Managing Automation - May 2008 - (Page 50)

robert malone NEXT Mean Manufacturing robomalone@aol.com Manufacturers with insight, intelligence, energy, and a global vision can automate processes rather than increase or outsource labor. When all else fails, becoming a captain of industry and a slave driver may succeed. It did for Andrew Carnegie and others. Don’t get me wrong, I am not advocating slave labor — only slave machines, or what I call “mean manufacturing.” Today we have digital control networking that brings machines, robots, sensors, RFID, and other technologies together, making automation more attainable to those who are willing to work at it. The collection of the necessary data is also attainable. Any excuse for not automating disappears for those with the courage, imagination, and entrepreneurial spirit to make it happen. However, it seems that the more that magazines and conferences are devoted to entrepreneurship, the less it seems to be practiced. We can control robots on Mars. We can shoot down, on the first try, a wayward, toxic satellite. Why then can’t we control a factory in New Jersey when we are in New Jersey? Is anyone for trying new automated manufacturing in Detroit? The availability of cheap Chinese labor has begun to recede, and not only because of the Olympics. If we factor in poor product quality and toxic toys, outsourced manufacturing starts to lose some of its luster. To this we must add costlier supply chain and logistics conditions; after all, fuel costs are rising everywhere. Manufacturing at home may well become an attractive alternative. The Japanese are out in front in the automation game. Both at home and abroad, the emphasis is on automation and robotics. Machine-based operations are backed up by highly skilled workers who function as quality insurers. When the Japanese manufacture in China, they often use robots despite the availability of low-cost labor. Educating unskilled workers can be costly while sophisticated machine tools and robots come with their algorithms built-in. Labor-intensive manufacturing is often manufacturing that has not been examined for automation possibilities. There are good reasons for applying automation to manufacturing, such as: • Increased process control or elimination of process variation; • Removal of hazardous activity for workers; • Controllable capital costs vs. variable labor costs; • Improved process cycle time; and • Predictable production to meet demand variation. Obviously, a turn to automation must meet return on investment and internal rate of return criteria as well as high quality standards. This isn’t a new challenge. Engineers Marc Isambard Brunel and Henry Maudslay in 1799 revolutionized pulley block production for the British Navy. The Navy required 100,000 pulley blocks a year to outfit its ships. However, production was laborintensive. These two men set up a line — possibly the first real manufacturing line — of six or so machines that could be operated by a few unskilled laborers at 10 times the rate of production of the skilled laborers. By 1808, 45 machines were producing 130,000 units a year. Where is the American spirit of industrial enterprise? Can it be revived? I Robert Malone, based in New York, is principal of Robert Malone Associates and former editor-in-chief of Managing Automation. Malone’s new book, Chain Reaction, is now available at bookstores, both the brick-and-mortar and the online kind. Photo: Dirk Kikstra maonline managingautomation.com For more of Robert Malone’s views, visit: K A Giant Leap www.managingautomation .com/next48 K The Digital Devolution www.managingautomation .com/next47 K Values Rebuilt Here www.managingautomation .com/next46 ma 50 2008 May http://managingautomation.com http://www.managingautomation.com/next48 http://www.managingautomation.com/next47 http://www.managingautomation.com/next46

Table of Contents Feed for the Digital Edition of Managing Automation - May 2008

Managing Automation - May 2008 Contents Take 1 Award-Winning Shoe-Maker Otabo Alters Course, Shifts Production to China IBM Partners with Universities for Cloud Computing Getting Noise in Production Under Control Incuity Embarks on a Vertical Market Strategy Foundation Intensifies OPC Standard Testing Mailbox Notes PM Roundtable Cover Story: The Business of Going Green Special Report: Night and Day Delivering on Promises Finding the Right Fit for Wireless Driving RFID Product Scan Advertiser Index Next

Managing Automation - May 2008

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