Wage Increases vs Technology Investment
Many commentators believe that the latest round of wage increases will prompt mining companies and even farmers to pursue mechanisation with greater vigour. The reasoning is that machines are becoming more and more advanced, and thus more useful and they do not go on the rampage for higher wages every year. In other words, advances in robotic technology could be putting many jobs at risk.
At this year’s SAPICS conference, Tom Bonkenburg will take an in-depth look at developments in robotics and the drivers that will affect the extent to which local and international supply chains will adopt robotic technologies. Mr Bonkenburg, director of European operations for St. Onge Company Inc., an international supply chain engineering and consulting firm, will be using a wide range of examples to illustrate his points.
In the past century, he says, labour costs have increased fivefold, fuel tenfold and land 40 times (1912 dollars adjusted to 2012 dollars for comparison purposes). These increases should have driven greater use of mechanised solutions, including robots, but in fact around 80% of the supply chain remains manual. “Automated and mechanised solutions have, until fairly recently, been expensive and inflexible—and people are very good at doing a range of complex tasks. We’ve also become skilled at helping people to enhance their skills,” Mr Bonkenburg observes. “However, robotic technology is improving by leaps and bounds.”
This improvement in technology, coupled with business’s constant need to balance land, equipment and space expenses to achieve the optimal profit mix, could change the status quo. For example, sophisticated hybrid guided vehicles are viable in today’s vast warehouse and distribution centres, as are robotic pickers.
This new generation of machines is flexible and can be used for several tasks; it can also be moved between sites. Robots are easily rentable, thus moving costs off the balance sheet. The conclusion: business’s ongoing need to reduce costs while improving quality, flexibility, speed and availability are generally supportive of the trend towards increased use of robots across the supply chain.
“No one knows what the future really holds. The purpose of this presentation is to generate discussion and stimulate new thoughts in regards to how supply chains could be totally changed by the introduction of a new type of technology,”
Aptly entitled Design for change, the SAPICS conference will take place on 2-4 June 2013 at Sun City. Visit www.sapics.org for more details.
