EVOLVE Business and Professional Magazine August 2019 | Page 28

THE TENSION BETWEEN
AUTOMATION AND EMPLOYMENT
by Jayne Fifer
President/CEO
Volusia Manufacturers Association (VMA)
is pushing manufacturers to produce more today, not
tomorrow. As such, automation is not just a cost cutting
measure, it is a necessity.
As machines become nimbler and computers can more
easily input customer change orders, automation allows
W
e are living in a time of an ever-expanding
economy. To stay competitive manufacturers
must produce a variety of top-quality,
customized products while dealing with a shortage of
skilled labor. One solution is automation. But some people
are worried they will lose their jobs to robots. Is that true
of manufacturing in Volusia and Flagler counties?
Our manufacturing community is as diverse in its level
of automation as it is in the products we make here–with
our more than 450 manufacturers straddling the past and
the future. You can walk into some companies, like Davita
Kidney Care Labs which performs more than 47 million
laboratory tests for patients across the country, and think
you’re in the latest Star Wars film, while some companies
look like they belong in “Back to the Future”.
No matter where manufactures are on the “automation
continuum,” they are all dealing with our culture’s
pervasive demand for immediate gratification. This
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for easier customization of products while reducing costs.
This is an obvious benefit to the company, but it’s also a
benefit to employees. Companies who are able to produce
more here, at a lower cost, have a reason to keep jobs at
home and bring other jobs back from offshore.
Furthermore, automation reduces physical work and
improves ergonomics for the worker. And the rate of the
changeover to automation will give employees time to
adapt and learn the new, higher-level skills needed - skills
which command higher wages.
It is fascinating to see our manufacturers in transition.
Recently, VMA members participating in a monthly plant
tour had an opportunity to visit Hudson Technologies and
speak with its president, Bret Schmitz. He said they are
starting the process of automating because it is difficult
to find entry level workers and the price of technology is
coming down. Flexible, industrial robot arms now cost
about $30,000 vs. $80-90,000 in the not too distant past,
making them easier to acquire. Bret said they have not
experienced any negative push back from the changes and