Efficient Plant March 2022 - 22

department | tech horizons
An ongoing look into the
technologies and trends
that will shape your
manufacturing future
Integrating
Robots
Into Your
Workforce
Dr. Klaus M. Blache
Univ. of Tennessee Reliability
and Maintainability Center
(RMC)
I
'M GETTING READY to participate
in several job interviews to select the
best candidate. The job requires being
able to perform in a fast-paced manufacturing
environment. Other skills and
requirements include being aware of and
able to adjust to surrounding events, knowing
what acceptable quality is, reliable
attendance, ability to work well under
stress, willing to work any shift and long
hours as necessary, won't ask for a raise
every year, and yes, it will be a robot.
The IFR (International Federation of
Robotics, Frankfurt, Germany, ifr.org) stated
that, in 2021, almost 13% of the automotive
workforce was robots. IFR also indicates that,
in the next decade, many of the new hires
will be cobots (collaborative robots). They
will assist maintenance workers with heavy
lifting and holding/reaching/passing tools
and parts. Robots are better at heavy lifting,
repetitive tasks, rate of work, and standardized
work is always followed.
At the same time, more than two-million
baby boomers will retire with their inherent
knowledge of keeping a plant running. This
will make integration of Industry 4.0/IIoT
and AI/Machine Learning more difficult.
The introduction of new technology
changes an enterprise's social system. Also,
much depends on organizational complexity,
including reporting structure, clarity of
processes, level of standardized work, and
number of tasks. Greater complexity makes
communication more difficult. The people
who are concerned about the number of
robots at work need to understand and
accept that the number will increase, but
they won't replace all jobs.
" In the U.S., four manufacturing indusRobots
are better at lifting heavy objects
and work faster and with more precision but
human interaction is still a large part of operational
success and that won't change quickly.
22 | EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
MARCH 2022
http://www.ifr.org http://www.EFFICIENTPLANTMAG.COM
Efficient Plant March 2022

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