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Are Robots Good or Bad?
From:
Lisa Anderson M.B.A. - Manufacturing and Supply Chain Lisa Anderson M.B.A. - Manufacturing and Supply Chain
For Immediate Release:
Dateline: Claremont, CA
Wednesday, April 19, 2017

 

According to the Material Handling & Logistics, robots are slashing U.S. wages and worsening pay inequality. That is certainly a provocative statement! According to new research by MIT’s Daron Acemoglu and Boston University’s Pascual Restrepo, one additional robot per thousand workers reduces the employment to population ratio from 0.18 percentage points to 0.34 percentage points and slashes wages from 0.25% to 0.5%. Regardless of the exact figures, it is certainly accurate that robots will replace certain types of jobs.

automation

Is this good or bad? It is for you to decide based on your circumstances. Technology and automation can keep you competitive and “save” higher skilled jobs since costs are reduced and so there is less incentive to move manufacturing away from the customer base to a lower cost location. On the other hand, robots will minimize the number of repetitive jobs needed. Are you continually building on your skills? And, are you supporting continual skills building in your workforce?

What Should We Consider and/or What Impacts Could Arise?

We are hearing more and more about technology, automation and robots. Thus, if you aren’t at least thinking about this strategy, you’ll likely be left in the dust. With that said, we are the first to say — do not automate for the sake of automation. Does it support a key need of your business? Will it help you provide a better customer experience? Will it help you be more competitive to grow your business? Think carefully before jumping for the sake of following the popular trend.

If you don’t have a high labor cost environment, will robots make sense? Perhaps not. Just like everyone and his brother jumped on the outsourcing craze several years ago and many later discovered it didn’t make sense in their case (often by learning the hard way with unhappy customers), think before you leap. Stay on top of the latest technology and search for business needs where this tool “fits the bill” to drive business results but do not blindly follow any person or crowd.

About LMA Consulting Group – Lisa Anderson, MBA, CSCP

**MEDIA EXPERT: Supply Chain Management, Logistics, ERP, VMI, Social Networks for Business**

Lisa Anderson is a leading expert in selecting & implementing strategic priorities and ranked 16 most influential in supply chain by SAP. Anderson is Board approved in Supply Chain strategy by the Society for Advancement in Consulting, is an APICS Certified Supply Chain Professional (CSCP) and won the APICS Southwest District’s Milt Cook Award in 2011. Named a top 100 supply chain blogger on SupplyChainOpz, she has the unique ability to zero in on the critical strategic priorities and bridge the gap between strategy and execution to achieve dramatically improved service levels, accelerated cash flow and increased profits. With a keen focus on elevating business performance, Anderson is passionate about not only synthesizing strategic priorities that will deliver business results but also in designing an implementation approach that delivers rapid results.

Anderson, also known as The Manufacturing Business TransformerSM, is currently working on a book entitled “The Amazon Effect” detailing a business roadmap to thriving in an ultra-competitive marketplace. A regular content contributor in topics including supply chain, ERP and SIOP, she has been interviewed for articles in publications like Industry Week, tED Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. She actively posts educational blogs three times weekly and has two newsletters, Profit through PeopleSM and “I’ve Been Thinking.”

Prior to founding LMA Consulting Group Inc., Anderson was the Vice President of Operations and Supply Chain of PaperPak, Inc. Her twelve-year tenure included transitions and promotions through the company transformation from a $100 million family-owned business, through a merger and acquisition of three businesses into one $350 million dollar global company, followed by a management leveraged buyout in combination with an investment banking group.

A sought-after writer and speaker, Anderson has spoken at the Global Supply Chain & Logistics Summit, the APICS International Conference and as a visiting lecturer at the University of Southern California’s Entrepreneurial Program. Anderson is the author of “Leverage Social Networks to Drive Business Results,” has published hundreds of articles and has been quoted in the media including The Wall Street Journal, ABC News and Industry Week.

With a blend of management, finance and operations, Lisa received her MBA with an emphasis in Finance from California State University Fullerton and her BSBA with an emphasis in Operations Management from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

She has traveled extensively throughout North America, Central America and Europe, including a summer in Oxford when attending the University of North Carolina. Lisa tries to make as many stops as possible at in New Orleans to enjoy a beignet at the Café de Monde. And, in recognition of her extraordinary tenacity to accomplish goals, her colleagues fondly refer to her as “pit terrier.”

 

News Media Interview Contact
Name: Lisa Anderson
Title: President
Group: LMA Consulting Group, Inc.
Dateline: Claremont, CA United States
Direct Phone: 909-630-3943
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