Decision-making is a complex process that requires organized, accurate, up-to-date, and reliable data and information to reduce the level of uncertainty and subjectivity, and increase the knowledge of the subject and domain of the problem. To the extent that the level of uncertainty in decisions, determined by the availability and quality of data and information, is reduced, to the same extent better decisions will be made.
The accuracy, reliability and updating of data and information is extremely important for the quality of decisions. The data must be unique, that is, it must be stored in a single data source and avoid repetition and redundancy. It must also be precise, not ambiguous, it must not give rise to multiple interpretations. The data must be up to date and relevant.
But in addition to having good quality data and information, it is also required that the decision be made in a timely manner so that it is valuable and provides the expected results of said decision.
A decision is timely if it is made in the time and space required for it to transcend and generate value. For this, all the relevant information and data must be processed, analyzed, and combined to generate actions or responses to the problems that organizations and companies face every day.
As can be deduced, the Decision-Making Process requires processing large volumes of data and information generated at different levels of the organization and company, and process them quickly so that the decision is timely. In these times of globalization and interconnected markets, the decision-making process has become more complex, demanding and more urgent to make decisions due to the large volumes of data and information that must be validated, stored and processed in a timely manner. It is precisely there where information technologies play a very important role in supporting and supporting decision-making.
In Companies and Organizations, decisions are made at all levels of the same: (Operational, Tactical, Administrative and Strategic) and in each process of the Value Chain information is required at its entry to execute the activities of the process, and generate the information required by the other processes in the chain.
For the decisions at the different levels to be made in an appropriate and timely manner, it is necessary to have clearly documented, for each process, the information requirements in their inputs, the information they generate, and to have appropriately selected information technologies to provide each process. process with the greatest coverage of information needed.
Information Technologies, if properly selected, will allow the calculation, follow-up, monitoring and control of indicators, improve the efficiency of processes, the quality of products and services, and the effectiveness of decisions.
On the other hand, there are the Industrial Automation Technologies which allow to automate and automatically control the production processes, to improve the quality of the production processes, improve the economy of scale by producing quantum leaps in the quantities and qualities produced.
Integrating Industrial Automation Technologies with Information Technologies positively favors Decision Making by having a complete photograph of the behavior of production and business processes, and of the behavior of markets, tastes and preferences of consumers and customers.
Manufacturers of Industrial Automation Technologies and Information Technology developers have understood the added value represented by the integration of these two technologies, which for some time have been offering increasingly integrated solutions.
Undoubtedly, Information and Automation Technologies positively and efficiently leverage production and business processes and contribute to the growth of the company, improvement of the quality of its services and products, and economy of scale.
