Profits Rise With Automation

Rhetoric about whether people will lose jobs as robots replace people is being replaced with data from businesses outside heavy manufacturing. In heavy manufacturing, automation made sense because of the forces involved. In light assembly, as in making mobile phones, the same trend is being repeated. In one company that replaced 650 people with 60 robots, productivity is up 250% and defects are down 80%. The company has gone from 650 employees down to 60, and expects to reduce that to 20. Add the effect of lower recurring costs and companies will have a strong incentive to continue the trend. Companies that don’t will experience greater competition. There was no report on the circumstance of the 590 displaced former employees.

“This Company Replaced 90% Of Its Workforce With Machines” – World Economic Forum