Will We Have Manufacturing Jobs?

Will We Have Manufacturing Jobs?

I just read yet another survey where people think we won’t have any manufacturing jobs in 50 years (or pick your number). Robots and automation will do everything. We will all just sit around, be poor and miserable–except for the few owners.

That begs one essential question. If no one has money to buy things, then what will manufacturing produce? Think about it. Who would be able to buy gasoline, dish washing detergent, Oreo cookies? What we have is a virtuous circle: people have jobs -> people have money -> they buy things -> companies develop new things for them to buy -> people work at those companies to develop and manufacture things -> people have jobs-> etc.

We’ve invested in automation and robots for years. Productivity has not necessarily gone up as a direct result. Read between the lines of yesterday’s post from MAPI.

I’m not arguing from some abstract economic theory. Nor am I sanguine about automation. Nor from a Luddite point of view.

Automation and robots have replaced workers. But if you were in manufacturing plants prior to 1970 and then returned in 2000, you’d have been  shocked. Jobs that literally destroyed the bodies of the workers over time had been redesigned such that repetitive lifting of 50 lb. to 75 lb. objects all day, for example, were no longer done manually. Manufacturing jobs that put people in harms’ way were now done with robots. People were moved to safety.

Plants are healthier, cleaner, safer than ever thought possible. Manufacturing jobs that remain are better paying, more satisfying, and safer than before.

Then let’s look at the human spirit. We were made to create.

I have visited the old city dump in Tijuana. A veritable city exists in the dump. People had no where to go. They moved to the dump. They scrounged around and found things with which to build simple houses. The last time I was there I was amazed. People (probably women) had done many things to make those shacks in the dump livable. I saw curtains of a type on the windows. People trying to plant flowers. I wondered how many people were electrocuted climbing up utility poles to tap into the electrical grid so that their house could have some electrical appliances.

It’s a dump. It’s a terrible place to live. The human spirit of the people was amazing. They made the best of what they had.

I didn’t grow up in an upper middle class enclave. I grew up in a small town where all social classes (OK, we didn’t have many of them) mingled. I hung out with “rednecks” as an adolescent. Guys that drank cheap beer and worked on cars. They could do mechanical things that few today can do. Sort of the spirit of the old blacksmiths who build all manner of things for people.

The spirit to build and create is human. We can organize a macro economy any way we want. We’ll still have people figuring out things to do to help people and figuring out ways to do it.

Manufacturer Adoption of Internet of Things

Manufacturer Adoption of Internet of Things

PwC Manufacturing ReportAre you sick of hearing about the Internet of Things, yet? I hope not. That’s the big topic in industrial/manufacturing circles these days, and I doubt that it fades soon.

I think there is a paradox going down here, though. In many respects we already have connected plants. Automation has been so well accepted, that it would be hard to find a facility either manufacturing or production that has no automation. And automation requires instrumentation, networking, and data analysis.

Even considering IP–as in Internet Protocol–as a core of Internet of Things, the adoption of Ethernet-based networks such as EtherNet/IP and Profinet continues to grow significantly.

One wonders, then, what manufacturing executives think of the whole idea and where adoption ranks in their priorities.

Robert McCutcheon, Partner with PwC and US Industrial Products Leader, led a study with PwC and The Manufacturing Institute. The facts and conclusions are included in The Internet of Things: what it means for US manufacturing.

McCutcheon followed up with a blog post where he summarized the findings.

Setting the table for the discussion, he notes, “According to one estimate, the installed base for Internet-connected devices already exceeded $14 billion by early 2015, and is forecast to boom to nearly $50 billion by 2020. We are living in an era of deep data inter-connectivity.”

Further, he says, “Connected devices and new data flows are already making impressive headway in the manufacturing sector, and we expect to see this trend accelerate. In fact, another estimate shows that over the next decade, manufacturers could stand to capture about $4 trillion of value from the IoT through increased revenues and lower costs.”

With this potential value potential, what are executives thinking? Here is his summary.

“This is what we learned:

  • Smart sensors are gaining traction – nearly 40% of U.S. manufacturers are collecting and using data generated by smart sensors to enhance their manufacturing and operating processes
  • Not all think IoT strategy is critical — about 30% say that it’s “slightly important” or “not important at all” to adopt IoT strategy in their operations
  • Focus is on manufacturing plants — one in three manufacturers use data-driven technology in the manufacturing plant only, with about one in four deploying it in their plant and warehouse”

The idea is data-driven manufacturing. Many are competing to find the killer app for this.

The idea is data-driven manufacturing. Many are competing to find the killer app for this. Industrie 4.0 advocates describe a digital factory that mirrors the physical factory where engineers and executives can fine tune the process from design to ship. Smart Manufacturing envisions a platform where apps can be built upon which will provide benefits of enhanced workflow.

Even Lean (which is seldom discussed lately, but remains the best route to manufacturing effectiveness) needs data to both discover problem areas and provide feedback about the success of the project.

Where do you stand on the IoT spectrum?

Follow this blog

Get a weekly email of all new posts.