Business Process Automation Research Articles

Digital Technologies in Arctic Oil and Gas Resources Extraction: Global Trends and Russian Experience

The paper is devoted to the analysis of the current and the forecast of the prospective state of introducing digital technologies into the oil and gas mining industry of the Russian Arctic. The authors of the paper analyzed the global trends that define the process of digital technologies’ introduction into the oil and gas mining industry. They also reviewed the Russian companies’ experience in this sphere. The main trends and prospects for the development of oil and gas resources extraction in the Russian Arctic in the digitalization sphere were identified. Together with this, the researchers considered prospects for digital technologies’ introduction into the oil and gas industry, observing their competition with RES. As a result, the authors have come to the following conclusions: (1) in Russian companies, digitalization is being more actively introduced into the processes of general enterprise management. (2) The main purpose of Russian oil and gas sector digitalization is to increase the efficiency of business process management, while the key constraining factors of digitalization are the lack of qualified personnel, lack of material and technical base and cyber-security threats aggravation. (3) The prospects of introducing a new package of sanctions can become both an incentive for a qualitative leap in Russian software development/implementation and an obstacle to the development of Arctic projects due to their rise in price. (4) The COVID-19 pandemic factor is one of the incentives for the widespread introduction of production and various business processes automation in the oil and gas industry, as well as the development of digital communications. (5) The leader in the digital technology development industry among Russian oil and gas companies is “Gazprom Neft” PJSC, followed by “NK Rosneft” PJSC. (6) “Gazprom” PJSC continues to lag behind in the sphere of digitalization; however, qualitative changes here should be expected in 2022. (7) The “sensitivity parameters” influencing the industry digitalization process in the Arctic region are the high dependence on foreign technological solutions and software, characteristics of the entire Russian oil and gas industry, and the problem of ensuring cybersecurity in Arctic oil and gas projects and power outages. (8) For the Arctic regions, the use of RES as the main source of electricity is the most optimal and promising solution; however, hydrocarbon energy will still dominate the market in the foreseeable future.

Informatization of the Scientific and Technical Library of the Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies

The article deals with the development of the scientific and technical library of the Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies. The main promising directions for modernizing the activities of the scientific and technical library are presented, including the organization of free access to the funds, the formation of a comfortable environment, the digitalization and automation of the main business processes.

Automation of educational business processes at the Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies

The article presents a conceptual approach to the development of the educational information environment and resources of a higher academic institution on the example of Siberian State University of Geosystems and Technologies. The article presents a SWOT analysis of the University’s information and educational resources, which resulted in the development of ways to improve the integrated automation of the University’s business processes.

A hybrid Harrison Hawk optimization based on differential evolution for the node localization problem in IoT networks

SummaryDespite the close of a tumultuous 2020 and the start of 2021, connected devices will continue to shape the future of numerous industries, and businesses are confident that the Internet of Things (IoT) will play a key role in the future success of their trade. The growing Internet of Things (IoT) is connecting devices to a variety of sensors, applications, and other IoT elements to automate business processes and support human efficiencies in business and the home. WSN along with node localization algorithms can play a critical role in IoT applications. Nevertheless, in IoT applications, the context of real‐time location‐based services is gaining an overwhelming interest. To do this, several approaches are proposed in the recent literature based mainly on computational intelligence algorithms. This paper proposes a node localization algorithm based on swarm intelligence algorithms, that is, a hybrid Harris Hawks optimization based on differential evolution (HHODE).HHODE algorithm relies on Euclidian Distance as objective function to evaluate best‐fit coordinates of sensor nodes in a wireless sensor network. Moreover, several experimentations are performed depending on the network size, communication range of sensors, geographical distribution, and the beacon nodes' density to demonstrate the efficiency of the HHODE algorithm. Compared to Standard DE, HOO, PSO, and Bat Algorithm, HHODE shows higher performance with regard to node localization.

Robotic Process Automation: A Literature-Based Research Agenda

ABSTRACTRobotic Process Automation (RPA) is a relatively new approach to automate business processes in organizations. Practitioners have adopted it extensively, notably within the accounting discipline; however, the scientific research seems to be lagging. As a result of this, there is no clear definition or uniform understanding of the advantages and disadvantages of RPA. To close this gap, we conducted a structured and systematic literature review of published scholarly articles on RPA. We set out to identify the definition of RPA, consider its feasibility regarding implementation, outline the advantages and disadvantages, and evaluate the risks and best practices of RPA. In this paper, we show that the literature has particularly failed to discuss the quantifiable benefits of RPA. The best practices identified are especially relevant for practitioners. Based on our findings, we propose an agenda for future research on RPA.

Assessing the Impact of RPA on the Modern Economic System

The study examines the iss ues of assessing the impact of the technology of robotization and automation of business processes on the modern economic system and on enterprises in the field of high information technologies. The hypothesis is put forward, according to which the introduction of RPA technologies can significantly reduce the costs of companies for the organization and implementation of manual labor by delegating such labor to the described technologies. The relevance of the research is due to the growing influence of RPA technologies on the business processes of companies, the structure of their costs and revenues, as well as the outstanding financial results of companies that have implemented business process automation technologies. The purpose of the study is to evaluate the effectiveness and expediency of the use of robotization of business processes by domestic companies. During the analytical activity, a strong relationship was revealed between the growth of the RPA technology market and the dynamics of the financial assessment of companies related to the field of business process automation. A sociological survey was also conducted, the purpose of which was to find out the level of popularity of RPA among people, their opinions about automation technologies, confidence in such services and the desire to use the technologies under study in their own lives. The research uses general scientific methods: analysis, synthesis, sociological survey, correlation analysis, as well as a systematic approach. As a result of the study, the hypothesis was confirmed, proving that modern companies should implement RPA technologies in order to withstand competition by reducing costs. The sociological survey showed that the vast majority of respondents are familiar with RPA technologies and trust them to a certain extent. A large percentage of respondents stated their readiness to use automation, which gives companies access to new horizons of opportunities due to the likely increase in people’s confidence in automation tools. Recommendations were given to domestic companies on the introduction of robotics into the business structure and the prospects for improving labor productivity at all levels of the company were described. The above measures may also be the result of changes in the company’s recruitment policy and the system of training and introduction of new personnel.

Digitalization of logistics company business process in conditions of industry 4.0

The article defines that the digitalization of logistics business processes is, if not obligatory, then a very necessary process that allows company reach a new level. Keeping customers in growing competition, providing quality services, reducing the cost of logistics allows company to do the job correctly and efficiently. So the introduction of modern technologies in the logistics company is an integral step towards scaling up and growth. The essence of the company activity digitalization is not to digitize any channel, individual production operation or a separate business process, but in a complex approach to the transformation of the company, covering all areas of the company and all areas of economic activity. The need for the logistics industry to adapt to this new digital age in order to evolve has been proven. Enterprise business process digitalization tools are more flexible tools due to their user interface customization capabilities and integration capabilities with most advanced systems. New purpose – automation of business processes with the use of smart technologies allows company to simplify the load when performing their daily tasks to each employee. The aim of the article is to develop proposals and recommendations for improving the management of the company's logistics business processes by their digitalization. It is claimed that due to the modern policy of increasing digitalization in the company AsstrA Ukraine, there is an increase in indicators and quality of work performance, increasing the level of job satisfaction among employees, which is the key to further growth of the company. It is noted that digital technologies allow to automate supply chain management processes, which reduces operating costs, facilitates simpler and faster billing methods, improves customer service and develops an important new era for building ideal and competitive supply chains.

Towards the methodology of automation of buildings and structures life cycle

Changes in the innovative development of the domestic construction industry associated with the transition to a new technological order lead to the conclusion that automation and management of the construction object life cycle business processes consist in the creation of object-oriented automated technologies for each stage of the cycle based on a common data environment and an consolidated building (structure) information models, virtually representing various parts of investment, design, as-built and operational documentation. The domain area of the article is buildings life cycle, where the object of research is the formalization of technologies for automating the construction objects life cycle. The processes of the life cycle stages are technologically different, and if the general purpose of the project documentation content is to create a safe, healthy and comfortable living environment for people, then the main semantic attribute of the life cycle stages is the activity of decision makers on the management of these processes. Their activities are always object-oriented and supported by appropriate technologies at all stages. The structure of stages in the life cycle of buildings and structures contains various domain areas of activity for these specialists. The article proposes the development of a methodology for constructing automated technologies for managing of the construction objects life cycle stages, based on the practical application of the Markov algorithms theory conclusions, formulated as a Constructive Direction. This Direction asserts that any virtual or material object always has a Constructive Process implementing it. "Digitalization" as the basis for "Big Data" collection and accumulation, "artificial intelligence" as the rules for generating constructive objects, business processes automation as the practical implementation of for Constructive Process technologies and particular construction objects generation, are based on the concept of Constructive Direction. It is proposed to formally represent any automated Constructive Process (K-process) as the structure of a generative grammar model. Based on the formulated conceptual and methodological approaches for the lifecycle stages, a schematic diagram for building of automated K-process technologies models is proposed. This will reduce risks and costs, increase the development efficiency of lifecycle automated technologies. The final conclusion of the study is an indication for creating a new technological order and generating conditions for a safe, healthy and comfortable life of people in virtual and natural environments while expensive and time-consuming object-oriented automated technologies of the life cycle stages support have been developing.

Cognitive automation

Facilitated by AI technology, the phenomenon of cognitive automation extends the scope of deterministic business process automation (BPA) through the probabilistic automation of knowledge and service work. By transforming work systems through cognitive automation, organizations are provided with vast strategic opportunities to gain business value. However, research lacks a unified conceptual lens on cognitive automation, which hinders scientific progress. Thus, based on a Systematic Literature Review, we describe the fundamentals of cognitive automation and provide an integrated conceptualization. We provide an overview of the major BPA approaches such as workflow management, robotic process automation, and Machine Learning-facilitated BPA while emphasizing their complementary relationships. Furthermore, we show how the phenomenon of cognitive automation can be instantiated by Machine Learning-facilitated BPA systems that operate along the spectrum of lightweight and heavyweight IT implementations in larger IS ecosystems. Based on this, we describe the relevance and opportunities of cognitive automation in Information Systems research.

Robotic Process Automation as a Digital Transformation Tool for Increasing Organizational Resilience in Polish Enterprises

The current digital transformation (additionally accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic) is causing profound changes across a number of industries. Part of this revolution is the spread of Robotic Process Automation (RPA), which enables the automation of business processes by replacing human work with advanced software robots. One of the goals of the conducted research was to develop a classification of approaches to RPA positioning in enterprises. The author also identified differences in RPA positioning between individual industries. Based on conducted literature research, the author has proposed a proprietary classification for approaches to RPA positioning: conservative, efficiency improving, and strategic. This was subject to verification based on the results of empirical research using multidimensional correspondence analysis. The survey was conducted by the author in 2020 using the CAWI method: Credible (reliable) results were obtained from 238 Polish enterprises. The multidimensional correspondence analysis, conducted on the basis of the results of the empirical research confirmed that the approaches to RPA positioning in enterprises proposed by the author did occur in business practice. The outcome of the RPA classification became the basis for qualitative research (in the form of semi-structured interviews with expert practitioners) aimed at answering the question as to whether enterprises that strategically position RPA and treat it as a tool for digital transformation increase their organizational resilience. Up until now, however, no study has been found that focuses on how RPA increases organizational resilience or what its consequences are both at the research and application levels. This article fills the research gap in this area.

Towards automatic business process redesign: an NLP based approach to extract redesign suggestions

Towards automatic business process redesign: an NLP based approach to extract redesign suggestions

АВТОМАТИЗАЦІЯ БІЗНЕС-ПРОЦЕСІВ ЯК НЕОБХІДНА УМОВА ЕФЕКТИВНОСТІ ОРГАНІЗАЦІЙ

The use of advanced technologies to complete business processes with minimal human intervention is known as "business process automation". The purpose of automation is to replace manual human labor with machine labor and optimize the entire production process. With the help of modern technologies of machine interaction, automated parameter control systems are implemented at factories, the data of which is transferred to the server and processed. Taking into account the analysis of this data, the machine itself decides on any action. Automation speeds up work by redirecting information to the right person at the right time with user-defined rules and actions, helping managers move to a new, higher level of management. It gives an opportunity to focus on the company's strategic goals. Automation is currently a very relevant and important direction in the field of theory and practice of business process management. Its main goal is to increase the socio-economic efficiency of the enterprise through the purposeful implementation of software and hardware systems that increase the speed and accuracy of the implementation of business processes, while minimizing erroneous actions and decisions arising under the influence of the so-called "human factor". The automation system helps to turn monotonous manual work into automatic, making such work more technological and advanced. Enterprises work in a highly competitive environment, therefore, they need constant development, use of best practices and new technologies. With the increase in the number of management tasks in large systems, the volume of processed information increases significantly and the complexity of management algorithms increases. As a result, there is a mismatch between the complexity of the managed object and the ability of any governing body to receive and process information. Therefore, the automation of business processes is a necessary condition for the company's survival in the modern world. Automation of business processes is one of the fastest growing technologies today. Businesses need to do less with more and ensure their processes are as efficient and effective as possible. To do this, they turn to business process automation software to scale processes, solve unique workflow challenges, and maximize productivity.

“Cut out the middleman” – Automating Business Processes with Blockchains and Smart Contracts

Competence in data management is fundamental for the survival of companies. In this paper we go beyond topics like data integration, data quality, data governance or data wrangling. The notion is to outline the conceptual approaches of blockchain technology and smart contracts as an innovative approach to sharing data and automating contractual processes between interested parties. Cryptocurrencies - with bitcoin the first and most prominent one – have become highly relevant on the financial markets. The underlying technology for crypto money follows a distributed ledger concept called blockchain. However, blockchain technology today amounts to much more than storing virtual money, having gained new ground with the capability to implement so-called smart contracts, i.e., software code as part of the chain. In this discussion we outline the concept of distributed ledgers and blockchain and outline fundamentals of smart contracts. Finally, proof of concepts and first applications exemplify the options that companies now have to enhance their business.

РОЗВИТОК ПЕРСОНАЛУ ТА КАДРОВОГО ПОТЕНЦІАЛУ ЯК ЕЛЕМЕНТИ СТРАТЕГІЧНОГО УПРАВЛІННЯ ФІНАНСОВО-ЕКОНОМІЧНОЮ БЕЗПЕКОЮ СУБ’ЄКТА ГОСПОДАРЮВАННЯ

The urgency of the study is due to the rapid spread of Industry 4.0 trends, including total digitalization of business processes, their automation, and removal of employees from their traditional functions and their transfer to the implementation of artificial intelligence. Such trends create new and increase traditional threats to the financial and economic security of enterprises. At the same time, the new roles to be performed by the staff are not without risks for the normal functioning and development of economic entities in the future, which necessitates the study of security-oriented strategic management with close attention to human resources of business structures. According to the results of the study, the problems that arise in the process of personnel management in the conditions of Industry 4.0 and the risks they create for the state of financial and economic security of the enterprise are identified. It is revealed how the personnel potential influences the strategic orientations of the business structure. It has been established that staff development can improve the financial and economic security of an entity. The bases of formation of strategy of management of financial and economic security of the enterprise – strategy of maximization of personnel potential within the limits of strategic security oriented management are offered. The use of the proposed approaches in practice will increase the level of financial and economic security of the enterprise in the context of the spread of trends in Industry 4.0, partial or full automation of business processes and work in the digital space. Its essence is to achieve the highest possible level of financial and economic security and protection of corporate resources from existing, expected and unforeseen risks and threats by forming a catalog of staff actions in different situations, as well as prior training of employees to raise awareness of their role in financial and economic security and development of professional competencies adapted to the conditions of work in the digital environment and taking into account the full or partial automation of business processes.

Analysis of the three-year work of a digital pathomorphological laboratory built from the ground

Digital pathology is a new stage in the development of pathomorphological diagnostics. This topic was most widespread during the COVID-19 pandemic. The advantages of digitization of diagnostics include the possibility of remote work of a pathologist, remote asynchronous consultation, and automation of business processes. They provide an increase in diagnostic quality and speed up the diagnosis process. These benefits are only a small part of what digital cancer diagnostics can provide. This article is written on our own experience of Russia's first fully digital pathomorphological laboratory UNIM. All advantages and disadvantages of digitization, peculiarities of using technology, differences from the conventional approach to diagnostics, the economics of the process, the importance of integration with LIS (laboratory information system) and MIS (medical information system), errors and principles of their solution, payback will be discussed, and every stage of laboratory work will be considered in detail: from logistics and registration to diagnosis and archiving. Due to the fact that all data has been digitized over several years, we will present a comprehensive analysis of statistics and observations on how to organize processes in a fully digital laboratory. A key feature of our experience is the high cost-effectiveness of the platform and approach, which allowed us to win the competition in the market. The result of the survey of doctors' attitudes towards digital pathology will also be presented.

Will Artificial Intelligence Compliment or Supplement Human Workforce in Organizations? A Shift to a Collaborative Human – Machine Environment

Introduction: Artificial Intelligence (AI) is impacting organizations worldwide in the post-covid era, especially service-oriented firms that are attempting to automate most processes. We have observed a significant effect on business consulting businesses that use AI to automate all operational processes and boost employee efficiency by using them for strategic decision-making. This study examines the overall impact of AI on organizations and the human workforce to determine if automation of business processes will eventually replace employees or work more collaboratively, paving the way for more technology jobs soon. Methodology: This study is a conceptual effort to integrate several streams of literature and papers published in the last 3 years in recognized journals such as Web of Science, Scopus, Science Direct, and ABDC to present an overview of AI-led robo-consultants and employees in the business consulting domain. Results: It is predicted that AI will automate some unskilled jobs, but also generate new jobs that require new skill sets. Hence, it is predicted that AI cannot replace humans rather lead to a workplace evolution by working in collaboration with employees being spearheaded by them. In business consulting domain, automation would take up all repetitive tasks including, reporting, invoicing, payment reminders, etc. so that employees can focus on more strategic tasks like client interaction, financial planning and complex decision making. However, it wouldn't lead to the elimination of human jobs, rather create a shift in employer perspective to achieve a balanced human-machine sync.

How to benefit more from business process documentation? Framework for calculation personality - process role fit

Business Process Management (BPM) is perceived as the spanning discipline that largely integrates and completes what previous disciplines have achieved (Brocke and Rosemann, 2014). As such, its integrating activities focused on to discover, model, analyse, measure, improve, optimize, and automate business processes (Weske, 2012). All of these enables implementing performance measurements within the organization, which in effect can lead to decision making based on data rather than people's opinion.

ЦИФРОВОЙ ДОКУМЕНТООБОРОТ В РАЗВИТИИ ПРОЕКТНЫХ СИСТЕМ СОВРЕМЕННОЙ ЭКОНОМИКИ

The modern environment forces the design system of any level to switch to the language of digital interaction and put into operation the demanded Internet services. The processes of intra-company planning are based on digital analytics, covering a solid set of indicators. Current big data technologies, the Internet of Things, and business analytics allow you to make management decisions quickly and flexibly and are able to produce an economic effect in the shortest possible time. There is a need to search for digital solutions for the effective functioning and development of project systems. The authors have made an attempt to substantiate the use of such digital technology as digital document management in solving the problems of development of project systems of different levels, contributing to increased management efficiency through integration, analysis and monitoring of various information. Within the framework of the presented research, the necessity of using digital document management is justified, its fundamentally important properties and functioning mechanism are shown, ensuring the interaction of participants, actual and potential users in order to create and exchange structured and formalized information in detail. The comparative characteristics of digital and electronic document management are given, their advantages and disadvantages of use at the subject level are revealed. The main aspects and requirements for the process of digital document management are formed, focused on the effective development of the project system at the subject level. A structural and logical model of the introduction of digital document management into the activities of the project system is proposed for the purpose of effective management of corporate content and full-fledged work with documents in digital format. The practical significance of the presented digital solution is to increase the efficiency of automation of key and auxiliary business processes in project systems both at the regional and subject levels of the economy.

ПОСТРОЕНИЕ И АРХИТЕКТУРА МОДЕЛИРОВАНИЯ ИНФОРМАЦИОННЫХ СИСТЕМ

Information technologies have long spread to all spheres of human life, and even more so to companies. Their use provides greater labor productivity and automation of both production and business processes. The relevance of this article is due to the fact that a large number of pieces of equipment of modern companies need daily maintenance and troubleshooting of technical means is a significant process in any organization, and its optimization will inevitably bring a positive economic effect. The purpose of the article is to model an approach to decisionmaking, which includes predicting breakdowns and assessing the impact of breakdowns on revenue using machine learning methods. Modeling the impact of breakdowns on revenue using machine learning methods can be used to determine the development of a maintenance policy for technical facility breakdowns in order to maximize revenue in conditions of limited resources, which is a significant practical result.

Analysis and applicability of artificial intelligence technologies in the field of RPA software robots for automating business processes

Today, with the help of the synergy of AI (Artificial Intelligence) and RPA (Robotic Process Automation), you can do what was previously impossible within the framework of the usual automation of routine business processes. RPA is dedicated to applying cutting-edge technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning, to increasingly automate processes and empower people. We found several interesting recent case studies that illustrate the possibilities of using this approach in various business areas. In general, about 90% of the current cases of using AI are working with documents in various forms: recognition of passports, titles, diplomas, checks and payments. Particularly relevant are cases of recognizing useful content in emails. When receiving a letter from RPA, AI helps to select the main thing from the text, classify the letter accordingly and send it to the right addressee. Today, robots, with the help of AI, help accounting, human resources, sales, purchasing, logistics and other departments that deal with the collection and processing of information.