Wednesday, February 16, 2011

"Nobody Wants to Work Any More"

January/February 2009
Automation Solves Modern Problems

“We’ve found that the main driver for these companies to invest in automation is the cost of labor,” says Benny Rokni, senior consultant, food and beverage, HK Systems Inc., Milwaukee. “Competition is high and the labor pool is shrinking. Our customers are telling us that nobody wants to work any more. And if they’re in a cold storage environment, that’s even more physically demanding.”



An example of a Self Guided Vehicle (SGV) system currently in use in a French Hospital.



IKEA's automated warehouse in Germany



...a fully automated picking solution for retail.

4 comments:

Stagflationary Mark said...

February 16, 2011
IBM Watson Vanquishes Human Jeopardy Foes

Wrapping up a three-day run on the Jeopardy game show, IBM's Watson computer has beaten two former champions in a historic match of man versus machine.

Jazzbumpa said...

Ever read any of the DUNE novels? They take place in a far future distopic galactic empire where there are no computers, because people revolted (in the story's distant past) and their use is prohibited.

The first book came out around 1975, before microchips has insinuated themselves into every device imaginable.

Now, life without microchips is unimaginable.

JzB

Stagflationary Mark said...

Jazzbumpa,

I've never suggested that technology improvements are a bad thing. I am a former lead software engineer. There's no way I would ever recommend slowing the pace of technology.

I'm simply saying that our capitalistic economy is not prepared for a world in which jobs are automated and outsourced away faster than new jobs are thought up.

Jazzbumpa said...

Oh, I agree.

JzB