Jeff Christensen, Seegrid Vice President of Products, recently authored the cover story in Material Handling & Logistics discussing the new roles and responsibilities for robot operators that are emerging in the new age of robotics, requiring new and more creative skills from our human workforce.
The highly repetitive tasks once asked of humans to fulfill can now be completed by robots, which are both safer and more efficient. This shift in responsibility frees up human employees to fill new roles more suited to their talents: humans have the capacity for creativity and decision-making to contribute at higher levels, while robot colleagues bear the heavy loads.
New technology is not magically adopted at once: implementation lags for any new technology, from color TVs to smartphones. Similarly, mobile automation for material handling is introduced and integrated over time, and the industry must be educated to streamline the process.
Understanding automated operations is key for the industry to adopt new technology. Employees must see mobile robots, like automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous vision guided vehicles (VGVs), in action. They need to learn how safe the technology is, and understand how it benefits their day-to-day jobs. And as soon as a company introduces robots to the facility floor, it’s important that their frontline men and women are trained to be the first generation of automated robotics operators. That kind of training will ultimately make companies more productive while making their human employees more valuable.
“Our robotics training program offers education beyond the core curriculum. During the two-day session, trainees can share concerns, exchange ideas, and offer perspective to their colleagues from other companies. Understanding the transition of the workforce on a larger scale is important for these employees to see the bigger picture of how automation will impact the industry,” noted Christensen.
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Material Handling & Logistics is now part of a very visible and top-of-mind process in today’s world. When it comes to the supply chain, MH&L has it covered: warehousing, material handling equipment, transportation strategies, sustainability, logistics, global commerce, distribution, regulatory compliance, workforce management, new technology and automation.
About Seegrid
Seegrid (www.seegrid.com) is the leading provider of connected self-driving vehicles for materials handling with hundreds of thousands of miles driven. The Seegrid Smart Platform combines flexible and reliable infrastructure-free vision guided vehicles with fleet management and enterprise intelligence data for a complete connected solution. Seegrid accelerates Industry 4.0 and lean initiatives with incremental automation, helping companies achieve a truly connected enterprise and transform into smart factories of the future. Follow Seegrid on Twitter at @Seegrid.
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