<p>India has ranked number one in its outlook to adopt automated processes revealed the Grant Thornton International Business Report. A whopping 83 per cent of Indian companies surveyed said that they are either already automating business practices or may do over the next 12 months. These companies are switching to automation to lower costs and have greater accuracy and increased flexibility to increase or decrease production.<br><br>The survey also revealed that Indian companies are willing to try a combination of buying and renting the machines or technologies for automating processes. As per the report, 43% Indian companies would like to buy the machine while 49 per cent would like to try a combination of rent and buy. Further research conducted by Grant Thornton uncovered increasing business spend on research and development – underpinning the growth in automation. In 2011, 23 per cent of businesses globally said they were planning to boost R&D spend; that increased to 26 per cent in 2014 and so far in 2015 it stands at a five-year high of 29 per cent.<br><br>A survey of 2,571 executives in 36 economies, unveiled the scale of technology’s influence on business with the majority of firms now planning to automate operations and practices. The findings suggest that some jobs will go as a result, with the manufacturing, cleantech and food & beverage sectors in particular reporting upheaval. With capital costs low as labour costs rise, the findings pose fundamental questions about the extent to which machines will eventually replace humans.<br><br>Mexico and Ireland ranked No. 2 and No. 3 respectively, showing great signs of approving automation for day to day operations. China has also shown eagerness in embracing the new trend with 59 per cent of firms planning to utilise automated processes to perform tasks previously done by people.<br><br>Globally, over half (56 per cent) of firms surveyed are planning to switch to automation. By industry, 43 per cent of manufacturing firms said they expect this to eventually replace at least 5 per cent of their workforce. Cleantech was in second place on 39 per cent, followed by the technology and food & beverage sectors on 35 per cent. At the other end of the spectrum, just 9 per cent of hospitality, education and healthcare firms expect 5 per cent or more of workers to be replaced.<br><br>Grant Thornton’s findings also suggest that opportunities will arise for workers to assume new roles and responsibilities created by an increased use of technology. Globally over half of automating firms (54 per cent) expect to redeploy workers in other areas, with 28 per cent saying that workers will be trained to operate new machinery. Even in manufacturing, 44 per cent of firms plan to redeploy rather than remove staff. In India, 26 per cent of the firms said 5% of their workforce would eventually be replaced by automation.</p>
