Monthly Archives: March 2017

Related Research A new report from the McKinsey Global Institute A Future That Works: Automation, Employment, and Productivity highlights trends in automation technologies including robotics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning and their effects on businesses and economies worldwide. Some of the key findings of the report are highlighted below:

Experts in the field of robotics and automation would agree. For example, in an interview with the Urban Redevelopment Authority of Pittsburgh, Carnegie Mellon University Robotics Institute Professor Howard Choset notes that robotics will help U.S. workers compete with low-wage workers abroad and will create and sustain new jobs. According to Professor Choset, Automation and innovation always create jobs. Automation will also end jobs. However, the creation and addition of jobs is so much bigger that as a society we accept it.

He sees robots as just another tool that companies need to employ. Business owners realize they must automate if they are going to become more productive and attract more customers and that, in turn, will lead to the creation of more jobs.

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Automation Takes Hold, But Humans Still Needed - Area Development Online

Investopedia

What is the One Job Automation Has Eliminated in the Past 60 Years? Investopedia Automation, the process by which human-driven procedures are transferred over to machines in order to make them easier and more efficient, is both a blessing and a curse to the workforce. On the one hand, automation can make some jobs easier to do, ...

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What is the One Job Automation Has Eliminated in the Past 60 Years? - Investopedia

A maker of custom automation equipment and robotic systems in the region is planning a $1.9-million expansion.

Holland-based JR Automation Technologies said yesterday it will expand its operation in Stevensville by adding 25,000 square feet to its existing 45,000-square-foot facility, at 7275 Red Arrow Highway.

Construction will begin in April and conclude in December.

JR Automation plans to add 60 jobs over the next three years at the facility.

The company said the expansion is due to increased customer activity and the need to accommodate increased production.

It serves multiple industries: automotive, aerospace, construction, consumer products, food processing, furniture, green technologies, medical and pharmaceutical.

JR's leadership team worked closely with Cornerstone Alliance, an economic development nonprofit in Benton Harbor, to make the expansion possible.

The company also received support from Michigan Economic Development Corporation, or MEDC, and Kinexus, an economic development nonprofit in Benton Harbor, for the project.

On Tuesday, Lincoln Charter Township trustees approved a tax abatement for the project.

Rob Cleveland, president of Cornerstone Alliance, said hes grateful JR Automation chose to invest and create high-paying, high-skilled jobs in Berrien County.

JR Automation Technologies has annual sales exceeding $300 million.

The company has multiple facilities across Holland as well as a facility in South Carolina.

It employs a workforce of about 950 people.

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Automation supplier plans $1.9M expansion | 2017-03-16 | Grand ... - Grand Rapids Business Journal (subscription)

March 16, 2017 byJohn Lucier - National Automation Manager, Methods Machine Tools, Inc.

One of the bigger trends of robotics in manufacturing is the automation of ancillary post processes that come after primary manufacturing. These processes could be washing/cleaning, deburring, inspection, and part marking/identification. Until more recently the automation focus was primarily related to the main manufacturing process. If there was additional robot time, adding equipment to automate one of these other processes was not a consideration. Since industry is becoming more familiar with robotics/automation, the benefits of automating these processes are being realized.

Part cleaning is a natural expansion to an automated manufacturing cell. Once the machined part exits the machine, it is easy to place a bucket of water or cleaning solution in the cell to have the robot rinse the chips and coolant from the part. Today however, more manufacturers are expanding the cleaning process from passively rinsing, to utilizing the articulation of the robot to position high-pressure nozzles in confined places to actively blow the chips and coolant out. This process can be quicker and more reliable because the robot is actively attacking difficult to reach areas that were previously inaccessible. Automation can also be used for passing the part between several different cleaning solutions or even in nontraditional cleaning processes such as vapor degreasing, where the robot is used to move the nozzle around the part to achieve the cleaning.

Deburring has also become very popular in automation. Traditionally, robotic deburring can take on the form of moving a spinning carbide burr around the edges of a part, or bringing the part to a wire wheel and/or buffing wheel to remove the burrs. Using a robot to apply a deburring media is also being applied; this could be an aggressive process such as bead blasting, to a gentler process; for example, using very fine power such as sodium bicarbonate to remove the burrs on more delicate materials. More nontraditional forms of deburring such as acoustic emission and cryogenic deburring, where the robot provides the motion required to perform the process, are now also being deployed. For example, using a cold air gun or an acoustic emitter to move around the part.

Automating measuring equipment is another growth area in robotics. This can include loading a CMM, vision system, or even special gaging. Having the robot automatically load and unload this equipment can save many hours of labor. It is important to have clean parts for inspection, so it is logical to integrate part cleaning into an inspection cell.

Whether for stamping, pin stamping, or laser marking, part marking is another postprocess operation that is very suitable for automation. One advantage of loading/unloading a laser marking machine with a robot is that the entire robot area can be contained within the laser cabinet to prevent users from being exposed to laser light. This allows loading and unloading without a door, simplifying the process and reducing cycle time.

After these postprocess operations are completed, robots can also be used for the packing of parts. Packing could be facilitated with reusable containers to shuttle or move parts to the next operation, or the parts could be packed in boxes for direct shipment to customers.

Previously, one of the barriers of automating these processes had been cost. Typically, higher value is placed on the labor used for loading an expensive piece of equipment such as a CNC machine, instead of utilizing robots in a deburring process. However, deburring could be classified as a skilled position. Shops have seen the benefits of automation in conventional operations and they are now looking for other ways to apply the technology.

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Automation Meets Postprocessing - Advanced Manufacturing - Advanced Manufacturing

BY MICHAEL GAROFALO

Published Mar 15, 2017 at 5:26 pm (Updated Mar 15, 2017)

Experts say education and adaptability are key in training tomorrows workforce

Mayor Bill de Blasios computer science education initiative aims to prepare students to work in an increasingly automated economy. Photo: Michael Appleton/Mayoral Photography Office

A self-driving Audi A7 on display outside the David N. Dinkins Municipal Building in September attracted passers-by, who gazed at the tangle of electrical wires in its trunk. Photo: Micah Danney

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The ongoing battle between the New York Citys taxi industry and ride sharing companies like Uber and Lyft is often cast as emblematic of the modern business climate, in which entrenched interests are besieged by disruptive new technologies. But that soon may seem thoroughly old fashioned, if, as many experts predict, driverless vehicles push both cab and Uber drivers off the roads and out of their jobs.

Automation often conjures images of robots, whether on an assembly line building cars or on the streets driving them, but the concept encompasses a much broader range of technologies, from software that could perform the work of paralegals, accountants, and Wall Street traders, to Amazons prototype retail store, opened recently in Seattle and operating entirely without cashiers.

The impact of burgeoning automated technologies on the citys economy was the topic of discussion at a symposium held last week by the Center for an Urban Future that featured experts on technology, education, economics and business.

The disappearance of blue-collar manufacturing jobs is commonly associated with automation, but panelists said that in the years to come the impact will be felt increasingly by the middle class. The employment effects of automation are going to be felt far beyond the Rust Belt and in a much broader swath of industries, including several that are mainstays of New York Citys economy, said Jonathan Bowles, executive director of the Center for an Urban Future.

As we think about automation, I would encourage us not to wait for this Jetsons-like future when all the jobs are gone, Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes said. A robot or computer program might not take your job, but one may take over certain responsibilities a recent McKinsey & Company report found that half of all activities that workers are paid to do could be automated by adapting existing technologies.

In a labor economy in which future growth sectors are so difficult to predict, New York City is banking on the need for an adaptable workforce that can learn to work in fields that may not even exist yet. What these evolutions require are folks who have the skills to learn, to pick up new skills, said Lauren Andersen, executive director of the citys Tech Talent Pipeline program.

An initiative announced by Mayor Bill de Blasio in 2015 calls for every student in the citys public school system to receive computer science education in elementary school, middle school and high school by 2025. The goal is not to produce a lot of software engineers, Andersen said. The goal is to give students from every socioeconomic background the opportunity to get foundational problem solving skills, foundational communication skills, foundational analytical and computational skills that will allow them to adapt in the face of uncertainty.

Nell Abernathy, vice president of research and policy at the Roosevelt Institute, applauded the citys emphasis on pre-kindergarten programs. I would say early childhood education is probably the most important step we could take, she said. Its like the high school movement of our day. If you want flexibility and adaptability and critical thinking, youd better start young.

Pathways in Technology Early College High School in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, is at the forefront of efforts to overhaul the education system to meet the challenges of the changing economy, according to Stanley S. Litow, an executive at IBM, which worked with the city to create the school. Student at P-TECH study a hybrid curriculum of high school and college material and receive an associate degree upon completion of the six-year program, a model that has been adopted by dozens of other schools across the country. The school places an emphasis on the skills required for careers in information technology, and all students receive mentorship and work in paid professional internships. Think of it as a 21st century version of an apprenticeship model, Litow said.

According to Hughes, automations impact on the economy will necessitate not only a recalibration of education systems, but also a rethinking of a social safety net that was designed to suit an economy that no longer exists. Hughes co-chairs the nonprofit Economic Security Project, which advocates for universal basic income a program that would hand out cash to every citizen. Proponents say that basic income would mitigate the impact of jobs lost to automation and help promote innovation. From our perspective, we believe that the best thing that weve got going for America, and generally people in the world, is human creativity and entrepreneurship, and the best way to unlock that or unleash that is to lower the levels of stress around health and how your kids are going to afford a backpack or school fees, and enable people to invest in themselves and their own futures, Hughes said.

He added, A lot of times we think of basic income as a response to automation, but in my view we need it to fundamentally rebalance the economy and to give everybody a fair shot today.

Michael Garofalo can be reached at reporter@strausnews.com

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Preparing for automation in NYC - New York Press

Forbes

Is Automation To Blame For Jobless Recoveries? Forbes Over the last few months it has become trendy to jump on the neo-Luddite bandwagon and bemoan how machines are taking our jobs, and as automation gathers pace, they will take our jobs in never before seen numbers. It's led to a renewed emphasis on ...

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Is Automation To Blame For Jobless Recoveries? - Forbes