So, we have been in the automation age for quite some time now. Most businesses require its use to be successful. The purpose of it has changed, however, from increasing productivity and reducing costs, to increasing quality and flexibility in their process. Take example the car industry. When you have employees install an engine part, say a crank case, you have an error range from 1-1.2%, but if you have the process automated, you now have an error rate of .0001%.
WHen it comes to a new type of flexibility in the automation process, it gets a little tricky. When a company wants to say switch products on their assembly line, it usually requires almost completely tearing down and rebuilding the production lines. Automated guided vehicles have helped tremendously with this issue.
When it comes to being a business owner, and you are making a product over and over again, the obvious choice is automation. Sometimes you have to ask yourself the question of morality though: If you have a bunch of robots working for you, where do the people that once did that machine's job go? The unemployment issue goes hand-in-hand with automation. If robots were as smart as humans, would employers not care about humans anymore? You can read more about this subject at how stuff works. I am anxious to see what happens in the near future with this.
