Making Stuff that Makes Stuff...

 

 

 

"We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths"

Walt Disney

 

For those who have been patently waiting for some of our off shore manufacturing jobs to come home, some good news. Many experts believe in the near future more segments of our manufacturing base will come home. However, the jobs will be filled with "Hal" (the computer from 2001 - A Space Odyssey) and not someone who has a pulse. Yes, while very few have been paying attention, our robot technology has gotten better, cheaper, and more integrated into our manufacturing processes.

Last week I was watching a show on one of the cable channels. It dealt with how to make gas tanks for cars or trucks. There was some human touch labor in cutting out the metal to start the process, but then it was all robotics. The robotic welds were needed to be so precise, so accurate, that the finished tanks could be inserted directly into the car frame. When this was done by human welders, no matter how skillful, the tolerances were often not tight enough so there needed to be some "tweaking" to make the tank fit the right way. When the assembly line was shown as the tanks were being inserted, there were robots everywhere. Very few people, many robots.

Years ago I had the chance to work on some robotic technology with Stanford University and a small company in Salt Lake City. It was very interesting to say the least. We were trying to develop a robotic hand, and if that worked, maybe an arm. We were at the point where the hand had state of the art accelerometers infused in it. This hand could hold almost 10 pounds or an egg without breaking it. It was all in the accelerometers. It would hold something ever so gently until it could sense it slipping. Then the accelerometers would slowly, yet instantly increase the grip. It was heady stuff for the early 90's.

Back to our manufacturing. If we could take politics out of this and just be truthful, our manufacturing will never again be as it was. Technology has moved the goal posts. If you have seen a demo on how a 3-D printer works, you would think you are watching an episode of Star Trek. This technology is just in its infancy, and it is already getting the "WOW" response. It is like watching a replicator from a science fiction movie. In fact, more and more, our robotic technology is moving from science fiction to science.

So where will the new manufacturing jobs be? Simply put, they will be in making the items which make the items. It will be in the integration of CAD, CAM and CAL into the total automated processes. It will be taking "touch labor" out of the equation wherever practicable and replacing it with automation. Not to sound cold, but where ever that can happen, it will eliminate hourly pay, benefits, sick days and unions. With proper maintenance, robots can work 24X7X365. In addition, it takes the very good work product and replaces it with the almost perfect.

If we play our cards right, the future will belong to us. Food will become ever more important in a hungry world, and we know more about growing and processing food than anybody. We can also become the world leader in potable water reclamation. We need to keep our fingers in the energy game by developing batteries, capacitors, fuel cells and solar (forget wind). Once again we should look at the feasibility of cold fusion and develop safer methods of harnessing fission. In addition, if we train and educate our young people the right way, our country could once again be the bastion of world class manufacturing. We just need to continue to learn how to make things that make things, and do it better and faster than anyone else.

The future is out there. We know what we have, what we can do, and what needs to be done. We just need to do it.