Daily Archives: June 23, 2017

It's a misanthrope's dream.

You can go through an entire day working, commuting, shopping, dining, recreating without encountering another human being.

OK, you can't do that now. But, it's coming.

Thanks to automation.

I was reading that cashiers in stores and restaurants and retail workers are the next group with a bull's eye and sign painted on their backs: Replace with robot.

A report by the McKinsey Global Institute states that half the tasks done by cashiers and salespeople can be automated using technology available today. And two-thirds of tasks done by grocery store workers can be automated.

Proponents of automation say it will replace only routine jobs, routine tasks.

Routine? What's routine? A 90 mph fastball is routine to Chicago Cubs pitcher Jake Arrieta, but not to the rest of us.

It takes skill and ability to do the routine. Does anyone claim robots do these routine jobs better than people? No, what's behind automation is money. Robots are cheaper and less trouble than human beings.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 million people (six percent of American workers) are cashiers or in retail sales. What will happen to them?

Again, automation enthusiasts say these workers will be freed to do other tasks. Or, they will be trained to do jobs that aren't replaceable (yet) by robots.

Do you honesty believe honestly that this will happen? Isn't it much more likely businesses will fire the former routine task workers, that millions of people without the skills and perhaps the aptitude to learn these new jobs will be out on the street? Will there even be enough of these brave-new-world jobs to go around?

And who is thinking about us the customers, the consumers? When I shop or dine I like to deal with people.

I like chatting with the cashier at the grocery store.

I like to explain my needs to a sales clerk.

And most of all, I like to be a regular at a restaurant where the servers know me and make me feel welcome. Yet, horribly, waitresses and waiters are on the automated hit list.

We are creating a society of isolated individuals, of people who don't have don't want to have interaction with other humans.

And that is unhealthy, dangerous and very sad.

But I don't see any way to stop it.

Paul Sassone is a freelance columnist.

Original post:

Column: Automation is dangerous and sad for American workers, consumers - Chicago Tribune

By BVR Mohan Reddy

Of late, the media have been highlighting job losses in the IT industry and painting a gloomy picture ahead. Given the technology-driven nature of this sector, job roles constantly evolve. This means the workforce is on a perennial learning curve. Maintaining reasonable performance standards, along with upskilling and reskilling, is essential to sustain and survive in such a business environment.

Digital technology is everywhere today. Applications are used across a range of industries. So, the need for a skilled workforce in the emerging technologies will continue to rise, even as some of the existing ones need to fade away.

Like any other industry that strives to be competitive, the IT industry also goes through performance-linked workforce realignments annually. This results in attrition of 0.5-2% of the workforce.

This is healthy and ensures that the industry remains a lean, mean, fighting machine by reducing inefficiencies and remaining globally competitive. Mind you, these separations are performance-linked, not layoffs.

There is no denying, however, that automation is nibbling away new recruitments. The IT industry is, indeed, hiring a shade lower than what has traditionally been the norm. The fact of the matter is that technology-led automation is no more an option but a necessity. But as a recent McKinsey study reveals, for every one million existing jobs that fall under the scythe of automation in the future, 1.9 million jobs will be created in the same timeframe.

Bye-bye old days

Beyond performance-based separations and automation, there are also issues including geopolitical shifts, disruptive technologies and new skill sets. Which is what makes rapid technology shifts, and the accompanying need for a workforce to arm itself with new skills, more challenging.

Emerging technologies like the Internet of Things, virtual reality, big data analytics, artificial intelligence (AI), robotic process automation, 3D printing and cloud computing have brought disruption to many industries. The IT industry is also going through similar disruptions where digital technologies are helping to create newer roles where automation becomes the norm for lowend, repetitive jobs.

On the flip side, this leads to better-paid jobs. Technology disruption is also forcing people to acquire multidisciplinary skills. Some examples of newly emerged job roles: visual effects (VFX) artist, computer vision engineer, wireless network specialist, AI researcher, robotic process automation (RPA) developer, cloud architect, 3D engineer, language processing specialist and cyber security analyst.

For most of these job roles, there is a shortage of skills in the market. The new workforce needs to get trained in these technologies and add them to their professional arsenal.

A recent study concluded that only 25% of fresh engineering graduates in India are actually employable by any technology company. At the same time, a Nasscom study reckoned that 40% of the 3.7-million-strong IT workforce requires reskilling over the next five yearsto keep pace with emerging technologies and automation. To address the former challenge, the engineering curriculum and quality of education have to be significantly upgraded.

To manage the latter, Nasscom is already working with many IT companies to reskill nearly a million people. Technology is making it possible to learn anytime from anywhere. Industry has started adopting next-gen learning methodologies like gamification, flipped learning and augmented and mixed reality. New ideas and thoughts, like networked learning for instantaneous and contextual suggestions from peers, are being adopted to create a highly skilled and competitive workforce.

While fresh graduates are picking up skills based on industry requirements, professionals with management profiles are also shifting towards product management. Employees with more than five years of experience, like project managers and mid-level executives, are taking up courses on machine learning, AI, micro service architectures and user interface/user experience. Indias IT industry has come a long way in creating a global technology brand.

Along with the spice and diamond trades, IT has been the most successful industry in the countrys history. The industry will reinvent itself it is reinventing itself and one must recognise that side of the story.

IT has been a cornerstone to the growth and prosperity of Indias middle class. And it will continue to help expand that base. By 2025, the IT industry is expected to double its employee strength to over seven million people directly, and over 10 million indirectly.

A strong focus on skill development will help India walk through this tricky journey of digital transformation, so as to reach the destination of an increasing number of better-paid jobs that require more high-end skills. Which, in turn, will lift Indias IT Industrial Revolution 2.0 boat out of any low-end conveyor belt production line sea.

DISCLAIMER : Views expressed above are the author's own.

Continued here:

Automation a necessity and may be a blessing in disguise - Economic Times (blog)

While manufacturers embrace the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) by outfitting systems with sensors and connecting factory machines to the cloud to perform remote diagnostics, machine builders are challenged with how to leverage the IIoT value proposition. Specifically, OEMs need to meet end users equipment performance requirements, yet, they have no information about their machines once deployed at the customer site.

The lack of visibility into their own equipment is an enormous obstacle as machine builders strive to differentiate their offerings to customerswho are becoming more like partners, noted Todd Smith, Rockwell Automations product manager for FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines, a new offering which will be available to OEMs at the end of this year.

Smiths presentation at Rockwell Automation TechED last week in Orlando, FL, addressed the companys upcoming analytics release and how the cloud and IIoT are a perfect match for OEMs looking to wrap new service offerings around equipment that may be deployed all over the world.

To date, the inability to be predictive or proactive has meant that they cant prevent machine problems. The only option OEMs have had is to react. Problems become fire drills, Smith said. But that scenario is shifting. The cloud is the perfect enabling technology for the dispersed installation of machines and the experts servicing them.

The technology suite for OEMs will start with data structured in the controller via the RAPID line integration add-on instructions (AOI) with auto-discovery, using PackML definitions, to make sure the system is populated with the correct data needed for machine analytics. A FactoryTalk cloud gateway, the 9300-ENA, an existing product for doing remote access into a factory, finds the AOI in the controller, discovers tags and uploads them to the cloud. So the process of doing configuration and deployment is almost trivial, Smith said. Theres nothing you have to do but enter a hardware key in an activation script.

Once in the FactoryTalk Cloud, data is contextualized to feed into the cloud-based FactoryTalk Analytics for Machines, which takes care of data models, storage and aggregation, computation, elasticity, gateway configuration, user management and access to the Rockwell Automation knowledge base.

The subscription service will cost about $750 per year per machine with any number of users able to access each machine. The cost equals one plane ride, said Smith, referring to the fact that the only alternative is to fly an expert out to the customer site to fix the problem.

The first release will evolve quickly, Smith said, noting they are still accepting feedback from OEMs on what their customers would want to have in the product. But the two application scenarios right now include the ability to log into the machine to see historical information on the equipment in order to diagnose and debug remotely. Or, an OEM could offer a service in which they constantly monitor the machine remotely on behalf of the customer to share information that will make the machine run better, or to point out potential problems.

In the initial roll out, anyone associated with the OEM can see all of the machines at any customer site, but eventually Rockwell will layer on capabilities that allows individual users to only see certain machines. Within the dashboards, users can see the machine state history and drilldown to see underlying causes of change or apply some logic. The dashboards are fixed at this point, Smith said, but will grow over time.

Another new Rockwell Offeringfor OEMS:

Safety Assessment Tool for OEMs

Read the original here:

Analytics for OEMs - Automation World

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More here:

Pat Reynolds - Automation World