TWC Individual Paper Outline: Use of Vision Robots in Factories

1. Executive Summary

This paper would discuss the impact of vision robots in factories. First, a background of mechanisation in manufacturing will be briefly introduced. Recent trends in the industry, like the use of vision robots in factories in developed countries and the movement of low-skilled manufacturing operations to developing countries, and the impact of these moves on the emerging markets will be discussed. Finally, the impact of the recent introduction of vision robots and the larger impact this could have on the world of manufacturing on efficiency and general direction the industry is headed towards.

2. Methodology

•  Interviews with engineers who have experience working with vision robots
• Other print sources (e.g. journals, newspapers, books)

3. Background/Introduction

For the last decade, vision robots have been widely used in factories in developed countries to ease the dependence on manual labour. As developed countries move their manufacturing operations to developing markets to tap into the large pool of cheap labour, they provided opportunities for these countries to grow out of poverty. As such, these developing countries, now known as the emerging markets, have reached a level where they too, want to increase productivity by implementing high-technology equipment in their production plants to encourage the development of skilled labour, and to improve efficiency.

4. Historical Perspective

• What sort of machinery was used before, in developed countries.
• Moment of MNC operations to developing countries for the cheap labour

5. Current Situation(ie where we are today – how the innovation has changed things)
• Developing countries, with the job opportunities put in place by these large MNCs, are growing at a rapid rate
• Wish to reduce dependence on manual labour and introduce more high-technology processes in production.
• Vision robots are one of the main initiatives taken.
• Advantages
  – increased efficiency
  – health benefits (many workers in developing countries have to suffer for long hours carrying out repetitive tasks in the plant, and vision robots help to ease this burden)
  – increased demand for skilled labour, causes the need for upgrade of skills. Allows the workers to benefit when they learn new skills related to the maintenance of the robots and earn higher salaries with their new skills.
• Disadvantages
  – loss of jobs for those who do not have the opportunity to improve their skills.
  – increase in rich-poor divide.

6. Future Considerations(ie where we might go – how you foresee things going in future)

• Increase in vision robots and other high-technology machinery in factories
• Decrease in number of factory workers, possibly to just a few skilled in maintaining the robots
• Emerging countries grow to become developed economies and move their productions to a new set of developing countries, possibly in Africa. Cycle starts again?

 7. Conclusions

• Evaluation of the impact of vision robots on the industry and its future impacts.