The effects of using robots in US manufacturing industries
Research Question:
What are the effects of using robots in the US manufacturing industries?
Literature review:
Technology has progressed exponentially for the past few decades in the manufacturing sector and has remained an essential aspect in the industry as well as in the other areas. To implement the new era of globalization, technological advancements are necessary, and automation is needed to improve productivity and efficiency at the manufacturing factories. Robotics is one form of technology that has mostly impacted the manufacturing sector in the US with estimate indicating that the technology could affect about 30% of the jobs in the country by the year 2030 (Autor, 2015). Manufacturing, especially in the automotive, transportation, and the hospitality sector, have the highest share of the current jobs that could be replaced by robots shortly. However, automation does not mean that the robots will take over the jobs. According to a study by Pham & Madhavan (2018), the idea of the use of robotics could be a game-changer in the manufacturing sector as they offer efficient production without risking the company’s bottom line or the employment prospects. While the US has been slow in incorporating robots into the manufacturing sector due to job losses, it is evident that 74 units of robots can replace 10,000 employees (IFR, 2017). In this regard, robots in the workplace, like other machines introduced in the production process, have had contrast effects on the workers.
The robots have elicited mixed reactions from the manufacturing industry, pitting the workforce against productivity. On the one hand, the robots seen to eliminate the harsh working conditions in some manufacturing sections that are dangerous and unhealthy to the well being of the workers. For instance, in the car manufacturing sector, welding is a common practice in daily routines. However, the activity is hazardous to the workers with deleterious effects that range from nose, throat, eyes, and other mucous cavities as well as causing pulmonary infection and heart diseases (Wisskirchen & Biacabe, 2017). In this regard, the robotics in the modern car manufacturing lines has reduced to a large extent, the health risks caused by welding. Meanwhile, the labour shortage, work-related accidents, and high staff turnover are some of the issues faced by the manufacturing sector. According to Aidan (2015), industries in some regions in America, Europe, and Asia in the food processing sector have been affected mainly as robots get increasingly used in the production process. Employees in these sectors have been laid off with some being transferred to areas that require a human presence. Also, the aspect of computer and automated systems skills and knowledge comes into play as the robots also need specialized training to operate and maintain.
Dirican (2015) argues that the new technology of robotics has not destroyed jobs in the manufacturing sector but has only changed the composition of the jobs in the broader US economy. But with the continued sophistication as well as the growth of robotics technology and artificial intelligence, the time has come for the reliance on automation for high productivity to meet the needs of the ever-increasing world population. In another research, Dirican (2015) alludes that, if we automate the manufacturing industry through robotics, the economy will reach a tipping point where it could not afford the unemployed. As a result, it will reduce the purchasing power of the citizens in the US. Since 2000, the inception of computer aid in telecommunication and efficiency in plant operations in the US manufacturing has been improving as the amount and quality of goods produced increasing by 24% (IFR, 2017). In 1924, the congress passed a bill that mandated the secretary for labour to list all the labour-saving devices including robots and computers and make a parallel estimate of the number of people who has been displaced by the said technology. Nevertheless, there is a consensus that the introduction of robots was essential in reducing the total labour costs that add up to the production of goods and services.
Methodology: 0
Results & Discussion: 1000
The results are that the introduction of robots in the US manufacturing industry has had both positive effects on the efficiency of production as well as adverse effects on the labour market. The results indicated that robots have significantly improved productivity and increased the work done per unit besides reducing the hazards that come with some manufacturing operations such as welding. Further, the results also indicated that the labour market, especially the employees, felt that the robots have replaced them at work and hence rendering most of them jobless. From this, the assumption is that the saved labour through robots in the US is equal to the sum of the unemployed. Further, the reasoning that the saved labour is similar to unemployment did not catch up with the reality of the productivity index of the US which has quadrupled from 1870 up to the 2000s (IFR, 2017). The wave of technological innovations such as robots has improved the manufacturing of goods in industries besides disrupting the job market. However, to understand the effects of robots in the manufacturing industry, there was needed to look at both the positive aspects and the negative aspects of the technology. From the results, the positive effects of robots superseded the negatives such as job loses and hence the recommendation was the job market to change their tact and train more on how to use the evolving technology to secure their jobs.
Additionally, all manufacturing companies lookout to minimize on costs of doing business while they increase there productivity to ensure more profits. Although robots are continuously becoming a challenge to employment; it is a necessity in the 21st-century manufacturing industry given the high population growth with a high demand for quality goods and services. The introduction of robots long seen in the old times when on the backdrop of economic hardships that followed the Napoleon wars, new machines were introduced in the cloth manufacturing industry to help make more clothes and uniforms for the soldiers using the few labourers presents at the time (Wisskirchen & Biacabe, 2017). The introduction of cloth making machines led to demonstrations and even vandalizing of the machines as labourer protested that the new technology was taking their jobs and more so their livelihoods. Since the first machines were introduced in the 19th century on a large scale during the first industrial revolution, the laying off of workers who seemed redundant has been a common practice. In this regard, the introduction of robots was long overdue and seen from the ancient days how it will affect the labour market. Nevertheless, the keeping of redundant workers does not make economic sense as the workers who retain their jobs alongside the robots become a liability to the revenues of the organizations, although they are working conditions improve.
Benefits of Robotics
Using robots means that the machine can operate 24 hours a day without any interruptions, unlike humans who need supervision as their productivity rate depends on their body’s ability to withstand long hours. Robots can perform repetitive tasks that are somehow dangerous and can cause injuries to human employees. In this view, the robots help in ensuring the workers have good health and are safe at the workplace. Automation in the manufacturing industry in the US has proved to be capable of improving the efficiency of production while reducing the costs and allowing the single product of a variety of products at the same time hence boost output (Aidan, 2015). Additionally, the workers who retain their jobs alongside robots usually work under improved and less stressful conditions. Based on the manufactures report of 2018, 90% of manufactures use smart technologies such as robots which have increased productivity not only by performing tasks efficiently, but also allowing the business to become innovative (Dirican, 2015). On the contrary of robots leading to job loses, they can lead to the creation of jobs if the workers retrained scale up their skills as they transition from human-led to machine-led manufacturing in the US industrial processes.
Additionally, automation of manufacturing through robots can impact the economy both locally and globally. The potential to boost the global GDP by the use of technology and artificial intelligence mechanics would rank up to 12 trillion dollars by the year 2030 (IFR, 2017). This improved economy leads to the creation of more jobs, and hence robots create jobs as well. Generally, technology has fueled the US economy by capturing the imaginations and introduced posibiliti43es that are extraordinary that have permitted all aspects of life. In the manufacturing se4ctro, it has affected all departments from the electrification of the combustion engine to the movement of products and record-keeping (Aidan, 2015). Today and in the coming generations, the change in the economy has replaced jobs, products, and industries with innovative technologies such as robots and hence transitioning the US economy from agrarian to industrial and service to digital. The emerging technologies such as robots utilize artificial intelligence mechanics and have the potential to carry out tasks correctly as instructed. Besides, the impact of robots on the health and safety of the workers cannot g underestimated as previously there were many cases of work-related accidents that could have been avoided if a machine used. Most importantly, robots have contributed a lot in reducing work intensity and the physical demands that come with repetitive tasks such as packaging and hence improved health and ease of the workers.
Limitations & Further Research:
The findings of the researchers noted several limitations, one of which is the limitation to the responses from the IT professionals. Since robotics science has not spread in many manufacturing units in the US, the knowledge of its operations is limited to a few technocrats who are not readily available. Besides, the study of a single sector of manufacturing limited the expansion of the topic to cover other areas that are equally essential in analyzing the effects of robots and the general robotics. Also, it was not possible to canvass for new companies in regards to the implementation of advanced automation such as robots in the workplace. The data could have enabled the research to enhance its hypothesis that companies are looking for technology to reduce human labour. The responses, as well as the literature review, were limited to unique experiences with robots and were focused on the manufacturing sector only. This approach led to most of the data gathered providing more of a specific opinion rather than generalized information about the effects of the robots in other sectors such as health and hospitality. Nevertheless, further research needed on the way robots and human labour can coexist to reduce the high turnover while maintaining top productions.
Conclusion:
Overall, automation and the use of robots is no longer a dream as it were in the 1700s, but it is here in the manufacturing sector as people are beginning to feel its impact. The evidence that supports the notion that automation and robots have increased productivity helps in addressing the shortage of labour and the aging population. Robots are known to have many benefits that supersede the demerits, such as improved workplace safety and the general health of the employees. Although there are short term effects of robots that are negative, scaling back to the older days of using humans for production has been passed by events, and hence the labourer should rethink their training and learn to coexist with robots. A manufacturing company would run a risk of losing its competitiveness if the process of automation or the use of robots is stooped and hence the need for governments, industrial actors, and the labour unions to come together and make the transition smoothly as it will be beneficial to all. Besides, the answer to the displacements of jobs as a result of the introduction of robots is innovation. In this regards, policies should be made to encourage the development of new technologies and promise of work for the people as it should also increase the access to the opportunities that technology create.