Category Archives: Automation

Technology convergence is well-known in nearly every sector. Weve all seen it happen in the consumer tech sector, most notably as our cell phones transformed into smartphones that allow us to make and receive phone calls, visit websites, provide GPS travel directions, conduct video meetings, take high quality photos, and much more.

This kind of convergence happens in the industrial sector too.

A couple of high-profile examples include the programmable automation controller, which extends the capabilities of a programmable logic controller with broader industrial computer capabilities and, more recently, the growing combination of robot and vision technologies to expand and enhance industrial robotic picking and placing.

This combination of existing technologies, particularly in industry, serves two purposesto extend the capabilities of each technology beyond what each could do on its own and reduce the amount of systems operators or managers need to rely on for information. With respect to the latter purpose, its as much a technology consolidation as a combination.

One early example of this can be seen in the evolution of MRP (materials requirement planning) into ERP (enterprise resource planning), as more front office and plant applications were combined with, what was originally, a production planning and scheduling tool.

Now, were beginning to hear about the potential of combining MES (manufacturing execution systems) and SCADA (supervisory control and data acquisition) technologies. To learn more about this, we connected with Sam Russem of Grantek (a system integration firm) for a recent episode of the Automation World Gets Your Questions Answered podcast series. We spoke with Russem about this because, not only is he aware of this technology consolidation, hes worked with a manufacturers who have done it.

Both of these systems are software tools designed to perform a lot of different functions. MES is going to do things like manage your production orders and data relevant to them, analyze some of your raw production data, and turn that into more useful management information like track-and-trace information or summarize raw data into performance KPIs (key performance indicators), said Russem. It also needs to communicate in real time to your SCADA systems and work transactionally with business and ERP systems. On the SCADA side, thats really defined by the ability to connect to plant floor equipment, particularly PLCs, sensors, and other shop floor devices; raw data records [from these devices] are often kept in that SCADA layer. Most importantly, SCADA is where you have the supervisory controls that let your human operators see whats happening with the plant floor equipment and help to control it.

Since both systems are focused on device data acquisition and visualization, it helps to view them with respect to the ISA 95 or Purdue Model.

When you're talking about Level Zero of the Purdue Model, these are physical production processes that happen in real time, Russem explained. But up at the Level Four business systems, those are usually operating in terms of weeks and quarters. Therefore, a SCADA system at Level Two needs to be able to communicate a lot faster with PLCs. Thats why it can communicate at sub-second rates. MES works on a slightly longer time scale; it is not usually going to be getting into sub-second level control data, it's more focused on hours, or shifts, or sometimes days or weeks. This difference in speeds affects the protocols that each of those systems use. SCADA needs to be interfacing with industrial protocols like OPC, EtherNet/IP or Modbus, whereas MES has an even wider range of communication protocols it needs to support because it talks to SCADA systems usually through OPC or database connectionsbut also to the business systems through a firewall using web services and other protocols.

Sam Russem of Grantek.Given these differences in communication speeds, it would be easy to dismiss the possibility of combining MES and SCADA, but Russem noted that the concept of flattening the stack helps explain the push toward combining the two systems due to the human interfacing nature of both.

If you can present your control layer and your management layer in a similar platform in a similar way, where it's kind of seamless between those two functions, there's definitely an opportunity to streamline that human interface, said Russem. They're also, of course, both managing your production assets. They're just usually concerned about doing that at different scales. For example, think about the temperature of a batch tank. A SCADA wants to know the temperature of the batch tank tag and it wants to monitor that every second because if it starts to drift in a bad direction, the SCADA system is going to be where youll issue your correction and try to bring that temperature back into control. The MES is going to care about the temperature of the tank too, but it likely only cares if it actually went out of spec and it needs to know an exception for future quality review. So, while theyre focused on different aspects, they are both connecting to the same type of data.

Another benefit he noted involves reducing the number of screens and process complexity that operators must deal with daily. You walk up to these machines and there can be five different screens just to run a single piece of equipment. So, anytime you have an opportunity to streamline operations or bring things to a single control point to make sure that people don't need to be monitoring multiple screens to get the information they need to do their job, there are huge benefits.

If you can present your control layer and your management layer in a similar platform in a similar way, where it's kind of seamless between those two functions, there's definitely an opportunity to streamline that human interface.

Despite such benefits, Russem does advise caution if youre thinking of combining MES and SCADA. A combined MES and SCADA system can require a lot of compute power, as both are heavyweight systems on their own. By putting them all together, you're making a super system and you need to make sure that you have the physical compute power to monitor and maintain them. This is especially important for SCADA because its working in real time and is absolutely mission critical. You don't want slow network speeds to affect your ability to actually control your process.

The system this manufacturer is using is Inductive Automations Ignition SCADA with Sepasofts MES modules. Sepasoft is a strategic partner of Inductive Automation.

To have all of this within one system was very beneficial to the manufacturer, Russem said, as they developed this system with an agile approach of starting with SCADA and iterating on that over time to add production scheduling, OEE (overall equipment effectiveness), and SPC (statistical process control) to manage their risk at each of those stages.

The only downside we really saw was that the system got a bit bulkier, and there is a little bit of a risk to the business (as a result), he said. As they continue to add more features and more lines [to the system], there might be a place down the road where they're going to need to split that [combined system] into multiple servers to run it; at which point it might actually make sense to kind of split out their MES and the SCADA functions again. I'm not quite sure if we're going to get to that point. But we are looking at a horizon where it could make sense to split those again, and we'll see how it how it all works out.

Read more here:

Is Combining SCADA and MES a Good Idea? - Automation World

This report studies the Service Delivery Automation(SDA) market in many aspects of the industry such as market size, market conditions, market trends and forecasts, and the report also provides brief information on competitors and specific growth opportunities with key market drivers. To provide, find complete Service Delivery Automation(SDA) market analysis segmented by company, region, type and application in the report.

The business intelligence report of Service Delivery Automation(SDA) market elaborates on key growth drivers, opportunities and challenges that will influence industry growth in the coming years.

Seasoned analysts cite that Service Delivery Automation(SDA) market is predicted to expand at an annual rate of xx% over 2021-2026 and will be valued at USD XX by the end of the analysis period.

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Furthermore, the report provides an in-depth analysis of the business sphere by bifurcating it into segments. Specifics like sales amassed, revenue accrued and factors affecting consumption patterns across the key geographies are studied thoroughly. Also, detailed profiles of leading players including their strengths and weaknesses is given in the document.

Moving on to recent developments, the covid-19 pandemic has forced governments to enforce lockdowns which has severely affected the revenue flow and business operations worldwide. In this context, the research document presents actionable insights that can help industry stakeholders in building contingency plans and managing market uncertainty successfully.

Highlights from the Service Delivery Automation(SDA) market report:

Service Delivery Automation(SDA) market segmentation:

Geographical fragmentation: North America, Europe, Asia-Pacific, South America, Middle East & Africa.

Product gamut: IT Process Automation and Business Process Automation

Application scope: IT Services , Pharma & Healthcare , Life Sciences and Others

Competitive dashboard: IBM Corporation , UiPath , IPsoft , Blue Prism , Xerox Corporation , Nice Systems Ltd. , Celaton Limited , Openspan. Inc. , Automation Anywhere, Inc. , Arago US, Inc. , Genfour Ltd. and Exilant Technologies Private Limited

Major Points Covered in Table of Contents:

The key questions answered in this report:

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Service Delivery Automation(SDA) Market Insights and In-Depth Analysis 2021-202 - News By ReportsGO

Research Report and Overview on Robotics Process Automation Solution Market, 2021-2026

The latest Robotics Process Automation Solution market report lends a competitive head start to businesses by offering accurate predictions for this vertical at both regional and global scale. It entails a top-to-bottom evaluation of the various industry segments, highlighting the current and future development possibilities, and all other factors affecting the revenue potential. Moreover, the research piece covers the leading companies, as well emerging contenders and newcomers to provide a holistic view of the competitive landscape. Additionally, it makes inclusion of the challenges due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the potential paths going forward.

Key highlights from Covid-19 impact assessment:

An overview of the regional landscape:

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Other important inclusions in the Robotics Process Automation Solution market report:

Additional information from the Robotics Process Automation Solution market report:

Development policies and plans are discussed as well as manufacturing processes and cost structures are also analyzed. This report also states import/export consumption, supply and demand Figures, cost, price, revenue and gross margins.

Market segmentation

The Robotics Process Automation Solution market is split by Type and by Application. For the period 2020-2025, the growth among segments provides accurate calculations and forecasts for sales by Type and by Application in terms of volume and value. This analysis can help you expand your business by targeting qualified niche markets.

Research Objective:

Why to Select This Report:

The research process begins with internal and external sources to obtain qualitative and quantitative information related to the Robotics Process Automation Solution market. It also provides an overview and forecast for the Robotics Process Automation Solution market based on all the segmentation provided for the global region. The predictions highlighted in the Robotics Process Automation Solution market share report have been derived using verified research procedures and assumptions. By doing so, the research report serves as a repository of analysis and information for every component of the Robotics Process Automation Solution market.

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Research Report and Overview on Robotics Process Automation Solution Market, 2 - News By ReportsGO

The Thermo Scientific Cytomat 24 automated incubators and storage systems bring the latest incubation technology to large capacity microplate incubation applications, with excellent temperature uniformity and stability that ensure reproducibility for cell culture applications. The systems provide speedy delivery of microtiter plates through an advanced plate shuttle system to meet the needs of high-throughput laboratories and accelerate research. An LED touch screen is door mounted for easy accessibility and viewing. Convenient on-screen user prompts provide enhanced ease-of-use.

"As automated systems are adopted across a range of expanding applications, we continue to see new challenges arise, such as the need to minimize contamination risks in large capacity cell culture applications," said Hansjoerg Haas, senior director and general manager, lab automation, Thermo Fisher Scientific. "Through a fully automated ContraCondecontamination routine, the Cytomat 24 automated incubators and storage systemssimplify cleaning and disinfection, providing our customers with confidence in their sample integrity. Customers are always looking for opportunities to increase productivity in their processes while ensuring the quality of the samples and results. The Cytomat 24 automated incubators and storage systemsreduce the mean plate access time to 15 secondsallowing users to achieve their research goals in less time."

Users of the Cytomat 24 automated incubators and storage systemswill benefit from:

To find out more about the Cytomat 24 automated incubators and storage systems, please visit thermofisher.com/Cytomat24.

About Thermo Fisher Scientific Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc. is the world leader in serving science, with annual revenue exceeding $30billion. Our Mission is to enable our customers to make the world healthier, cleaner and safer. Whether our customers are accelerating life sciences research, solving complex analytical challenges, improving patient diagnostics and therapies or increasing productivity in their laboratories, we are here to support them. Our global team of more than 80,000 colleagues delivers an unrivaled combination of innovative technologies, purchasing convenience and pharmaceutical services through our industry-leading brands, including Thermo Scientific, Applied Biosystems, Invitrogen, Fisher Scientific, Unity Lab Services and Patheon. For more information, please visit http://www.thermofisher.com.

Media Contact Information: Laura Bright Thermo Fisher Scientific +1 562-335-8318 [emailprotected]

Janice Foley BioStrata +1 617-823-5555 [emailprotected]

SOURCE Thermo Fisher Scientific

http://www.thermofisher.com

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Automated Incubators and Storage Systems Increase Throughput and Sample Protection - PRNewswire

5/13/2021

DNV has launched a new collaborative research project to develop an automated data processing procedure for verification of detected wind turbine blade defects, with the aim of building trust and generating broader acceptance of automated data processing techniques across the industry and to inform future regulation.

The research project, which is being conducted in partnership with the University of Bristol and Perceptual Robotics, will investigate the automated verification, validation and processing of inspection data, collected by autonomous drones, to improve inspection quality and performance. The project aims to contribute to the development of the UK automated inspection industry.

Unmanned autonomous and remote-controlled vehicles and drones are routinely used to conduct asset inspections in the hard to reach, extreme environments of offshore wind farms. These vehicles can collect rich and extensive data sets including high-definition video, images, geo-positioning and sensor data, to provide integrity information about the installed structures without personnel having to access these dangerous locations.

The research project, which will run for 12 months from April 2021, will address the need for fully automated processing of the data collected, where currently this remains a semi-automated process with reliance on visual inspections of image data by trained experts.

With many inspections still being carried out manually, visual inspection of offshore wind turbines, is expensive, labour intensive, and hazardous, Dr. Elizabeth Traiger, a DNV Senior Researcher in digital assurance said. Automatic visual inspections can address these issues.

This collaboration will develop and demonstrate an automated processing pipeline alongside a general framework with the aim of generating broader acceptance across the industry and informing future regulation. This project should provide a stepping-stone to the growth of the automated inspection industry.

With the number of installed wind turbines worldwide increasing, including those in remote and harsh environments, the volume of inspection data collected is quickly outpacing the capacity of skilled inspectors who can competently review it, said Pierre C Sames, Group Research and Development Director at DNV. This research project will develop means to tackle this challenge through machine learning algorithms and process automation.

As part of the project, the Visual Information Lab at the University of Bristol, experts in 3D computer vision and image processing, will create algorithms for automated localization of inspection images and defects using SLAM and 3-D tracking technology.

Perceptual Robotics, an SME specializing in visual inspection of wind turbines using drones, will perform drone inspections and create AI based models for defect detection to trial automation of process in a commercial production environment.

DNV will provide inspection expertise, verify data collected, validate the methodology and performance of the AI algorithms and provide guidance as to existing DNV and IEC recommend practices, regulations and industry networks.

The research is supported by an Innovate UK grant gained as a result of winning the Robotics for a safer world: extension competition.

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DNV, partners researching automated verification of offshore wind turbine inspection results - WorldOil

CHELMSFORD, Mass., May 10, 2021 /PRNewswire/ -- Brooks Automation, Inc. (Nasdaq: BRKS) today reported financial results for the second fiscal quarter of 2021, ended March 31, 2021.

Financial Results Summary

QuarterEnded

Dollarsinmillions, except per share data

March31,

December31,

March31,

Change vs.

2021

2020

2020

Prior Qtr

Prior Year

Revenue

$

287

$

250

$

220

15

%

30

%

Semiconductor Solutions

$

157

$

131

$

125

20

%

26

%

Life Sciences

$

130

$

118

$

95

10

%

36

%

Diluted EPS Continuing Operations

$

0.32

$

0.36

$

0.12

(12)

%

158

%

Diluted EPS Total

$

0.32

$

0.35

$

0.12

(9)

%

158

%

Non-GAAP Diluted EPS Continuing Operations

$

0.61

$

0.47

$

0.25

30

%

145

%

Adjusted EBITDA

$

71

$

58

$

35

23

%

105

%

Today the Company also announced plans to separate into two independent, publicly traded companies by establishing a standalone life sciences company, comprised of the Life Sciences business and a standalone automation company, comprised of the Semiconductor Solutions business. The separation is expected to be completed by end of the calendar year 2021 and does not affect the presentation of the financial statements included within this release. Please see the Company's separate press release for further information.

Management Comments "Record level revenue in the second quarter is yet another proof point of the strength and continued momentum of our Life Sciences and Semiconductor Solutions businesses," commented Steve Schwartz, President and CEO. "While today's separation announcement reflects years of strategic investment and innovation, we believe that the Life Sciences and Semiconductor Solutions businesses are now of size and scale to operate and benefit from their own standalone structures. Looking ahead, we see strong demand in both businesses supporting continued acceleration as we enter the second half of our fiscal year."

Summary of GAAP ResultsSecond Quarter, Fiscal 2021

In the following analysis of the non-GAAP results, Brooks adjusted the GAAP results to provide investors better perspective on the results of operations which the Company believes is more comparable to the similar analysis provided by its peers and/or representative of the normal operations of the business. In this context, the Company has removed the effect of the charge in the second quarter of 2021 related to liabilities for import tariffs related to imports in prior fiscal years. The cost of import tariffs which pertain to the current fiscal year imports remain in the results discussed below. A description of all adjustments and reconciliation of non-GAAP measures to the most nearly comparable GAAP measures follow the consolidated balance sheets, statements of operations and statements of cash flows included in this release.

Summary of Non-GAAP Results for Continuing Operations Second Quarter, Fiscal 2021

Cash and Liquidity

Quarterly Cash DividendThe Company additionally announced that the Board of Directors has reiterated a dividend of $0.10 per share payable on June 25, 2021 to stockholders of record on June 4, 2021. Future dividend declarations, as well as the record and payment dates for such dividends, are subject to the final determination of the Company's Board of Directors.

Guidance for Third Quarter Fiscal 2021The Company announced revenue and earnings guidance for the third quarter of fiscal 2021. Revenue is expected to be in the range of $300 million to $320 million and non-GAAP diluted earnings per share is expected to be in the range of $0.65 to $0.75. GAAP diluted earnings per share for the third fiscal quarter is expected to be in the range of $0.46 to $0.56.

Conference Call and WebcastBrooks management will webcast its second quarter earnings conference call today at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time. During the call, Company management will respond to questions concerning, but not limited to, the Company's financial performance, business conditions and industry outlook. Management's responses could contain information that has not been previously disclosed.

The call will be broadcast live over the Internet and, together with presentation materials referenced on the call, will be hosted at the Investor Relations section of Brooks' website at http://www.brooks.investorroom.com, and will be archived online on this website for convenient on-demand replay. In addition, you may call 800-913-8744 (US & Canada only) or +1-212-271-4615 for international callers to listen to the live webcast.

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Brooks Automation Reports Results of Second Quarter of Fiscal 2021, Ended March 31, 2021, and Announces Quarterly Cash Dividend - PRNewswire

The Robotic Process Automation Market report is a compilation of first-hand information, qualitative and quantitative assessment by industry analysts, inputs from industry experts and industry participants across the value chain. The report provides in-depth analysis of parent market trends, macro-economic indicators and governing factors along with market attractiveness as per segments. The report also maps the qualitative impact of various market factors on market segments and geographies.

The robotic process automation market was valued at USD 2094.3 million in 2020 and is expected to reach USD 9416.82 million by 2026, at a CAGR of 27.7% over the forecast period 2021 2026.

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Top LeadingCompaniesof Robotic Process Automation Market areAutomation Anywhere Inc., Blue Prism Group PLC, Jacada Inc., Pegasystems Inc., UIPath Inc., Kofax Inc. (Thoma Bravo LLC), Be Informed BV (Hoogenberg Beheer BV), Datamatics Global Services Limited, AutomationEdge Technologies Inc., Appian Corporation, HelpSystems LLC (HGGC), Nice Robotic Automation Ltd, CGI Inc. and others.

Key Market Trends:

IT and Telecom is expected to hold major share

The increase in the adoption of RPA among the IT and telecommunication industries to reduce the operational costs and enhance overall customer satisfaction is expected to be the major growth driver. IT and telecommunication companies can experience other benifits by deploying RPA which includes centralization and consolidation of request management systems for increased efficiency, improved transparency and visibility for service functions, automation of request service-level agreement reporting, and reduction of manual efforts.

Investigator Observers Strong Growth in Specific Regions:

EuropeMarket (Germany, UK, France, Russia, Italy)

Center East and AfricaMarket (Saudi Arabia, UAE, Egypt, Nigeria, South Africa)

South AmericaMarket (Brazil, Argentina, Colombia)

North AmericaMarket (United States, Canada, Mexico)

Asia PacificMarket (China, Japan, Korea, India, Southeast Asia).

The Latest Industry Data Included in this Report: Robotic Process Automation Market Size & Analysis (2016 2026) Market Share Analysis of Robotic Process Automation Market (%),2016 2026 Robotic Process Automation Market Share, By Brand Robotic Process Automation Market Share, By Company Robotic Process Automation Market Assessment & Opportunity (Value),2016 2026 Major Companies Robotic Process Automation Market Value Analysis & Forecast Promising Robotic Process Automation Development by Major Companies Detailed Robotic Process Automation Portfolio of the Major Companies Major Deals in the Robotic Process Automation Market Major Companies Analysis

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https://www.marketinsightsreports.com/reports/02082592435/robotic-process-automation-market-growth-trends-covid-19-impact-and-forecasts-2021-2026?Mode=namita

The Report Answers the Following Questions about the Robotic Process Automation Market: What is the size of the Robotic Process Automation market during 2016-2026? What will be the revenue generated by each Robotic Process Automation during the forecast period? Which Robotic Process Automation provides the highest market share? What are the leading companies dominating the Robotic Process Automation market? What is the share of these companies in the Robotic Process Automation market? How will the industry evolve during the forecast period 2021-2026? What is the key development implemented by the leading players to stand out in this market? Who are the key players in this market space?

Customization of the Report: This report can be customized as per your needs for additional data up to 3 companies or countries or 40 analyst hours.

Please connect with our sales team (sales@marketinsightsreports.com).

Note: All the reports that we list have been tracking the impact of COVID-19. Both upstream and downstream of the entire supply chain has been accounted for while doing this. Also, where possible, we will provide an additional COVID-19 update supplement/report to the report in Q3, please check for with the sales team.

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Robotic Process Automation Market 2021 Competitive Insights Automation Anywhere Inc., Blue Prism Group PLC, Jacada Inc., Pegasystems Inc., UIPath...

The pandemic has seen accelerated interest in process automation as organizations have scrambled to overhaul business processes and double down on digital transformations in response to disruptions brought about by COVID-19.

And for IT leaders stepping into or already steeped in such modernization efforts, artificial intelligence mainly in the form of machine learning holds the promise to revolutionize automation, pushing them closer to their end-to-end process automation dreams.

But for now, AI-powered process automation remains a piecemeal approach, in which AI is involved in individual tasks but not across the entire process chain. Regardless of how vendors spin it, fully intelligent automation has not yet arrived but organizations working to fill the gaps are finding innovative ways to this promising concept closer into being.

A typical use case for AI in automation includes the following: instead of requiring someone to manually re-key information from a PDF into a form, an AI is trained to do it for them. Or, when an employee would normally hunt through corporate documents to answer a customer question, an AI suggests possible answers.

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The quest for end-to-end intelligent automation - CIO

SAN FRANCISCO, May 13, 2021 /PRNewswire/ --Automate.io - a leading workflow automation platform has announced a new technology partnership with Notion. With this partnership, Automate.io has become the first iPaaS platform to launch an integration with Notion's new API. This iPaaS integration will bring a major productivity boost to Notion customers as they can now automate their business workflows by connecting Notion to 200+ cloud apps available on Automate.io.

Notion is an all-in-one workspace used to create systems for knowledge management, note-taking, project management, and more. Automate.io's Notion integration will help teams from around the world automate their manual and repetitive processes while also reducing their cognitive load of switching between multiple apps.

"Notion is the most requested app on Automate.io and we're thrilled to be the first iPaaS partner to launch a robust integration with it. Our integration will enable Notion customers to synchronize data with other business applications and automate workflows," said Ashok Gudibandla, CEO of Automate.io.

Reports show implementing workflow automation increases ROI by 30% to 200% in the first year itself. Here are some use cases Notion customers can automate with this integration:

"By partnering with Automate.io, our customers around the world will be able to do so much more with Notion and integrate with the software and services they use the most," said Cristina Cordova, Head of Platform & Partnerships at Notion. "We can't wait to see what folks build! This is only the beginning as we build out our API and open up new possibilities."

To learn about all the possible Notion workflows, visit Automate.io's Notion integration page.

About Automate.io:Automate.io is the world's easiest iPaaS and workflow automation platform. It helps businesses connect cloud applications to automate repetitive processes, with no IT help. It brings the power of workflow automation to non-technical people and empowers everyone in the organization to work smart. Over 40,000 businesses use Automate.io to automate workflows and improve organizational efficiency.

SOURCE Automate.io

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Automate.io & Notion Partner Up To Bring The Productivity of Workflow Automation To Notion Customers - PRNewswire

In 2015, Deutsche Telekom started to apply robotic process automation (RPA), one of many tools in the whole process automation space. Over time the company developed an army of more than 2,500 RPA bots in a huge success story. But they also had to learn that even if RPA has process automation in its name, it does not really automate processes, but tasks.

This is a common misunderstanding that is rooted in the complexity of the process automation landscape, where tool categories are multidimensional and difficult to capture. In this article I will answer the question I get asked almost every day (what is process automation?) and provide an overview of the process automation space.

For the sake of brevity, I will narrow the scope of process automation to the following:

Other process automation use cases are explicitly out of scope:

Now, there are two very different types of digital or integration processes:

There is some gray area in between these two categories when you customize your standard software. But companies have become more and more cautious about doing this because of bad experiences in the past.

The decision needs to be made separately for every process you have in the company. And please note: There is no right or wrong decision, except that your choice should reflect your business strategy. This article will focus on tailor-made processes.

Tailor-made processes involve building software for process automation. This is software to build software and can be roughly categorized in terms of two dimensions (the nature of the tools, and the nature of the automation), as illustrated in the figure below:

With these two dimensions, you can sort tools into the four major buckets described in the next sections.

Typical examples of low-code task automation include application integration tools and RPA:

Low-code task automation tools are great for solving simple integration problems in isolation and help to remove manual integration work, such as copying data over from system A to system B. The immediate business value is the reason that RPA is such a huge success.

However, the automation scope must be simple enough. And note that resulting solutions are often untested, naive, and hard to maintain. Many solutions focus on the happy case and forget exceptional situations, which then hit unexpectedly in production, often going unnoticed. This can make the solutions brittle.

Automating single tasks in a developer-friendly way typically means leveraging not only software development but also the following:

In contrast to low-code solutions, developer-friendly solutions require software developers to be involved. On the other hand, these developers are generally very productive, as they can work in the stack known to them. Also, the resulting solution is typically more stable and can solve more complex problems.

Task automation tools do not implement business process flows. However, a series of RPA bots, integration tasks, or event subscriptions might form a logical chain that implements a business process. This comes with two challenges. First, the process flow does not have its own persistence, making it hard to determine the current state of any instance. Second, the control flow logic is nowhere visible, making these architectures hard to understand and maintain. (This is further described in my talk, Complex event flows in distributed systems.)

There are two categories of tools that focus on providing visibility into these chains of tasks:

Process automation tools automate the control flow of multi-step processes. Their focus is less on the single task and more on the interplay between tasks. Processes are typically long-running in nature, which leads to their own requirements for the tool (persistence, operations tooling, etc).

Low-code tools aim to allow non-developers to implement these processes. Typical tool categories include the following:

Some of these tools can really help to automate simple processes. If you are a startup, you might get along with a typical set of SaaS applications and then connect them using iPaaS solutions sufficiently. But these approaches fall short on complex business processes or integration scenarios.

What I have regularly found is that low-code products do not deliver on their promise and less tech-savvy citizen developers cannot implement core processes themselves. As a result, companies have to revert back to their IT departments and ask them to assign professional software developers to finish the job, which in turn are not productive with proprietary low-code stacks.

There are tools that allow software developers to productively work on process automation projects:

Read more:

Understanding the process automation landscape - InfoWorld