FEATURE
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The Person in the Loop
This is the part of the technology conversation that matters most to me. We cannot automate ourselves out of understanding the craft. A new operator still needs to understand application rates, tip selection, pressure, surface preparation, paint chemistry and glass beads. They need to know ADA requirements. They need to understand why a line is tracking, why paint isn’ t drying correctly and why a layout doesn’ t work even though the measurements technically add up. And sometimes, after all the technology, measurements and data, you still have to smooth things out with a client the old-fashioned way— with a conversation and a handshake. Technology can help teach those things. It cannot make those things irrelevant. In fact, as automation becomes more capable, skilled operators may become even more valuable because someone has to recognize when the machine is wrong. A robot can connect the line. The operator still owns the result.
The Skills Gap Makes This More Important
Our industry faces the same challenge as many trades: finding and developing skilled people. Automation can help. If technology reduces repetitive measuring, simplifies documentation, improves training and makes equipment easier to operate, we may be able to bring new people into the industry faster. But faster cannot mean untrained. We need to use these tools to transfer knowledge, not replace it. The people who have spent decades learning this trade carry information that doesn’ t exist in an instruction manual. Our opportunity is to combine that experience with new technology and pass both to the next generation.
The Next Line
Twenty years in this industry have taught me not to get too comfortable with the way things have always been done. I’ ve striped with traditional equipment. I’ ve watched machines and materials evolve. Now, I’ m watching robotics and artificial intelligence enter the same trade that once taught me to stretch a string line across a parking lot. I’ m excited about where we’ re going. But I’ m equally protective of where we came from. The future of pavement marking isn’ t human versus machine. It’ s experienced people using better tools. The technology will continue changing. The equipment will get smarter. The data will get better. Robots will become more capable. But when the trailer door opens and the crew steps onto the pavement, somebody still has to understand what a quality job looks like. That part of the future is still human. Happy striping!
Mark Estrada is director of operations for Rose Paving LLC in Houston and a pavement marking educator.
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