Automation fuels job growth and demand for higher skill sets in the supply chain
Automation is creating improvements in manufacturing and supply chain efficiency that is driving up profits and employment. According to a new white paper titled “Robots Fuel the Next Wave of U.S. Productivity and Job Growth” there is a strong correlation between automation implementation and employment growth.
The paper, published by The Association for Advancing Automation (A3), cites key statistics that during the non-recessionary periods – 1996-2000, 2002-2007, and 2010-2014 – general employment and automation shipments both increased.
Since 2010, the use of automation and robotics in the United States has grown substantially. Even during this period of record-breaking implementation of these technologies, U.S. employment has increased.
Manufacturing and supply chain automation increasingly provides the flexibility in the variety of tasks robots perform to drive improvements in overall product quality and time to market.
Automation drives the need for higher-skilled supply chain workforce
As automation improves supply chain productivity and job growth, it is also opening up new opportunities for worker advancement.
Automation optimizes production by performing repetitive and dangerous tasks. The increased technology that automation is bringing into the supply chain workplace is creating a need for higher-skilled workers with better-paying jobs that are more technical in nature and safer.
Automation also helps companies that are seeking supply chain talent, particularly millennials, interested in long-lasting careers working with technology and innovation.
