The relationship that employees have with automated manufacturing is not all bad. It is true that some employees will be displaced due to the work that robotics perform in place of their own work. However, those displaced employees can change the demand for their skills. This can be done if they engage in technology and learn what skill sets are required for an employee to work with automated manufacturing and not be unemployed by automated manufacturing. Meanwhile those employees that are not displaced by automated manufacturing can be in a much better work environment.
We can look at a scenario of how robotics might effect employees of a manufacturing company that is about to go through the process of automating its manufacturing operation. Before the automated manufacturing is put into place the employees are all doing manual tasks to create products. The number of units produced is an average of 300 units per hour. The average wage per hour in the manufacturing facility is $6.00 which puts the average annual wage at almost $13,000 per year. With the implementation of the first robot on the production line, the number of units produced per hour jumps up to 1200. Because of the increase in production, the employees are more productive along side their automated help. The average wage per hour is now almost $12.50 per hour. This puts the annual average income at almost $26,000. Finally the company installs 2 other robots to boost the production per hour to 5400 units. This makes the employees even more productive on the factory floor. Management now pays the factory works $24.00 per hour, an average annual income of more than $50,000.
It has been discovered that very few employees are totally displaced by automated manufacturing. As stated earlier employee skill sets are changed by the fact that training should be and is given to current employees so that they can “run the robots”. It is a great benefit to the company to retain as many employees as possible during and after the manufacturing automation. The experience of current employees is invaluable when the understanding of the minute details of actual manufacturing is needed. Actually experienced manufacturing workers can be the best consultants when it comes to defining what manufacturing automation needs to do to get the job done at the company where they work. It is a good idea for management of a manufacturing organization to tap into knowledge of current workers in the factory. A committee of employees could be formed by management to discuss how automation will impact employment at the facility. This will accomplish two tasks for the good of the business. The employees can build some “ownership” in the process of automation. Also management will be able to get a better understanding of the detail manufacturing operations. This information will help in transferring the work to an automated environment. Management will be able to indicate to employees what positions would need to filled after the automation process is completed. The type of work that the employees are expected to do after automated manufacturing is in place is much more satisfying, in place of the repetitive, tiring work that had been done on the production line. It has also been found that the experience of moving to an automated operation builds the morale of employees. They have a tendency to have more personal pride in the work of the company and end up with a greater personal “investment” in the operation of the company.
You might think that this is just fiction, but it is not. It is the real story of how a manufacturing operation was able to compete globally and get service and loyalty from its employees. The story gets even better. The robotic automation implemented by this company gave it the ability to ship products faster than it had ever done before. The quality of the products produced was improved up into the excellent range, which pleased the customers very much. Consistency was established as the norm for products being shipped. As a result the reputation of the company was improved in the marketplace. The factory floor was much safer for the employees because the automation was doing all the mundane, repetitive work. Automation reduced the number of accidents because it was doing all the dangerous jobs too. The displacement gave employees the time to spend doing more intelligent work, like designing new products and improving old ones.
This story does not end there. The customers were delighted with the speed at which products reached their doors. This increase allowed them to reduce on-hand inventory due to the consistency of received shipments. Customers had more cash available, rather than having it tied up in inventory. The demand that customers made for quality in products received was met and surpassed with the consistency of production coming from the supplier.
This is the way a company was able to compete with foreign companies. Some companies paid their employees only a small fraction of the amount that the indicated company did. But because of the increase in production due to the implementation of automated manufacturing, the quality, quantity and price of products shipped to market was very competitive in both domestic and foreign markets.
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