Manufacturing Automation – Looking for Productivity.

Where’s the beef?

Perhaps still too early to tell but the SURGE in ROBOT DEPLOYMENTS in US manufacturing, particularly in the Fabricated Metals industries, has not resulted in an increase in productivity and has instead resulted in an acceleration in the DECREASE of REAL PRODUCTIVITY from 2020 through 2023.?

The graph below, compiled by Jack Kirr and anecdotal evidence from machine shops confirms this dynamic without being able to identify it's root cause.

Could the root cause be:

We're not following the dictum, “Automate the process NOT the workers!”

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A recent Economist Article, ominously points out:

“To make matters worse, productivity in the manufacturing sector has been in secular decline since 2011—the first decade-long fall in the available data (see chart 1). Some economists think it is probably also the first such fall in American history.”

“The problem is that, of late, manufacturing’s powers seem to have vanished. Figures published on October 26th show that America’s gdp jumped by 4.9% at an annualised rate in the third quarter of the year. Nearly 80% of output is now made up of services, but one might expect manufacturing at least to pull its weight, given its supposed powers. In fact, labour productivity in manufacturing fell by 0.2% at an annualised rate, meaning that the boost to growth was driven by services. To make matters worse, productivity in the manufacturing sector has been in secular decline since 2011—the first decade-long fall in the available data (see chart 1). Some economists think it is probably also the first such fall in American history.”

“Why American manufacturing is becoming less efficient

The unfortunate reversal of a long-standing trend”

https://www.economist.com/finance-and-economics/2023/11/09/why-american-manufacturing-is-increasingly-inefficient

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A possible insight into this dynamic may lie in a forward looking, qualitative analysis from 2017, “US manufacturing decline and the rise of new production innovation paradigms”, which predicted the now come to fruition, “Scatter Gun” approach to manufacturing innovation in US manufacturing, including all inputs, whereby:

“A big issue in this diverse approach will be pulling the individual institute strands together into a new system. The future factory will not be organised around single technologies; it will merge and connect a series.”

“Perhaps the most interesting feature of the US advanced manufacturing effort is the wide range of diverse technologies aimed at by particular institutes. While some countries are working on single-shot efforts to bring the internet of things into a manufacturing setting, the United States has a shotgun approach, pursuing a wide range of technologies, from materials to digital, to bio, to nano. A big issue in this diverse approach will be pulling the individual institute strands together into a new system. The future factory will not be organised around single technologies; it will merge and connect a series. The institutes are starting to come together to form a network, called ManufacturingUSA. A critical task for this new network will be to turn the institutes’ advanced technology strands into an entirely new production system. Hopefully, the potential of this new innovation model will continue to be tested.?“

“US manufacturing decline and the rise of new production innovation paradigms

https://www.oecd.org/unitedstates/us-manufacturing-decline-and-the-rise-of-new-production-innovation-paradigms.htm

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Might the "Scatter Gun Approach" of technologies being deployed, most focused on “Automating the worker RATHER than Automating the Process”, be the true underlying cause of this Decline in Manufacturing Productivity whereby gains from one approach are thwarted by the impacts of another approach??

OR

is there some other key driver involved in the DECREASE of PRODUCTIVITY?

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Your thoughts are appreciated and please share this post if you think your connections will find it of interest.

Leave a comment or connect to discuss how to strategically implement automation for increased productivity.

Further thoughts on Automating the Process and not the Worker here:

https://www.dhirubhai.net/posts/chris-stergiou-04a5811_industry40-cobots-ai-activity-7137062931615084545-G5KC?utm_source=share&utm_medium=member_desktop

#industry40 #cobots #ai #machinedesign #automation #manufacturing #productivity

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