automation
/ɔːtəˈmeɪʃ(ə)n
/noun [mass noun]
The use or introduction of automatic equipment in a manufacturing or other process or facility: unemployment due to the spread of automation the automation of office tasks...
- Only automation can help keep manufacturing in the UK, and that will not do much for bulk jobs when the upturn resumes.
- Makers of hand-held computers and office automation equipment are buying the chips, he said.
- It is not just that automation makes these tasks cheaper or faster, but that it makes them possible at all.
Origin
1940s (originally US): irregular formation from automatic + -ation.