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Manufacturing Automation, Job Loss, and the Changing Nature of Factory Work


Around the world, there could be as many as 20 million missing manufacturing jobs by 2030, according to a new report from Oxford Economics. The culprit in this job loss? Robots, of course — or, to be more precise, automation in all of its guises.

The 2019 report, titled “How Robots Change the World,” suggests that the lost jobs will further stress lower-income rural areas around the world. To make matters worse, most manufacturing workers who lost their jobs to automation rebound by finding jobs in construction, transportation, and office support — all of which are ripe for increased automation, as well.

“The pockets of workers most vulnerable to automation can often be found in rural areas...,” the report states. “In many countries, such regions have often been left behind as metropolitan centres prospered, and those dynamics have generated political polarisation.”

In other words, navigating the rise of automation in the manufacturing sector is not just important for business owners or rural communities themselves; it is crucial for the healthy functioning of society on a national level. But headlines about job losses don’t tell the whole story.

“This is a sophisticated problem, and it demands a call to intellectual arms to not assume that it’s a binary situation,” Amy Webb, founder of consultancy firm Future Today Institute, told Fortune. “It’s not just that jobs will be lost and that robots are taking over. It’s much more sophisticated than that.”

Some manufacturing positions may be eliminated as automation technologies advance over the next decade. However, it is unlikely that factories will automate entirely. Instead, humans and robots will work together, side by side, cooperating to push production ever higher.

Here are just a few examples of how traditional manufacturing workers and automation technologies enhance one another’s abilities for productivity gains that surpass those available from just people or just robots alone:

  • Many jobs in the manufacturing field will depend on artificial intelligence (AI) systems. In order to function, AI-powered devices require large datasets, many of which can only be filled by human input. In other words, people will have to train AI systems to function properly on an ongoing basis.
  • Managers and other non-automated positions will require AI handlers to explain how systems function, what they require, and how to implement changes or additional responsibilities as determined by company leadership. These are more positions that are likely to remain in human hands.
  • Like all capital investments, automation equipment will have to prove a substantial ROI for managers to commit. There will always be situations in which a trained operator with appropriate material handling equipment is more affordable than an expensive set of robots. Automated manufacturing machines are extremely good at performing a repetitive task without making mistakes, but what happens when the line moves out of spec? Surprising, novel situations will always require the human mind, preserving jobs on the factory floor.

In short, the ideal productivity unit for the manufacturing operation of the future may not be a robot, but a human and a machine working in tandem. That machine may be as simple as a Stock Picking Cart or an Order Picking Cart, depending on the comparative ROI of automated systems vs. employees.

The goal of automation in manufacturing is to improve productivity while reducing costs. Sometimes that goal is best served by a new device, but often the solution is a trained employee with the right equipment. We don’t envision a future in which that disappears entirely.

Resources:

How Robots Change the World.OxfordEconomics. Oxford Economics, Jun. 2019. PDF. 27 Aug. 2019.

Nusca, Andrew. “Humans vs. Robots: How to Thrive in an Automated Workplace.Fortune. Fortune Media IP Limited, 31 Jun. 2017. Web. 27 Aug. 2019.

Wilson, H. James and Paul Daugherty. “Collaborative Intelligence: Humans and AI Are Joining Forces.HBR. Harvard Business School Publishing, Jul.-Aug. 2018. Web. 27 Aug. 2019.