DIXterous 3: Navigating the Pandemic Maze with Digital & Intelligent Automation Solutions

The global pandemic aka COVID-19 that shook the world in the end of 2019, continues to be a topic of debate on whether it's a temporary offset of economy or could impact the economy for very long time. Especially with tremors of the outbreak impacting industries across the globe in a manner never seen before for at least couple of decades. While COVID-19 caused lock-downs which directly impacted consumer spending and led to low transaction volumes, digitalization & automation comes as a solution to this situation, thus emerging as light at the end of the tunnel. It can therefore be rightly said that the digital transformation is inevitable for enterprises to survive the new wave of transition. Below, we will take a quick look at how telehealth, e-commerce and drones are playing their part in the digital transformation wave.

 Telehealth

Telehealth services have witnessed a surge amidst the ongoing pandemic. According to Frost & Sullivan, telehealth visits in March 2020 witnessed a growth of 50% over the past month in the U.S., and online healthcare interactions are expected to cross 1 billion by the end of the year. It is noteworthy to mention that Teladoc, a US-based telemedicine provider recorded as many as over 15,000 video requests in a single during March.

According to Gartner, the global telehealth market is expected to cross $53.0 billion by 2026 driven by rising incidences of chronic diseases, and growing demand for home healthcare. Additionally, high penetration of smart phones and technological advancements in digital healthcare services will bolster growth.

E-Commerce

E-commerce transactions are not far behind this growth trajectory. This can be attributed to the comfort of shopping at home coupled with secure payment gateways that appeal to consumers who prefer to confine themselves to their homes. This is substantiated by a report from eMarketer which says that e-commerce sales in the U.S. are expected to grow by 18% in 2020, while retail sales are forecast to decline by over 10.0% during the same period. While the growth of e-commerce is not sufficient to offset the losses reported by retail outlets, it can be said that the strong growth may mitigate the severity of declines.

Solutions such as purchase order automation, workflow automation for order management, and automating inventory management are boosting growth of e-commerce. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) solutions are enabling retailers such as Amazon and Shopify to read and respond to over 20 million reviews in 60 days. 

Drones

Drones too are fast gaining popularity owing to the plethora of untapped opportunities that industry 4.0 has to offer. For instance, drones are gradually finding place in areas such as emergency delivery of medicines, inspection and surveillance, delivery to rural areas, and underwater inspection. This can be attributed to the emergence of technologies such as machine learning and artificial intelligence that allow drones to offer that cutting-edge service which businesses seek. With growing importance of contact-less delivery and minimal human intervention, in wake of the global pandemic, drones are fast gaining acceptance. Consequently, many companies in the logistics industry are expected to foray into this space to capitalize on the growing demand.

ASYAD, an Oman-based logistics company is one such player that has launched multiple pilot projects with drones. This includes transporting a 1.5kg parcel in a little over four minutes covering three kilometres. Other projects include port infrastructure drones, underwater drones, and warehouse stock-counting drones. As a result, drones are expected to become mainstream owing to the improved visibility in logistics operations.

“When autonomous drones deliver parcels, their operational costs are at least 70% lower than a van delivery” – Gartner

Google’s parent company Alphabet which operates drone delivery company “Wing”, witnessed a strong demand with over 1000 deliveries within a span of two weeks during the Corona Virus crisis. Also, Walmart filed for 97 new drone patents with the World Intellectual Property Organization from June 2018 to June 2019. These examples are indicative of how enterprises are acting fast to capitalize on drone technology.

According to Gartner, in 2026, more than one million drones will be carrying out retail deliveries, up from 20,000 today.

CInDE (Cognitive Intelligence through Data & Experience) Intelligent Automation solutions, offered by Pactera Edge, comes as a powerful tool for retailers and enterprises to leverage the technologies mentioned above. An Integrated Digital & Intelligent Automation platform that can help organizations to navigate the pandemic maze through fast track proven solutions

Source Reference:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2020/08/this-is-how-drones-and-other-tradetech-is-transforming-international-trade/

 https://ccinsight.org/observations/even-though-e-commerce-will-surge-annual-us-retail-sales-will-drop-more-than-10/

https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/03/telehealth-visits-could-top-1-billion-in-2020-amid-the-coronavirus-crisis.html

https://www.chargedretail.co.uk/2020/01/29/top-5-upcoming-retail-drone-delivery-services/

Thank you

Dinesh Chandrasekar DC*

#PacteraEdge #IntelligentAutomation #DigitalFirst