Chatbots for Business: Why should you consider it?

3 minutes, 10 seconds read

Published on Nov 13, 2018

Updated on Aug 5, 2020

Imagine you’ve recently started an online fresh vegetable business. You have a catalog for fruits and vegetables explaining price and availability. Although most of the information is clearly mentioned on the website, you get hundreds of emails and phone calls regarding deliveries, discounts, and availability of your services in a particular location. Now, you could appoint someone for customer support and reply to these queries or simply — can implement a chatbot on your app and website that instantly answers such routine questions.

Chatbots for business are the need of the hour. The reasons are obvious. It is efficient, reduces workload, and responds to customer requests immediately. Nearly 1 in 4 customers have interacted with a brand via chatbots in the past 12 months, according to a Salesforce study published in late 2018.

As more and more customers are using e-commerce and digital medium for purchases, the incoming requests have also increased at the same rate. Companies need a larger workforce to handle customer support, failing which may lead to dangling customer satisfaction. Immediate query resolution also implies better customer experiences.

Chatbots for business: benefits at large

1. Humanized conversations

NLP-powered chatbots have the power to initiate and handle conversations with humans based on a set of predefined rules and upgrade its dictionary based on learning. Chatbots are a game-changer in terms of overall customer satisfaction pushing the market to reach 1.34 billion by 2024. As per the reports, smart chat agents will manage 40% of mobile interactions by 2020.

2. Easy to implement

A myth surrounding chatbots was doing rounds that it is expensive and exclusive to only fortune 500 companies. But, this is no more the case as it is predicted that by 2020, 85% of the chat interactions will be automated and will not need human intervention. In recent months, several new players like the virtual banker and progressive native chat have introduced schemes that help companies to set up chatbots instantly with reasonable investments. Also, 10K+ developers are building chatbots with the Facebook messenger.

3. People prefer self-serve interactions

Today, millennials represent 27% (2 billion) of the global population. This tech-savvy generation prefers immediate resolution to their concerns and instead of talking to the support, they’re happy about settlements over chats.

Making a customer happy is what all businesses need, and chatbots serve this purpose adequately. They are capable of resolving customer queries in just a few seconds, eliminating wait times and queues. It is a win-win situation for both the consumer and the provider as the customer gets instant replies and the provider saves on operational costs. By the end of 2018 automated customer agents will be able to recognize their customers through voice and face recognition.

AI in Insurance will value at $36B by 2026. Chatbots will occupy 40% of overall deployment, predominantly within customer service roles.
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4. Fact-based decision making

All the conversations accomplished through chatbots are recorded and this contributes to the database for training future NLP models for more humanized conversations. Also, the data collected can help identify business bottlenecks and customer preferences towards specific products or services. All these, sum up to providing fact-based analytics for effective decision making.

5. Continuous innovations

Chatbots are here to stay. The innovations around chatbots are still in progress and time is not far when one will witness intelligent bots capable of resolving complicated issues on its own. We’ve already seen voice and vernacular chatbots in the market.

Big Techs are working on AI and machine learning to make smart chatbots that can offer much more than simple answers. If you haven’t thought about chatbots yet, then certainly you are missing on a significant business opportunity.

The significance of chatbots is already depicted in banking and marketing, and with time its influence will subsequently increase. Customers also expect chatbots and automated assistants from their business providers. They like to engage in live-chat as it helps them to get answers to their queries instantly. As of now, chatbots are only used for simple conversation. But, in the coming future, it will handle complex decision-making tasks. Any business that wants to evolve should consider chatbots and make it an integral part of their business.

We’re the makers of the world’s first insurance-specific chatbots. For further queries, please feel free to reach out to us at hello@mantralabsglobal.com.

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We have all witnessed Industrial Revolutions reshape manufacturing, not just once, but multiple times throughout history. Yet perhaps “revolution” isn’t quite the right word. These were transitions, careful orchestrations of human adaptation, and technological advancement. From hand production to machine tools, from steam power to assembly lines, each transition proved something remarkable: as machines evolved, human capabilities expanded rather than diminished.

Take the First Industrial Revolution, where the shift from manual production to machinery didn’t replace craftsmen, it transformed them into skilled machine operators. The steam engine didn’t eliminate jobs; it created entirely new categories of work. When chemical manufacturing processes emerged, they didn’t displace workers; they birthed manufacturing job roles. With each advancement, the workforce didn’t shrink—it evolved, adapted, and ultimately thrived.

Today, we’re witnessing another manufacturing transformation on factory floors worldwide. But unlike the mechanical transformations of the past, this one is digital, driven by artificial intelligence(AI) working alongside human expertise. Just as our predecessors didn’t simply survive the mechanical revolution but mastered it, today’s workforce isn’t being replaced by AI in manufacturing, they’re becoming AI conductors, orchestrating a symphony of smart machines, industrial IoT (IIoT), and intelligent automation that amplify human productivity in ways the steam engine’s inventors could never have imagined.

Let’s explore how this new breed of human-AI collaboration is reshaping manufacturing, making work not just smarter, but fundamentally more human.

Tools and Techniques Enhancing Workforce Productivity

1. Augmented Reality: Bringing Instructions to Life

AI-powered augmented reality (AR) is revolutionizing assembly lines, equipment, and maintenance on factory floors. Imagine a technician troubleshooting complex machinery while wearing AR glasses that overlay real-time instructions. Microsoft HoloLens merges physical environments with AI-driven digital overlays, providing immersive step-by-step guidance. Meanwhile, PTC Vuforia’s AR solutions offer comprehensive real-time guidance and expert support by visualizing machine components and manufacturing processes. Ford’s AI-driven AR applications of HoloLens have cut design errors and improved assembly efficiency, making smart manufacturing more precise and faster.

2. Vision-Based Quality Control: Flawless Production Lines

Identifying minute defects on fast-moving production lines is nearly impossible for the human eye, but AI-driven computer vision systems are revolutionizing quality control in manufacturing. Landing AI customizes AI defect detection models to identify irregularities unique to a factory’s production environment, while Cognex’s high-speed image recognition solutions achieve up to 99.9% defect detection accuracy. With these AI-powered quality control tools, manufacturers have reduced inspection time by 70%, improving the overall product quality without halting production lines.

3. Digital Twins: Simulating the Factory in Real Time

Digital twins—virtual replicas of physical assets are transforming real-time monitoring and operational efficiency. Siemens MindSphere provides a cloud-based AI platform that connects factory equipment for real-time data analytics and actionable insights. GE Digital’s Predix enables predictive maintenance by simulating different scenarios to identify potential failures before they happen. By leveraging AI-driven digital twins, industries have reported a 20% reduction in downtime, with the global digital twin market projected to grow at a CAGR of 61.3% by 2028

4. Human-Machine Interfaces: Intuitive Control Panels

Traditional control panels are being replaced by intuitive AI-powered human-machine interfaces (HMIs) which simplify machine operations and predictive maintenance. Rockwell Automation’s FactoryTalk uses AI analytics to provide real-time performance analytics, allowing operators to anticipate machine malfunctions and optimize operations. Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure incorporates predictive analytics to simplify maintenance schedules and improve decision-making.

5. Generative AI: Crafting Smarter Factory Layouts

Generative AI is transforming factory layout planning by turning it into a data-driven process. Autodesk Fusion 360 Generative Design evaluates thousands of layout configurations to determine the best possible arrangement based on production constraints. This allows manufacturers to visualize and select the most efficient setup, which has led to a 40% improvement in space utilization and a 25% reduction in material waste. By simulating layouts, manufacturers can boost productivity, efficiency and worker safety.

6. Wearable AI Devices: Hands-Free Assistance

Wearable AI devices are becoming essential tools for enhancing worker safety and efficiency on the factory floor. DAQRI smart helmets provide workers with real-time information and alerts, while RealWear HMT-1 offers voice-controlled access to data and maintenance instructions. These AI-integrated wearable devices are transforming the way workers interact with machinery, boosting productivity by 20% and reducing machine downtime by 25%.

7. Conversational AI: Simplifying Operations with Voice Commands

Conversational AI is simplifying factory operations with natural language processing (NLP), allowing workers to request updates, check machine status, and adjust schedules using voice commands. IBM Watson Assistant and AWS AI services make these interactions seamless by providing real-time insights. Factories have seen a reduction in response time for operational queries thanks to these tools, with IBM Watson helping streamline machine monitoring and decision-making processes.

Conclusion: The Future of Manufacturing Is Here

Every industrial revolution has sparked the same fear, machines will take over. But history tells a different story. With every technological leap, humans haven’t been replaced; they’ve adapted, evolved, and found new ways to work smarter. AI is no different. It’s not here to take over; it’s here to assist, making factories faster, safer, and more productive than ever.

From AR-powered guidance to AI-driven quality control, the factory floor is no longer just about machinery, it’s about collaboration between human expertise and intelligent systems. And at Mantra Labs, we’re diving deep into this transformation, helping businesses unlock the true potential of AI in manufacturing.

Want to see how AI-powered Augmented Reality is revolutionizing the manufacturing industry? Stay tuned for our next blog, where we’ll explore how AI in AR is reshaping assembly, troubleshooting, and worker training—one digital overlay at a time.

Why should businesses consider chatbots?