In eastern Europe, human labor is in short supply and robotics are on the rise ... though now there is some problem rounding up the people who maintain the robots. I imagine there is an object lesson in this, though whether it is to counter-act or jump on the band wagon is not entirely clear.
The unemployment rate in the western Hungarian town of Papa, where Hirtenberger Automotive Safety employs 725 people making products such as seat belt pre-tensioners, was approaching virtually zero. High turnover was already a big problem.
Enter the robots. Hirtenberger has since spent 2.5 million euros automating two production units at the factory to meet surging demand from the likes of BMW, Mercedes, Volkswagen and Audi. And it’s not alone
No worries. Maintenance robots will come along and eradicate those jobs of robot maintenance.
ReplyDeleteFactory Robotics is a problematic area. I have been interested in this since grade school.
ReplyDeleteIn the NYC Metro area, some company placed a TV ad where a really smart girl’s life is followed. She goes from a 10 year old making a device that throws out the garage and turns pages in her textbook while shes’s doodle/designing robots to being in her 20’s hired by the advertiser’s robotic plant. She’s shown tinkering. The scene switches to her and her supervisor. She explains to the supervisor she just figured out to reprogram a robot to do inspections.
As far as I can tell there is a absence of any discussion in the media about the human consequences of converting to robotic factories.
I wonder if at some level many people don’t really care. Factory work is not exactly desirable work. See Chaplin’s Modern Times or Lucille Ball’s candy episode.
As for fixing robotic machinery, that’s a highly specialized job. One would have to due research to determine if it’s a viable career path.