their jobs.
In short, automation system will create jobs only after it makes some people lose jobs at first. A report from the Chief Scientific Advisor to Britain suggested that there are possible benefits of appointing AIs in areas such as tax collection. There are also questions of morality that will judge the future of the jobs.
Alison Sander, the director of the Centre for Sensing and Mining the Future at the Boston Consulting Group, says, Theres a significant shift happening in the skill sets people to need. But thats not a focus of our education system.
The worst fear is that many of the skills taught today are no longer or will no longer be relevant down the years. The future of youths can only be determined if they are being given proper technical education. A thorough revision of the current education system is the only way to ride this tide.
Also Read:Cloudflare Leaked Passwords And User Info For Months!
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Will Industrial Automation Truly Take Our Jobs? - Tech News Inc
Tax machines as workers? Proposals weigh taxing automation equipment to replace lost worker income tax revenue MiBiz As automation technology continues to advance, lawmakers and industry insiders are working to determine what role a new wave of robotic workers could play in the future social tax structure. In mid February, billionaire technology entrepreneur and ... |
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By 2020, the industrial sector will be producing nearly 15 trillion gigabytes of data. With increasing amounts of data, manufacturers must find more effective and efficient ways to put this data to use, says Rockwell Automation, a leading company dedicated to industrial automation and information.
Rockwell Automation is releasing expanded and scalable analytics offerings to help customers more quickly and easily gain insight from their investments in automation technology.
Our Connected Enterprise vision has always had analytics and collaboration at its core, said John Genovesi, vice president of information software and process business, Rockwell Automation. As we expand our information solutions offerings, a primary goal is to make analytics more approachable and right-sized for the customer. New analytics solutions help our customers move ahead on their connected enterprise journey, no matter where they are today. The new Rockwell Automation offerings expand capabilities for analytics across the plant floor for devices, machines and systems, as well as throughout the enterprise. In this approach, analytics are computed and gain context closest to the source of decision at the appropriate level in the architecture to return the highest value from edge devices to the cloud on a variety of new appliances, devices, and on- or off-premise cloud platforms.
New solutions cover remote monitoring, machine performance, device heath and diagnostics, and predictive maintenance to enable companies to derive value from their data more quickly, easily and incrementally. At the enterprise level, these solutions offer more powerful ways to integrate plant-floor data into business intelligence strategies.
For any manufacturer or industrial company, control systems are the birthplace of data, Genovesi added. As the provider of those systems, Rockwell Automation can help customers better understand, analyze and act on this data with several new products and services.
We have watched Rockwell Automation move forward significantly in the analytics space, coming to play a role equal to that they serve in the MES/MOM and EMI arenas, noted Matthew Littlefield, president and principal analyst, LNS Research. Our research on IIoT and analytics adoption clearly shows a need for more flexibility and scalability in this space. Its encouraging to see companies like Rockwell Automation walk the talk of industrial analytics.
Device Analytics The new FactoryTalk Analytics for Devices appliance provides health and diagnostic analytics from industrial devices. It crawls your industrial network, discovers your assets and provides analytics by transforming the data generated into preconfigured health and diagnostic dashboards. The system also delivers action cards to your smartphone or tablet if a device requires attention.
As the application uncovers information about how the devices are related to each other, such as their network topology or fault causality, it starts to understand the system on which it is deployed to make prescriptive recommendations. For example, with the appliance in place, it can send users an action card if an Allen-Bradley PowerFlex drive needs to be reconfigured to maintain optimal performance, helping prevent potential downtime and prescribing solutions to maintenance teams.
Analytics for Equipment Builders At the machine level, FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines cloud application provides equipment builders access to performance analytics from deployed systems to help support their customers via the FactoryTalk cloud. For manufacturers, this capability capitalizes on connected technologies to help drive higher availability and output while reducing maintenance costs.
System Analytics Expanding on the Rockwell Automation analytics capabilities, which already include historization and visualization capabilities, Rockwell Automation now provides a predictive maintenance solution that can help reduce downtime and maintenance costs. Using the latest in machine learning algorithms, this solution can predict failures before they happen and generate a maintenance work order to avoid costly downtime.
Enterprise Analytics To further enterprise analytics services, the SaaS-based FactoryTalk cloud offering will use Microsoft Azure IoT technology to allow for remote monitoring of assets, historization and dashboarding capabilities. Microsoft and Rockwell Automation are also collaborating to include Power BI business services for data discovery, mashups and visual analytics at the device level. TradeArabia News Service
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Rockwell Automation helps industries put data to use - Trade Arabia
As one of the world's largest employers, McDonald's(NYSE: MCD) often finds itself at the center of debates about wages and the potential effects of automation. Rising labor costs pose a threat to the company and its franchisees, and the scale is starting to tip in favor of developing technology being cost-effective enough to replace human jobs.
The restaurant chain's new automation push is still in its early stages and can be counted on as a source of controversy in the years to come, but the effects of the trend stand to create long-term tailwinds for McDonald's and its investors.
Image source: McDonald's.
McDonald's is in the process of bringing self-order kiosks to all of its locations, and this initiative, along with the rollout of mobile-based ordering and payment, presents a way to improve functions and efficiency throughout the chain. Perceivedquality of service has been an issue for the company, and reducing employee-customer interaction has the potential to relieve friction and free up employees to perform other tasks. Studies and customer feedback have also indicated that a substantial portion of the millennial generation prefers to bypass human interaction when placing orders, so the new initiatives could help to ingratiate Mickey D's with one of its most crucial age demographics.
The surge in kiosk and mobile adoption is occurring industrywide and points to technology that's becoming increasingly attractive. Wendy's (NASDAQ: WEN)recently announced that it will add self-ordering stations at 1,000 of its restaurants by the end of 2017, and Panera Bread plans to have kiosks at all of its locations within the next several years. Other competitors, including Burger King, CKE Restaurants, and Tim Hortons are also transitioning to automated ordering.
McDonald's hasn't given much color on the expenses of adding self-order stations, but comments from Wendy's management could provide some insight. Wendy's Chief Information Officer David Trimm has indicated that franchisees will pay roughly $15,000 for three ordering kiosks, and he anticipates that it will take less than two years for the benefits created by self-ordering kiosks to offset the investment. The timeline to break even is probably similar for McDonald's franchisees, and the benefits of kiosks will likely become more pronounced with time.
Shifting to this new technology requires that stores continue to employ cashiers to assist with the new process and cater to customers who prefer traditional service. But the need for these roles should fall as kiosks become the norm, leaving employees free to take on other roles. Kiosks have already freed up some McDonald's staff to provide table service, and the company is testing curbside delivery in conjunction with mobile ordering and payment.
Automated ordering also means that more workers should be available for the kitchen, helping to address franchisee concerns about increasingly complicated menus and challenges related to customization.CEO Steve Easterbrook believes that the perception of time constraints can make ordering at McDonald's stressful and that this issue can be alleviated through the company's new investments. He has also indicated that the additional time to peruse the menu encourages customization and premium sales, generating higher average spending per consumer.
Payscale lists the median wage for an American fast food worker at $8.24 per hour, a far cry from the $15 per hour benchmark that many groups are calling for. With labor often making up 20% or more of costs for this industry, sizable increases to payroll can reasonably be expected to be passed onto consumers. That presents a major problem for value-focused restaurants like McDonald's.
In the U.S., the fast food chain is struggling with declining traffic but has managed to offset this trend by increasing the average spending per check. The extent to which the company can continue to raise prices is limited, however.McDonald's thrives by offering low-cost food options -- a model that makes it very sensitive to increasing expenses. While food and materials may fall mostly outside the company's control, it will enjoy increasing flexibility with labor thanks to the automation trend.
Easterbrook has been careful when commenting on the likelihood of new technologies that will eliminate jobs, but competitors including Wendy's and CKE Restaurants have directly linked their respective automation efforts to rising labor costs, touting the benefits of smaller in-store headcounts. Talking about replacing workers with technology might not be politically expedient for McDonald's at the moment, but a pared-down workforce is almost certainly a desirable outcome for the company -- and one it is certain to explore going forward.
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McDonald's Automation Push Is Great News for Investors - Madison.com
Stakeholders were presented with a comprehensive roadmap of the automation system
State minister for information chairs the stakeholders meeting on Automation System of Audit Bureau circulation in Islamabad. PHOTO: PRESS RELEASE
Collective progress is contingent upon adopting breakthrough technology leading to creating pathways to transparency and efficiency, said State Minister for Information Marriyum Aurangzeb on Friday.
The minister stated this while overseeing the new media initiative in the first consultation session with the stakeholders on Automation System of Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) in Islamabad.
She told the participants that media and government are aligned in exploring potential proposals and creative ideas that enable greater progress and prosperity. Marriyum further stated that it was the need of the hour to introduce modern technology which aims for higher automation and computerisation of ABC.
The stakeholders, during the meeting, were presented with a comprehensive roadmap of the automation system of ABC in collaboration with Punjab Information Technology Board.
The stakeholder meeting was attended by the principal information officer of the press information department, director general internal publicity wing at the information ministry, director audit bureau of circulation, secretary information Sindh, Secretary Information Coordination Gilgit-Baltistan, Secretary Information K-P, Director Headquarter Information Department,Punjab and President APNS, General Secretary CPNE Aijaz ul Haq and senior officials of the ministry.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2017.
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New media initiative: Marriyum attends session on ABC automation - The Express Tribune
KINGSVILLE, Ontario Theres no sign of a track on the polished concrete floor, yet the driverless engine goes straight to the packing room load of yellow plastic crates filled with freshly harvested mini cucumbers.
The little train makes its way out the door of Mucci Farms new lit greenhouse and down the long hall before making a wide U-turn into the station.
Once its load is weighed and the output of every harvester is noted automatically (the best will get a bonus), a robotic arm sweeps the yellow RPCs and their contents into the adjacent room for packing. New crates appear, sterilized and dried, and are automatically loaded onto the now-empty carts.
Guided by the invisible 24-volt conduction wire embedded in the floor, the little train quietly returns to the greenhouse and stops in the zone there are four where the empty crates are needed.
In the packing room next door, workers in white lab coats and gloves pack preportioned mini cukes into Eat Brighter!-branded bags. Beside them, a machine stands ready to automatically fill black Styrofoam trays of mini cucumbers.
Grower Gaetan Totaro said the workers now packing cukes by hand wont lose their jobs when their line is automated one day. The company is expanding so rapidly and labor is so hard to find there will be plenty of other jobs available.
Though Mucci imported its automated equipment from the Netherlands, they might just take a drive down the highway next time to see what manager Darren Ward and his commercialization team are up to at the eight-month-old Collaborative Research Technology Centre at the Vineland Research and Innovation Centre in Vineland, Ontario.
The centers robotics and automation program was created to design automation technology for the greenhouse sector. They already have potential buyers for their first invention, a Canadian-made robotic arm that places graded mini cucumbers on trays, each machine capable of filling 240 trays an hour.
Its elegant as opposed to complex, Ward says, a nice example of simple automation.
The center is also working on a robot to harvest mushrooms, as well as an irrigation system designed to mimic a growers decisions. Its for use in non-hydroponic greenhouses such as the floral industry that pot their plants in soil or a substrate.
The industry has saved a lot of labor in post-harvest handling, notes Glen Snoek, marketing and economic policy analyst for Leamingtons Ontario Greenhouse Vegetable Growers.but harvesting remains people intensive because humans are still able to harvest vegetables faster and smarter than robots.
With the speed of automation, my intuition is it will change sooner rather than later, said Snoek.
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Home automation is a growing trend with its roots in decades old wired technology. It is quickly becoming a child of the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. While many of its components still host wired connections like their ancestors, much of the recent innovation is linked viaAI-based virtual assistants. Here's a look at some of the ways you can invest in this nascent technology.
Investors looking for a pure-play in the growing trend of home automation need look no further than Control4 Corporation (NASDAQ:CTRL), the industry-leading provider of automation and control solutions for the connected home or business. This is an extremely small company, with a market capitalization of about $365 million, so investors should expect some share price volatility that is often associated with small market cap companies. Its professional systems are installed during the initial homebuilding or can be part of a retrofit. It provides homeowners with a growing number of options for automation including communication, entertainment, security, lighting, and temperature control. Products can be connected via a central network and the system can integrate over 10,000 third-party product choices.
The home automation segment is forecast to grow. Image source: Getty Images.
Control4 has been exhibiting massive growth. In its most recent quarter the company produced revenue of $57.4 million, up 34% over the prior year quarter, and earnings of $0.16 per share compared to a loss of ($0.03) year over year. The company has been increasing its sales and marketing efforts, which appears to be paying off. Control4 continues to expand its base of dealers in both its domestic and international markets. Early last year, it acquired Pakedge Networking and is continuing to roll this product out among its dealer base. The inclusion of an organic networking solution will drive revenue and increase customer satisfaction, by more quickly identifying issues in customer networks. The company is also expanding its addressable market by providing lower priced options for middle income homeowners.
Investors looking for a more diversified offering have numerous options. Comcast Corporation (NASDAQ:CMCSA) is a top choice in the managed services segment of the market. While nested in the company's security service, it also provides lighting and environment controls. Investors will no doubt be familiar with Comcast's cable and broadband services, which provides the company with the advantage of controlling the network. Comcast has grown both revenue and earnings consistently over the last five years, and the stock has increased 156% to the S&P's 75% over the same time.
The home automation Do-It-Yourself (DIY) Market offers a multitude of options. The list of products in the segment is extensive and range from lighting, thermostats, cleaning products, and many more. Some of the biggest names in technology provide artificial intelligence-based virtual assistants that can act as the controller for your DIY system and a gateway investment in the category. Amazon's (NASDAQ:AMZN) Alexa, Alphabet'sGoogle Assistant and Apple's Siri virtual assistants will integrate with a plethora of devices.
The development of the smart-speaker system controlled by these virtual assistants will likely prove to be the tipping point in the DIY segment. Amazon's Echo, powered by Alexa, currently boasts more 7,000 third party skills. While not all these skills are related to home automation, it does provide an indication of just how much of a lead Amazon possesses in the area. Google Assistant, which is integrated into most Google hardware, is the smarts behind its Home smart speaker.
These companies are major players in big tech, with any income from home automation barely making a dent in their overall revenue. Each is making a play for the control of your in-home ecosystem. By becoming a one-stop shop, and having an assistant become a virtual presence in your home, each company hopes that this will lead to a greater share of your consumer dollars.
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Each of these companies represents a solid way to invest in the home automation segment, offering pure play, or diversified options. This is an emerging technology that bears watching, as investments will evolve over time. Now how can I automate making my bed?
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool's board of directors. Danny Vena owns shares of Alphabet (A shares), Amazon, and Apple. Danny Vena has the following options: long January 2018 $85 calls on Apple, short January 2018 $90 calls on Apple, long January 2018 $640 calls on Alphabet (C shares), and short January 2018 $650 calls on Alphabet (C shares). The Motley Fool owns shares of and recommends Alphabet (A shares), Alphabet (C shares), Amazon, and Apple. The Motley Fool has the following options: long January 2018 $90 calls on Apple and short January 2018 $95 calls on Apple. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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March 3, 2017 Credit: Shutterstock
Fear of losing our jobs to those who can perform tasks faster, cheaper and perhaps with more creativity, has been longstanding. Equally, the introduction of a new leisure class with more free-time to spend once liberated from mundane, repetitive and boring tasks has also long been promised. With some forecasts indicating that within 20 years, 35 % of UK jobs are at risk from automation, it might be time to sort the job terminators out from the tumble dryers.
When Caf X opened a few weeks ago in San Francisco selling coffee made by a resident robot, baristas were highlighted in a list of jobs which were under increasing threat from automation. Research published last year by Oxford University and the business advisor Deloitte, indicated that in the UK there is a 77 % probability of 1.3 million 'repetitive and predictable' administrative and operative roles being automated.
What seemed to be unexpected was the range of jobs at risk from our cybernetic cousins. While factory workers have been familiar with automation taking over repetitive, precise and physically arduous tasks for decades, the list also cited work performed by the police, teachers and even senior executives as amenable to computerisation. Similar research in the US by the consultancy firm, McKinsey also backs up these findings.
Perhaps to buck what might be seen as a passive approach and given that insurance writers topped the 'at risk list', it was recently reported that the insurance company Aviva apparently recently wrote to all of its 16 000 UK workers asking them if they consider that their job could be automated. In a twist, and firmly putting the ghost back in the machine, the carrot for full disclosure was that the self-selecting staff would be retrained.
Conceivably the current debate is prompted by the seemingly daily inundation of autonomous device innovations, exemplified by driverless cars as under development by Google and others, leading the way. Alongside, this is the deliberately imperceptible and ubiquitous nature of the technology dubbed the 'internet of things'.
So how worried should we be? Anyone familiar with the term Luddite could be forgiven for responding by asking, 'wasn't it ever thus?' The more optimistic forecasters point out that while innovation drives change - resulting in social adjustments - the reality is rarely exclusively negative, straight-forward or even predictable.
McKinsey research points out that the discussion is misleading if by 'job' we mean 'occupation', going on to say that only some functional activities will be automated, leading to a redefinition of occupations in the same way that automatic cash machines changed that of the bank clerk. The researchers found that less than 5 % of US occupations could currently be completely automated. They did however also find that 60 % of occupations could have around a third of their activities automated.
Additionally, the more sanguine remind us that after two centuries of automation the net sum is not less jobs, but more. Another Deloitte study found that while automation had reduced agriculture and manufacturing employment in the UK over the preceding 150 years, the growth in business and technology services, along with the caring and creative professions had more than offset this downward trend.
Rather than either a dystopian or utopian future, the reality is likely to be more mundane as policy and law makers get to work tackling issues such as culpability in the instance of driverless car accidents. Just a few days ago, Bill Gates even suggested that there should be a tax applied to robots that replaced human workers. Currently, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) are asking the European Commission to establish a legal 'status' for robots to exploit their economic potential, while guaranteeing citizen safety and security, including job security.
And will discussions about responsibilities also bring us to those of 'robotic rights?' Well that raises the prospect of Artificial Intelligence (AI), beyond the scope of this articleunless my computer disagrees?"
Explore further: Automated cafe sets up shop in tech-crazy, fancy coffee-loving San Francisco
As Katy Franco waited for her morning coffee, passersby pulled out their phones and snapped photos and video of her barista.
"Make an appointment for 4pm today with Gary," I say to my assistant as I hang up from a promising phone call with a potential client. There was a time when you had to be high up in an organisation to have an assistant.
If your job involves inputting reams of data for a company, you might want to think about retraining in a more specialised field. Or as a plumber.
Ronald De Feo has watched robots take factory jobs for years. Now he sees them threatening a new class of worker: People who drive for a living.
Computers have been an important part of many industries for decades already and have replaced humans in many jobs. But a new wave of technological development means that even positions that we once saw as immune to computerisation ...
Jobs, or more accurately, not having a job, has been in the news this week.
A team from the University of Leicester's Department of Engineering has, for the first time ever, vibration-mapped the famous London bell Big Ben in order to reveal why it produces its distinct harmonious tone.
Despite advancements in fuel-saving technologies over the last 25 years, on-road fuel economy for all vehicles is up only one mile per gallon during that time.
Amazon says an incorrectly typed command during a routine debugging of its billing system caused the five-hour outage of some Amazon Web Services servers on Tuesday.
The car of the future will let you pay for petrol or parking directly from your vehicle and receive traffic alerts and restaurant recommendations from your onboard digital assistant.
For 2017, Toyota has added its most fuel-efficient Prius ever: a plug-in gasoline-electric hybrid called Prius Prime that can travel up to 640 miles on a full electric charge and a single tank of fuel.
Imagine you're waiting in your car and a poster for a concert from a local band catches your eye. What if you could just tune your car to a radio station and actually listen to that band's music? Or perhaps you see the poster ...
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I would really be surprised if in 20 years more than 1% of jobs(work) are performed by humans. 🙂 The only thing holding it back now is battery technology and that is being well researched.
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Providing 24-hour news coverage to cable viewers in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, News 12 operates seven distinct local channels as well as an interactive network of websites and mobile applications. The demands for productivity in a 24-hour news environment are intense, so the group leverages automation solutions to maximize its operation and improve efficiency. Launched more than 30 years ago, News 12 has been using automation solutions fromGrass Valley, a Belden Brand, from the beginning. As the News 12 team looked to upgrade the studio automation system, they carefully evaluated all the options on the market and determined that the latest Grass ValleyIgnite Automated Production Systemwith theKayenne K-Frame Video Production Centerswitcher addressed more of their requirements for workflow, hands-on operation and on-air effects/transitions.
We were the first station in the country to use the automation system that preceded Ignite, so Grass Valley has been an important part of our success over the years, saysMilan Krainchich, VP of operations, News 12 Networks. The Ignite system is capable of cutting live news as well as freeform breaking news for an extended period of time, which is extremely important to us. Our operators value that they can tailor the workflow in a way that works best for them.
Ignite is designed as the industrys first and most complete link between the control room and the newsroom, providing an unmatched return on investment with single-operator capabilities. It allows a single operator to manage control room devices used to produce live newscasts and event programming, making it possible to control on-air timing, accommodate last-minute show changes and direct any type of production on the fly. It also makes it easier to repurpose content for digital multicasting and webcasts, increasing overall production value.
News 12 uses Ignite to control six cameras in its studio connected through a Kayenne K-Frame switcher. The integrated approach was an important consideration in the upgrade, and theIgnite Katalyst control panelis a critical and unique component of the workflow. An essential component for unscripted and breaking news productions, the purpose-built tactile surface of the Katalyst panel enables directors to produce compelling live productions with Ignite. Another important new component is the Media Object Portal (MOP) Gatewayone of the most advanced newsroom control system portals ever developed. The MOP Gateway provides visibility from Ignite into the control system that details what has changed and where that change is in the rundown and alerts the director if there are conflicts that require attention.
The way the whole system comes together, including integration with ENPS and other devices, is one of the biggest benefits for us, says Krainchich.Also, we appreciate having choices over control surfaces while being able to operate the system on air with a standard keyboard or with the Katalyst dedicated control panel, but not requiring a full switcher control panel and audio mixing console. Its the right solution for us.
News delivery has changed a lot over the years, but the value of automation has remained consistent. Ignite has been delivering that value to users around the world for years. News 12 is a perfect example of an operation that embraces technology to strengthen its own business while providing an outstanding experience for its viewers. The latest upgrade positions News 12 to continue its success for years to come, says Kyle Luther, vice president of sales for North America, Grass Valley.
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News 12 Upgrades Newsroom Automation With Grass Valley Ignite - Sports Video Group
The new revenue recognition standards issued jointly by the Financial Accounting Standards Board and the International Accounting Standards Board have been a long time in the making, and merging U.S. and international standards into a consolidated, principles-based rule has required a collaborative effort. With such a long and slow ratification process, its surprising to learn most companies are still assessing the impact, according to the results made available from this expansive survey by PwC and the Financial Executives Research Foundation late last year.
Companies are generally struggling to implement the necessary major changes and establish individual policies which accurately account for revenue and produce detailed documentation and analysis to validate the reported numbers.
Many companies are still attempting to manage the process using spreadsheets. In addition to being manual, slow and fraught with errors, spreadsheets do not allow for version controls, security or operational controls, audit functionality or automation. Most notably, they are not scalable to meet large company enterprise-level revenue recognition automation and reporting needs. With ASC 606 and IFRS 15, its time to ditch the spreadsheets altogether and move to automation.
Not only does automating revenue recognition free accounting organizations from the tedium and challenges of manual spreadsheets, but it offers companies significant ROI across a number of important vectors.
Cost savings While some financial leaders may view automation technology as added effort and expense, in reality an automation solution reduces staffing hours and expenditures. Cost savings are realized through reduced staffing hours, infrastructure and auditing fees as well as more indirect means such improved performance through consistent data and rule-making efficiency. A recent report by Gartner Inc. indicated tools that help coordinate financial statement preparation, regulatory reporting and investor report production reduce process costs by up to 30 percent.
Accelerated closing During the frenetic, deadline-driven quarter close, often called the last mile, accounting and finance teams must close books quickly by consolidating data from a multitude of systems and ledgers, reconciling high-risk accounts, recording adjustments and creating financial statements. More leading companies today are implementing financial close software that automates the many last mile activities to reduce errors and improve process efficiency, according to Deloitte & Touche.
An evolving financial automation process built around a consistent and transparent revenue automation engine improves accountability and control while reducing bottlenecks and duplication of effort. The right automation engine allows a company to re-create and improve upon the often mundane but important last mile tasks, freeing up staff to focus on analysis and decision-making. The incoming guidance, ASC 606, comes with many subjective requirements depending on how it is interpreted by each company. Replacing inefficient manual data entry with automated data validation and collection takes advantage of modern analytic capabilities previously unavailable. Essentially, the more data available, the better the opportunity to build a companys efficiency and reduce the last mile time to close.
Improved accuracy According to Bloomberg BNA, human blunders were behind most tax and accounting mistakes leading to the nearly $7 billion U.S. businesses accumulated in IRS civil penalties in 2013 alone.
The new accounting standards have proven to be one of the key drivers for increased CFO technology adoption.
The threat of restatements keeps every CFO up at night yet manual data entry into spreadsheets is a significant source of errors. With automation, business processes and controls are repeatable and auditable which, in turn, leads to a smoother, faster, less costly and more accurate audit preparation process and transaction trail.
A recent Accenture study touted todays CFO as a technology evangelist who understands even the so-called soft benefits of evolving technology. For revenue automation, that includes quick and clear visibility to detailed revenue data, availability to management reporting and financial forecasting systems at a granular level.
Revenue is a companys most critical piece of the quote-to-cash cycle. Automation technology makes it possible to streamline this critical function and be confident that, in the face of changing standards, a companys reporting is streamlined, accurate, on time and cost effective.
Theres never been a more opportune time to move beyond traditional methods of revenue management to an automated revenue recognition solution in order to streamline required processes for ASC 606.
Reddy co-founded Leeyo Software, which makes makes revenue recognition automation software, in 2009. He has served as President and CEO since inception.
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Voices The ROI of revenue automation in a post-ASC 606 world - Accounting Today
Wendy's Co., home of the old-fashioned burger, is serving up something cutting-edge: self-service ordering kiosks.
The Dublin, Ohio-based fast-food company is adding machines to at least 1,000 restaurants, or about 15% of its stores, by the end of the year. Wendy's began installing these kiosks last year, enabling diners to order without help from behind-the-counter workers.
Wendys is joining other eateries that are marching toward automation for at least someof the dining experience.
Panera Bread has said it plans to add touch-screen kiosks to all its restaurants within a few years. McDonald's also aims to roll out kiosks where diners can customize their burgers at all its U.S. locations. One cafe in San Francisco serves coffee brewed up by a robotic barista.
These kinds of self-serve machines and related technology could drastically change the way the $230-billion fast-food industry operates, analysts said. With minimum wages rising to $15 in some parts of the country, including California many chains are looking at ways to slash labor costs.
Lots of restaurants, not just fast-food chains, are really trying to mitigate the costs of higher wages, said Lauren Hallow, concepts analyst at Technomic, a restaurant market research firm.
Some eateries, for instance, are offering incentives to encourage mobile ordering so that lines are shorter with apps with special discounts and the chance to jump the line when picking up orders.
At Wendy's, Chief Information Officer David Trimm said that customers and franchisees have taken a liking to the kiosks.
You will see customers deliberately going to those kiosks
directly, bypassing lines," Trimm said during the companys investor day Feb. 16. Some customers clearly prefer to use the kiosks.
Theres a huge amount of demand among franchisees, who will shell out about $15,000 for three kiosks, Trimm said. Wendys has estimated that the cost will be recouped in less than two years, he said.
These kinds of kiosks are not new but are gaining traction in restaurants becausediners have finally been groomed by the rise of online and mobile ordering to embrace the technology.
Young diners, especially, find interacting with a machine often easier than dealing with human workers. More than40% of millennials said they would use kiosks in a restaurant, compared with nearly 30% of all customers, a recent Technomic survey found.
Young customers like to control the whole ordering process," Hallow said. They have the chance to go quickly if they want to, or they can linger and see what the choices are without a cashier waiting.
In the long term, many chains are looking toward kiosks as a way to reduce their employee headcount, especially as wages rise.
Worker advocates have long been skeptical of automation in the fast-food industry.
If fast-food companies could replace us with machines, they would have done it already, Anggie Godoy, a leader in the Fight for $15 movement in Los Angeles, said in a statement last November. The fact is, we are in the service business and fast-food restaurants are always going to need good workers.
But not every restaurantis looking to replace theworkforce with machines at least not immediately.
Panera Bread, for example, has increased hours for employees at some locations to service the higher number of orders that come in through self-serve kiosks, said Nick Setyan, senior vice president of restaurants equity research at Wedbush Securities.
They just had too many people in line and they felt they were losing transactions because they just didn't have enough room to process orders in a reasonable amount of time, Setyan said. With the uptick in orders after the kiosks were installed, Panera Bread upped man hours in the kitchen to deal with the backlog.
For Wendys, kiosks are part of an overall move into automation that could cut labor costs, said Robert Wright, chief operations officer. He called 2016 a tough" year, with wages rising 5% compared with 2015.
Supervisors could use automation to take food temperatures and do other duties, Wright said.
There are repetitive production tasks that are in Wendy's restaurants that aren't core to the things that customer loves the most, he said.
That would give a boost to Wendy's, which has proved more adept than many fast-food rivals at navigating changing consumer tastes.
In mid-February, the chain reported its 16th straight quarter of increasing sales for restaurants open at least 15 months. It reported falling sales and profit overall, but that was mostly due to a strategic decision to sell off the vast majority of its company-owned stores a plan Wendy's completed in the fourth quarter.
The companys stock is up nearly 46% in the last year, and it recently announced the shareholder-pleasing moves of boosting its quarterly dividend to 7 cents a share, up half a penny, and authorizing a $150-million stock buyback.
Follow Shan on Twitter @ByShanLi
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Wendy's adds automation to the fast-food menu - Chicago Tribune
Photographer: Daniel Acker/Bloomberg News.
Lawyers concerned about how automation could affect their jobs may want to look at H&R Blocks recently announced plans to partner with IBMs smart computer Watson.
The consumer tax preparation company, which has about 10,000 brick and mortar retail locations in the U.S., announced last month that its reinventing itself: This tax season, customers who walk into its U.S. storefronts will have their tax returns prepared by traditional human advisors, alongside IBMs Watson.
The move comes as the 62-year old company which still derives 89 percent of its tax prep fees from walk-ins to its storefront struggles to bring in more customers,and battles against more automated software programs such Intuits TurboTax. Although H&R Block is preparing tax returns, not dispensing legal advice, the Watson partnership has implications for the legal profession, according to Brian Sheppard, a Seton Hall Law professor who studies automation.
It is no coincidence that Watson could be very helpful in this area becauseit has fewer shades of gray than other areas of law, said Sheppard, who added that this makes it easier to automate.
Heres how the partnership works: Customers who walk in to an H&R Block storefront will have a conversation with their tax preparer about their past year. That conversation will be documented on a computerfor Watson to analyze. Meanwhile, Watson will share its conclusions via a computer screen facing the customer, so they cansee how their tax return is being prepared.
You can think of Watson as being a translater in a sense, said Katy Rosati, an IBM Watsonspokeswoman. Typically, you go in to get your taxes done, and bring your paper work and then you sit there on your side of the desk its not easy to see what theyre doing and whats going on.
In addition toproviding visual aids to explain the tax return, Watsonhas also been trained using H&R Blocks data to discoverinformation thatwould lead to a larger tax refund.
This is the best of man and machine, said Meg Sutton, director of H&R Blocks client retail experience.
Sutton emphasized that H&R Block is already competing against automation software and is seeking to shore up clientele who want to use a human advisor last year, walk-in customers declined six percent, according to the company.
Watson is designed to enhance the human advisors intelligence rather than replace them, according to Rosati. Thats why IBM has stopped describingWatson as artificial intelligence, and now callsit augmented intelligence, she said.
Sutton and Rosati declined to disclose all the details of their contractual partnership. But Rosati said that IBM does not gain access to any data from H&R Block as a result of the partnership, and that H&R Block pays IBM based on the quantity of its usage of Watson.
The rise of intelligent machines is an area of growing concern for business professionals and lawyers are no exception: Last June, J.P. Morgan implemented a software programthat is automating tasks related to contracts that previously required 360,000 hours per year from lawyers and other personnel.
One in-house lawyer at The Gap reacted by saying lawyers day of reckoning is coming:
As Big Law Business has detailed previously, some law firms such as Allen & Overy, and alternative services providers such as Axiom and Deloitte, are angling to help implement such automation.
Still, Sheppard, who studies automation, said it is an open question whether the technology will eventually replace human tax advisors.
Regardless of whether Watson supplants humans, he said the tax preparers at H&R Block and any other professional that will be working with intelligent machines, will need new skills to succeed. This may include learning how to interface with a machine, whereas in the past it was necessary to interface with a human, said Sheppard.
He described a slow march towards the automation of ever more sophisticated tasks, and said that eventually, Watson is likely to be able to assist with other areas of law, including more nuanced decisions, at which point lawyers will be affected.
People that are at the higher end of the more sophisticated tasks are the safest, but I still dont think anyone can be absolutely secure that they will never be threatened, said Sheppard.
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H&R Block Shows How Automation Could Change Legal Profession - Bloomberg Big Law Business
BENGALURU: An Indian technology firm, working with IBM public cloud unit, is looking to help Indian kirana stores defend their turf in the online grocery war.
Pace Automation, which has previously built software for restaurants, wants to bring 1,50,000 thousand local grocery stores onto its platform in three years and allow customers to order their groceries online from the nearest grocer.
The customer can pick the slot it will be delivered in and the store they want the groceries from. We will provide the technology backend, the point-of-sale device and it will all be cloud-based, SG Chandru, Chairman of Pace Automation, told ET. Pace has already tied up with distributors in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, Kerala and the National Capital Region. The solution will run on IBMs public cloud platform.
The concept of helping local kirana stores online is not new. A startup called Goodbox has created a mobile application that allows multiple brick-and-mortar businesses to sell through their app.
But Paces Chandru wants to take the process a step further for the offline kirana stores. We are tying up with a bank, so the store can also act as a micro-ATM and customers could withdraw cash at the store. In addition, we are also creating a partnership with an insurance firm so the store owner could also act as a sales channel for insurance, Chandru said.
The final agreements would be signed next week Chandru pegged the additional earnings, from helping provide financial services, could boost the stores revenue by Rs 10,000. The technology cost for an Aadhaar-enabled point-of-sale (PoS) machine would be about Rs 60,000 and the merchant would then pay Rs 2,500 a month for the services.
He added that because the technology would help the stores have verifiable financial statements, that they would also be able to access bank funding, something that they are unable to do currently. But experts say this is unlikely to be easy.
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Pace Automation wants to help local kiranas compete in online grocery war - Economic Times
FRANKLIN, Wis.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
Krones, a leading manufacturer of integrated packaging and bottling line systems, has acquired the business of Process and Data Automation, Inc. (PDA). PDA is based in Erie, Pennsylvania, and is a leading industrial control systems integrator across a number of sectors including liquid food.
This Smart News Release features multimedia. View the full release here: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005177/en/
The PDA management team will continue to manage the business moving forward, and its headquarters will remain in Erie, Pennsylvania.
With regard to digitization, it is our goal to provide customers with added value through better utilization of the data that our machines, software, employees, users of the machines etc. generate," said Holger Beckmann, President and CEO of Krones Inc. "The acquisition of PDA allows Krones to take another step to offer relevant U.S. based expertise to our customers. We are excited to add PDA's skilled employees, depth of experience and know-how to the Krones family.
Joseph Snyder, President of PDA, stated, Partnering with Krones represents a unique opportunity to continue to build the business in areas where we already excel. My business partner Michael Benedict and I are looking forward to the additional potential with Krones and new opportunities for our employees.
The acquisition of PDA represents a further step in executing the Krones digitization strategy and increasing the international footprint. PDA will closely collaborate with Krones subsidiary Syskron which is a specialist in IT and automation solutions within the Krones Group.
About Krones Inc. Krones Inc. is the United States subsidiary of Krones AG, Neutraubling, Germany, a world leader in the manufacture of fully integrated packaging and bottling line systems as well as integrated brew house and processing systems, IT solutions and warehouse logistics systems. The company has facilities strategically located around the globe. Krones United States headquarters is in Franklin, Wis., a suburb of Milwaukee.
About Process and Data Automation Process and Data Automation is a full service, CSIA Certified industrial control systems integration firm headquartered in Erie, PA. Our Controls Engineering (ENG) group specializes in physical automation system design, programming, and commissioning. We also feature a dedicated Data Services Group (DSG) that connects automated equipment and systems to the business system environment including protected recipe systems, data collection and reporting, and data historian implementation.
View source version on businesswire.com: http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005177/en/
MULTIMEDIA AVAILABLE:http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20170302005177/en/
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P.K. Agarwals oped (Opinion, Feb. 28) on the disruption of jobs with new technology (e.g. self-driving vehicles) is likely well-meaning and informative, but shows a core problem that has now dramatically become front and center. The election showed that large numbers of Americans are worried about their futures. Automation eliminates jobs, disrupts careers, and can ruin lives for those who are unprepared for it. It also improves quality, reduces costs, improves safety, uses less resources, and many other benefits.
If there is one thing Silicon Valley can learn from the last few years, simply treating technology and automation as unicorns and rainbows and ignoring its social disruptions has stoked a backlash that will only grow as automation spreads. It will not dissipate until the social costs are addressed on an equal level, and not just by suggesting online classes, as Agarwal writes offhandedly, but by specific programs that reach the millions of displaced workers. It is in Silicon Valleys deepest interest to address these issues proactively.
Michael Klein Palo Alto
Republicans say they want to reduce health insurance costs by allowing insurance companies to sell across state lines. There is not a state in the country that bars an insurance company from selling within it if the company is in good standing, has a presence in the state and thus falls under the consumer protection laws of that state. By allowing companies to sell across state lines Republicans want to allow insurance companies to locate their headquarters where consumer protections are lax. There is evidence this may already be happening. If you have a problem with an insurance company denying a claim or refusing to pay, you have to go to the state where the headquarters is located rather than your states Insurance Commissioner. Ask a Republican if they will require the insurance company who sells across state lines to be under the consumer protection laws of the state where the policy holder resides. I have and was greeted with silence.
HarveyJohnson San Jose
President Trumps speech and the Democratic response, thanks to the advent of television and social media, is nothing more than pure theater, a stage for meaningless political rhetoric. Nothing was said that he hasnt said before. Goals were set that wont be reached, and promises were made that will not be kept. It makes no difference who or which political party is in power, very little happens for the greater good. Our polarized dysfunctional political system wont allow any meaningful accomplishments.
Joseph Rizzuto Los Gatos
So, what if Hillary Clinton had also won the Electoral College vote and, in the first week of her administration, before all of her team was in place, she green lighted a risky raid on Yemen over a dinner table, not in the Situation Room, did not observe the raid from the Situation Room, apparently tweeted about a TV program during a raid that resulted in Yemeni civilian deaths, the loss of an MV-22 Osprey aircraft and the death of a Navy Seal, whose father, Bill Owens, did not want to meet with the president while at Dover Base to receive the body of his son. Would the Republicans be shouting lock her up? And would the Republican Congress be convening a committee to investigate Benghazi II?
Bob Davis San Jose
Commander-in Chief Donald Trump wants to spend more than half (54 percent) of our budget on the military (Page 1A, Feb. 28). He must have forgot that the United States already spends more money on defense than the next 10 nations combined. With Russia as a friendly ally, we would have hoped the defense budget might have gone down not up. Unfortunately, Trump missed some early training when he resisted military service five times as a young man. One hopes his bellicose attitude doesnt lead us into an unnecessary war.
Stan Fitzgerald San Jose
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March 2 Letters: Silicon Valley must address automation issues - The Mercury News
Oilfield automation may slow job growth but it doesn't have to
Last week, I wrote about the race to create a digital platform to help drillers deploy and track trucks and other equipment to service their wells in the most efficient possible way, with shorter trips and seamless billing an Uber for the oilfield, if you will.
Efficiency, of course, means making things cost less. Cost comes in two varieties: Capital and labor. So which one is being cut?
In the case of software programs for running oilfield operations, the answer is theoretically both. Service providers will need fewer trucks to do more jobs, which could mean fewer truck drivers, not to mention fewer administrative staff shuffling paper tickets. A few weeks ago, the New York Times looked at how technology was muting oilfield job growth even as drilling returned, which my colleague Jordan Blum had done back in December.
As always, however, the correlation between automation and payroll isn't perfect. A company that lowers its cost of doing business may be better positioned to expand faster than its competitors, and ultimately hire more people than it would have with its old labor-intensive methods.
That's what Dee Atkin, CEO of a digital dispatching platform called OmniSolutions, thinks many of his customers have done after cutting back on paper.
"For the back office process, it reduces personnel requirements significantly," says Atkin, who is based in Utah and has been most active in the Bakken shale of North Dakota. He says one company he worked with had 11 people doing dispatching and invoicing, and was able to redeploy most of them to other functions, like customer service.
"I haven't seen anybody actually laid off," Atkin says. "Our goal with Omni Dispatch is to remove the mundane and release the human to do the creative."
Increasingly, companies are being founded with technology already baked into their operations. One of Omnisolutions' customers, Purity Oilfield Services, started up in 2012. The company never had a huge paper-shuffling operation, having digitized its record-keeping from the beginning. That efficiency allowed Purity to avoid layoffs through the downturn, and it has since focused on diversifying into new business lines which is easier to do with the help of a software program that knits them all together.
That's the optimistic vision of how automation can actually help employment: Robotics and artificial intelligence amplify human efforts, allowing newly competitive businesses to hire more people in new roles. For example, manufacturers have been able to build incredibly advanced factories in America that compete on a cost basis with Chinese production. They employ a fraction of the workers they used to, but still more than they would if the factory didn't exist.
More broadly, some research has found that automation often glibly referred to as "robots" has little impact on aggregate employment, while decreasing slightly the share of low and middle-skilled jobs.
Of course, the decision of whether to reinvest the earnings from higher productivity into new job opportunities is up to each company's leadership. They might just decide to put their profits into a bigger house, or bigger investor dividends.
And today's technological advances may pale in comparison to the ones coming down the road, like trucks that drive themselves. When that happens, businesses may not be able to expand fast enough to replace jobs that are lost.
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Oilfield automation may slow job growth but it doesn't have to ... - Chron.com
Aviation International News | Sikorsky Moves to Phase 3 of DARPA Cockpit Automation Program Aviation International News The U.S. Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) awarded Sikorsky (Booth 8114) a contract to carry out a third phase of its program to develop an Aircrew Labor In-Cockpit Automation System (ALIAS), the Lockheed Martin subsidiary ... |
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Sikorsky Moves to Phase 3 of DARPA Cockpit Automation Program - Aviation International News
TORONTO, March 02, 2017 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Trading symbols: (XX.V), (ALXXF)
Avante Logixx Inc. (Avante) is pleased to announce that it has indirectly acquired certain business assets of Architronics Inc. (www.architronics.com).
Architronics Inc. was founded in 1994, to provide high-end integrated solutions in the home and commercial automation and custom electronic integration industry, including security, lighting, audio & video, blind and temperature control. Since then, Architronics Inc. has established itself asa leading company in thisfield, designing and completing manysuccessful automation projects throughout Canada, the US and the Caribbean.
The transaction was structured by way of Avantes formation of a subsidiary entity, now named Architronics Limited (Architronics), which acquired, effective March 1, 2017, certain business assets from Architronics Inc. As consideration for the sale of these assets, the vendor received a 49% equity interest in Architronics. As a condition to the acquisition, Avante provided cash funding to Architronics in the amount of $255,000 along with access to its clients with regard to automation services and in exchange therefor Avante retains a controlling 51% equity interest. In conjunction with the acquisition, Architronics entered into key employment agreements with Matthew Grossman, President, Ron Cheung, COO and Kevin Belvett, VP Sales along with several other key team members.
Avante Logixx is very excited to collaborate with one of the pre-eminent automation teams in Canada, said CEO George Rossolatos, We believe that this transaction will be beneficial as Avante customers are significant buyers of automation offerings and will provide a materially increased flow of automation opportunities for Architronics, which already has a very strong brand presence. With our new capability in home and commercial automation, we add another pillar to our strategy, which already caters to residential and commercial security, locks and hardware. Avante expects Architronics to generate more than $2.5 million of revenue in the first year.
Architronics President Matthew Grossman added: We are very excited to team up with Avante. This acquisition will provide access to a larger number of new potential customers for our offerings as well as help us to provide better customer service and 24/7 support. We are also excited to be a part of the Avante groups bespoke showroom catering to designers and architects along with Avante Security, Into Electronics and Citywide / ADH. We believe that owning a smaller piece of the much bigger opportunity that this transaction makes possible, will ultimately help us to expand our business to new levels.
There were no finders fees payable in connection with the transaction, the transaction was negotiated on an arms length basis and does not result in a change of control for Avante. Avantes acquired equity interest in Architronics represents less than 2% of Avantes assets, post-acquisition.
About Avante Logixx (www.avantelogixx.com)
Avante Logixx Inc. (XX.V)is a Toronto-based security, monitoring, system integration and technology company. Its subsidiaries, Avante Security Inc., (www.avantesecurity.com), INTO Electronics Inc., (www.247into.com), and the recently acquired City Wide Locksmiths Ltd., (www.citywidelocksmith.ca), together provide best in class security systems and services for residential and commercial clients, and high-rise condominium applications, with industry leadership in designing and installing complex security systems, access control, intelligent video analytics, high-end lock services and smart home automation.Avantes group of companies strives to be best in class in each of its verticals including an industry leading rapid alarm response offering combined with alarm system and live video analytics monitoring. Avantes Executive Services team provides unparalleled end-to-end security solutions for high profile and high net worth families to ensure their safety in a comprehensive yet discrete manner, including an executive transportation option. Avantes International Travel Security team helps corporations protect traveling employees working abroad in medium/high risk jurisdictions and has executed travel details in over 60 countries. Avante continuously develops innovative products and applications within its core competencies. Please visit our website at http://www.avantelogixx.comand consider joining our investor email list.
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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
All statements in this press release, other than statements of historical fact, are forward-looking information with respect to Avante within the meaning of applicable securities laws. Forward-looking information is often, but not always, identified by the use of words such as seek, anticipate, plan, continue, planned, expect, project, predict, potential, targeting, intends, believe, potential, and similar expressions, or describes a goal, or a variation of such words and phrases or state that certain actions, events or results may, should, could, would, might or will be taken, occur or be achieved.
Forward-looking information is subject to a variety of known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual events or results to differ from those expressed or implied by the forward-looking information, including, without limitation, the list of risk factors identified in Avantes Management Discussion & Analysis (MD&A), Annual Information Form (AIF) and other continuous disclosure, which list is not exhaustive of the factors that may affect any of Avantes forward-looking information. In connection with the forward-looking statements contained in this and subsequent press releases, Avante has made certain assumptions about its business and the industry in which it operates and has also assumed that no significant events occur outside of Avantes normal course of business. Although management believes that the assumptions inherent in the forward-looking statements are reasonable as of the date the statements are made, forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and, accordingly, undue reliance should not be put on such statements due to the inherent uncertainty therein. Avantes forward-looking information is based on the beliefs, expectations and opinions of management on the date the statements are made, and Avante does not assume any obligation to update forward-looking information, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, other than as required by applicable law. For the reasons set forth above, readers should not place undue reliance on forward-looking information.
Neither the TSX Venture Exchange nor its Regulation Services Provider (as that term is defined in the policies of the TSX Venture Exchange) accepts responsibility for the adequacy or accuracy of this release.
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Avante Logixx Inc. Announces Acquisition of Automation Company Assets - Yahoo Finance
Tory Shoreman thought she was safe.
As far as career choices go, working in mortgage financing at one of the country's top banks seemed like a solid bet.
She figured there would be more job security than many other professions and plenty of opportunities to climb the corporate ladder in Toronto.
That was back in 2010.
Over the next seven years, she says she had a front-row seat to watch automation most often intelligent software take over nearly every aspect of mortgage processing.
Tory Shoreman worked at one of Canada's top banks and says she watched automation take out 40 per cent of her department. (CBC News)
"I witnessed about 40 per cent of my department get laid off and the reason they were given was automation," the 32-year-old told CBC News. "And these are people who had spent years getting trained to be experts in this field. A lot of it was pretty shocking to all of us."
Experts say thetechnological upheaval that's rocked industrial manufacturing for decades is set for rapid expansion into white-collar roles in fact, it's already begun in some sectors. The concern is thatif people aren'tprepared to adapt and quickly they could be left without work.
Sunil Johal, policy director at the Mowat Centre think-tank at the University of Toronto, says millions more Canadians between 1.5 million and 7.5 million, many of them highly skilled workers could face such a fate over the next decade because of rapid technological advances, including in artificial intelligence and robotics, and the potential for automating increasingly sophisticated tasks.
Public policy expert Sunil Johal says many highly skilled Canadian workers are at risk of being replaced by automation in the next decade. (CBC News)
Johal says, at this point, nobody should consider their job "safe."
"We are starting to see in fields like medicine, law, investment banking, dramatic increases in the ability of computers to think as well or better than humans. And that's really the game-changer here. Because that's something that we have never seen before."
A pizzeria owned by a Canadian ex-pat in Silicon Valley provides a glimpse at how far and fast automation might go. Zume is a "co-bot" environment where robots Pepe, Jojo and Bruno help prepare the pizzas. Within five years, owner Alex Garden says the entire operation could be automated.
"If you called to place your order with us you would probably be speaking to our artificial intelligence phone operator, and you may even have a drone or a self-driving car delivering your pizza," Garden said.
There is little data to show for certain what impact more intelligent automation has already hadon the job market, largely because it's often more subtle than what happened on industrial assembly lines. Johal says people can be shuffled around, moved into other positions or slowly phased out.
And while there's some debate among experts about how fast and dramatic the disruption will be, all agree change is coming.
Consider what's already happened at Goldman Sachs. In 2000, the investment bank had 600 U.S. cash equities traders highly-skilled, high-income workers on its floor. Today, it has two backed by 200 software engineers.
Johal's fear is that not everyone will be able to develop and maintain the skill sets necessary to compete in the changing job market.
"If Canada doesn't take this seriously, we are going to see many Canadians left on the sidelines of the labour market," he said. "They are not going to be able to get back into the job force."
Since resistance is likely futile, some Canadians have decided to get ahead of what's coming.
Benjamin Alarie is the CEO of tech startup Blue J Legal, whose next generation legal software is designed to replace some of the work lawyers do.
"In the past," he said, "you would have gone to a law library and walked through the stacks and found the books relevant to your case, and produced often a stack of materials to read and then you go back to a desk and spend many hours working through all of those hard-copy materials."
Ben Alarie is CEO of Blue J Legal, a tech company that sells software that can quickly perform tasks that would take lawyers days to accomplish. (CBC News)
But his software asks the user questions to better understand the case, then scans huge amounts of case law to determine possible outcomes and solutions.
What the software can do in moments would take a human days to accomplish.
But Alarie isn't trying to replace humans with software.
By day, he's a law professor at the University of Toronto, where he trains the lawyers of tomorrow. He says young people expect automation to be part of the work they do.
"This kind of technology is an obvious ally in advising their clients, so it's a way for them to be better, stronger lawyers and to really test their intuitions, and in years past it was just technologically impossible," he said.
In December, Tory Shoreman also decided to get ahead.
She quit her banking job and enrolled in a three-month intensive boot camp to learn coding at Lighthouse Labs.
Her hope? To launch a career in software development.
"I had to be realistic about where the [finance] industry is going and not just the industry but where everybody is going. Where the whole business world is going," she said.
Shoreman realizes she'll likely have to make more big changes down the road.
"And while my career may not look like what my grandfather's career looked like in terms of stable full-time employment and climbing the ladder, there is still going to be lots of opportunities out there for me," she said.
"And there is nothing wrong with that."
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