Industrial automation: the engine of progress?

From year to year we inevitably discuss several topics that do not lose their relevance. In 2014, one of these was the Industrial Automation. Experts, one and all, they say that in the field of robotics growth will lead to mass unemployment in the industrial sector. Pragmatists and heralds of the apocalypse with them, of course, agree.

However, while the next generation of industrial automation will lead to the fact that some jobs will be out of date, it is important to remember that this is not the first large-scale industrial conversion. And if the past we have learned something, so it is that technological evolution leads to the evolution of the labor force. In the future, may be fewer jobs, but they will require greater skills and be well paid for in.

The question is whether automation will lead to a new generation of industry professionals?

Century technological improvements

If you look at the history of development of the industrial segment, each year will be more exciting than the previous one. The chart below was created by researchers from the German Research Center for Artificial Intelligence. It depicts the course of four industrial revolutions from 1700 to the present day and in the future.

The first industrial revolution (blue): the appearance of water and a pair of mechanisms, the first loom (1784) .

The second industrial revolution (green): the division of labor and mass production using electricity; The first assembly line in Cincinnati (1870).

The third industrial revolution (orange): the emergence of electronics and information technology, further automation of production; the first programmable logic controller ( PLC), Modicon 084 (1969).

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (red): Use kiberfizicheskih systems, robots, etc. .

Although this chart focuses mainly on technology, which lead to so-called «Industry 4.0», it is not specified labor force — people who develop and use technology. If you talk about it, then we can construct the same graph that will show the extent of knowledge and capabilities of workers, since the increase in the complexity of technology, as a rule, contribute to the development of these aspects.

At each transition point in this way the total number of employees is reduced, but in the areas of engineering, programming and maintenance increases. There, where he worked as a lone master with low productivity, needed mechanical engineers to build steam engines and machines. Rapid movement in the future robots and the Internet of things will require design engineers of embedded systems, and other highly qualified technicians who will provide all of this operation and stable progress.

We are now on the verge of «Industry 4.0», which is mainly characterized by an unprecedented confluence of the virtual and real worlds, the growth of Internet connectivity, the influx of structured and unstructured data, and — what is relevant to our discussion — the achievements in the field of industrial automation. Each of these aspects has a serious impact on the employees of enterprises, especially the latter.

Do companies have more meaning and motivation to invest in robotics. Productivity of machines in some cases significantly surpass human capabilities. The problem is that it takes place mainly in enterprises, where many industry experts — on conveyors and assembly lines — and this causes social and economic consequences, and makes media buzz.

Variability and evolution of labor

Changes in the labor force and the robot from 2009: Red — industrial workers; blue — robots by 1000 workers

For those who are skeptical about the shift towards automation and reduce the amount of living labor, MIT Technology Review in August put everything in its place. On their infographic shows the changes in the labor force in some countries for the years 2009-2012. Since then, of course, much has changed.

Is it bad news? Gary Frank, vice president of automated systems in Westfalia Technologies, commented on the replacement of workers by robots like this:

«In contrast to the widely held belief that automation technology is destroying millions of jobs and left without working people across the country, the job market is not reduced, and develops. Certainly some jobs disappear due to automation, but the workers are still needed -. For more skilled and require skills »

Scares more. With increasing automation, which can achieve an unprecedented pace over the next 10-15 years, and the slow pace of training of young people choosing an industrial career, this time frame can be very uncomfortable. The lack of skills is already there, and the growth of robotics and other forms of new generation of industrial automation will only aggravate this gap, if nothing changes.

The robots are coming: what you need to change

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If the global automation will continue at the same pace, a few things from the above theses should be deleted.

Firstly, it may not have been a better time for the younger generations to start production career — skills not only provide reliable performance, but also bring a serious income over time, which will continue to grow. The problem is that good engineers are not enough.

Secondly, many workers have already gone through the automation of industrial segments. The result was not a substitute for workers and their evolution. For example, in small factories often can be seen that the machine operator or service technician involved in the quality of audits. There is a new time that you can take. Task workers: to adapt their skill set and remain relevant to the organization.

Finally, it increases the overall image of the production, not the best, so to speak, so that young people can work with the most interesting technologies. This, of course, the merit of producer organizations themselves. They are obliged to invite young professionals, informing them that the production — is no longer what it was before.

What about industrial superspetsialistov?

As jobs become more dependent on technology and more reduced to the maintenance of machinery, the average worker can qualify, which previous generations could not dream — yes, maybe, professionals will have «supernavykami». Together with the increase in technological and science-intensive production will be increased and the overall level of education of young professionals, which will grow and grow.