Question

Effective automation is seldom about taking what works in the physical world and just doing it in or with a computer. The best forms of automation tends to occur when the work process is transformed into a totally differ process that could not be done without automation support.

For example, airplanes designed to be flown by humans without automation tend to be very stable and will typically return to straight and level flight when the human provides no control input. Such airplane designs are not typically nimble, making it a challenge to produce airplanes with those designs that are great for aerial combat (e.g. aerial dogfighting).

“When War in Europe broke out, the British forces were equipped with a superb training aircraft, but it was so stable that it took effort and time to convince it to change course. They were shot down in droves.” (http://aviation.stackexchange.com/questions/8049/are-fighter-jets-designed-to-be-so-inherently-unstable-that-a-human-cant-fly-on)

Nimble aircraft tend to have unstable designs that require constant adjustments of the flight controls in order to accomplish any particular maneuver, including flying straight and level. Humans get very tired of doing this kind of flying, assuming it is possible for a human to respond fast enough. When one adds a reliable computer into the system, things immediately change. The computer does not “get tired” and is able to react orders of magnitude faster than humans can. In this situation, the human gives “gross” guidance to the computer, which in-turn provides numerous very tactical changes to the flight controls to accomplish the pilot’s intent. The result is an aircraft that can turn, rotate, and pitch far more quickly that non-computer controlled aircraft which is very important during many combat scenarios.

Start with education and professional services and then identify in those domains an opportunity where, in your opinion, a significant process change requiring the use of a computer, could bring dramatic and truly beneficial improvement. Given that application, what are the current trends and what “bar” would you have to “clear,” in your opinion, in order for the improvement to be a game-changer. Explain your answer.

Answer 1

1. Offline purchase, and, online window shopping makes use of the huge availability of online information about the brand, price, features of the articles considered for purchase. The information can be sorted to compare sellers, and, products. This is a complicated task in the offline world. The internet allows for reasoned purchases. Once the right product is chosen, the purchase is made in the physical store. Another model of purchase is to examine offline, and, buy online to take advantage of e-commerce & discounts.

Online shopping & the internet has gained acceptance in three stages - adoption, adaptation, and, integration. Another kind of behaviour is using the reviews from those one knows or from those buying the product online. The purchase has thus become a combination of the online, and, the offline. The consumers are still hesitant in case of products that have an element of identity, and, emotional bondage, or, emotional investment.

2. Consumer data - The data is protected through Federal privacy laws; this holds true in case of financial institutions, health services, etc. The laws that protect the information are Gramm Leach Bliley Act (1999) Financial Services Modernization Act, The Fair & Accurate Credit Transaction Act; Health Information Portability & Accountability Act.

3. Travel & travel related services

• Increase in capital required to produce safe air travel
• Higher security expenditures required
• Increase in capital & labour required for safe air travel has become once & for all effect
• The shift in the share of expenditure and employment devoted to security is an enduring change

4. Effective Automation - Two instances

• Field sales forces have become more efficient; marketers have turned to sales force automation for cost-effective services and decrease overall sales costs
• Salesforce automation tools used are internet driven marketing applications, sales force productivity tools, and, sales & marketing management tools; Customer Relationship Management
• Vehicle & object detection frameworks using sensors for learning, and, manufacturing automation
• Manufacturing automation using sensors to improve efficiency