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Gerovitch Automation PDF
Gerovitch Automation PDF
production. This approach aspired to replace the processed huge amounts of data generated in mass
human operator’sexpertise by engineering knowledge production and mass marketing, became primary
a tar-
formalized in CNC programs. In suchsystems, human get of automation and job reduction in the 1960s and
operators generally no longer programmed CNC 1970s. By 1970 the profession of bookkeeperwas
equipmentontheshop floor, andproductionwas almost completely eliminated in the USA. In the mid-
brought under remotesupervision of a central manage- 1960s the first management-informationsystems (MIS)
ment-controlled computer. appeared, providing management withdata, models of
analysis, and algorithms for decision-making; even-
Flexible Manufacturing Systems (FMS) combined
tually they became a standard tool for operation con-
DNC equipment with machines for automated loading,
trol, management control, and strategic planning.
unloading, and transfer of workpieces. These systems
permitted varying process routes andsequences of
operations, allowing automatic machining of different Phase VI: Computer-Integrated
products insmall batches in the same system. Cen- Manufacturing (CIM)
tralized FMS have often proved too complex, however, In the late 1980s an integration of the automated factory
and they are increasinglysubdivided into smaller and the electronic office ( 4 . v . ) began. CIM combines
flexible manufacturing cells (FMC)that include several flexible automation(robots, numerically controlled
CNC machines, robots, and transfer devices controlled machines, and flexible manufacturing systems), CAD/
by a single computer, the “cell controller.” CAM systems, and management-information systems
to build integrated production systems that cover the
Phase IV: Automated Engineering complete operations of a manufacturing firm, including
purchasing, logistics, maintenance, engineering, and
In the 1960s large aerospace manufacturers, such as business operations. CIM emphasizes horizontal links
McDonnell-Douglas and Boeing, developedproprietary between different organizational units of a firm and
computer-aided design (CAD) systems, which provided provides the possibility of sharing data and computing
computer graphics (q.v.) tools for drafting, analyzing, resources, making it possible to break the traditional
and modifying aircraft designs. In 1970 Computer- institutional barriers between departments andcreate
Vision Corporation introduced thefirst complete turn- flexible functional groups to perform tasks more speed-
key commercial CAD system for industrial designers, ily and efficiently.
which provided all the necessary hardware and soft-
ware in one package. In the 1970s, combined CAD/
CAM systems emerged which used the parameters of
Social and Economic Dimensions
a geometrical model created with the help of CAD to
of Automation
generate programs for CNC machine tools and develop Views of automation range between two extremes-
manufacturing plans and schedules. While CAD unabashed optimism and utmost pessimism. The opti-
systems are often packaged and standardized, CAM mists believe in a technological utopia, an imagined
(Computer-Aided Manufacturing)applications tend to bright future in which machines will relieve people of
be industry-specificand proprietary. With the introduc- all hard work and bring prosperity to humankind. The
tion of Computer-Aided Engineering (CAE) systems for pessimists view machines as instruments of subjuga-
standard techniquesof engineering analysis, the whole tion and control by a ruling elite, argue that automa-
range of engineering tasks-from conceptual design to tion leads to the degradation of human beings, and
analysis to detailed design to drafting and documenta- depict the future as a grim technological dystopia. Both
tion to manufacturingdesign-became automated. The sidesview automatic technologyas an autonomous
distinction between blue-collar and white-collar jobs force determiningthe direction of human history.
was further blurred, as engineers, clerks, and managers Automation itself, however, is a social process shaped
became integrated in an automatedoffice. by various social and economic forces. This process
may take various directions and mayhavediverse
Phase V: Automated Management consequencesdependingonthesocioeconomicand
organizational choices made during automation.
Among the earliest applications of information tech-
nology was the automation of information-processing
The Productivity Paradox
tasks. The first stored-program digital computer pur-
chased by a nongovernment customer was UNIVAC While productivity in major industries in the USA rose
( q . v . ) , installed by GE in 1954 to automate basic trans- sharply duringproductionautomation in the 1950s
action processing: payroll, inventory control and mate- and 60s, its growth has slowed significantly since the
rial scheduling, billing and order service, and general 1970s, precisely at the time of widespread computer-
cost accounting. Large clerical bureaucracies, which ization of the factory and the office. The link between
AUTOMATION 125
computerizationand productivity remainsproblem- machinery to the use of standard design and analysis
atic. The advantages most commonly associated procedures that tell the computer how to design and
with computer-aided manufacturinginclude increased build a needed part. Management evolved from direct
production rates,better product quality, more efficient supervision of labor to “management by numbers,”
use of materials, shorter lead times, reduced work based on numericaldata reports and pre-programmed
hours, and improved work safety-all factors leading computer algorithms for decision-making. When
to higher productivity. Among its main disadvantages, operators must step in and take control in case of an
analysts usually cite the high cost of designing, build- emergency at an automatically controlled nuclear
ing, and maintaining computerized equipment; vulner- power plant, would they possess the necessary skills
ability to downtime;relatively low flexibilitycompared if their training and daily experience mainly concerned
with humans; and worker displacement and emotional work with a computerizedcontrol system?
stress-all leading to lower productivity. It is particu-
Because of the high cost of downtime, efficient main-
larly difficult to compare directly productivity before
tenance and fast repairs become crucial in automated
and after computerization, since it brings with it not
production, which places a great burden of responsi-
merely technological, but also organizational change
bility and tight time constraints on maintenance and
which transforms theentire nature of production and
repair crews. Computerized equipment can be used to
brings with it the most benefits and losses.
enhance the flexibility of work organization, leaving
As manufacturerswhointroducedcomputer-aided one in charge of planning one’s work time, but it may
manufacturing systems affirm, the largest payoff also be used to impose a strict and inflexiblework
from computerizationcomesnotfrom speeding up regimeon factory and office workers by closely
old operations butfrommaking work organization monitoring their performance. As a result, automation
more flexible and efficient. On theotherhand, if can make work either easier or more exhausting and
computers are used toconserve old inefficient organi- stressful, depending onthe type of work organization.
zation, computerization can only accelerate negative
trends. As John Bessant has remarked, “When you put
Technocentric vs. Human-Centered
a computerinto a chaotic factory the only thing you get
Approaches
is computerized chaos” (quotedin Ayres, 199 1-1 992,
Vol. 4, p. 94). Most successful manufacturers stream- Historically thepredominantapproachtoautoma-
line operations before computerization, following the tion has beentechnocentric: a goal of automation is to
dictum, “Simplify, then automate!” Efficient compu- reduce and ultimately entirely eliminate human par-
terization takes far morethan merelyinstalling a ticipation in production and eventually arrive at an
computer: it requires changes in the entire workstyle. unmanned factory. From this standpoint, workers are
seen as a source of potential errors, disturbance, and
unreliability; on the other hand, automatic machinery
Worker Displacement, Skill, and Working
isviewedas inherently more precise, reliable, and
Conditions controllable. The technocentric approach extends the
A leading concern among workers, labor leaders, and principles of Taylorist work organization to modern
social critics has been the issue of worker displace- information-processing and production systems. It is
ment-a loss of work, transfer to a different job, or based on further subdivision of labor, with more com-
geographic dislocation-due to automation. Such cate- plex and intelligent tasks trusted to flexible computer
gories as welders, carpenters, insulators, machinists, systems and simpler tasks left to low-skilled workers
and clerical staff have been most heavily affected. At who assume aresidual role. Skill gradually passesfrom
the same time, automation creates new highly-skilled people tomachines,and control functions are also
jobs in programming, operating, and maintaining com- transferred in the same direction.
puterized production machinery. Workers needexten-
The technocentric approach faces a fundamental para-
sive retraining programs, however, to prepare for such
dox: it aspires to replace human skill with highly flex-
jobs.
ible computerizedmachinery,but this machinery
Another risk isthe dangerof employees losing essential requires even more human skill to operate, maintain,
working skills as work becomes increasingly mediated and repair it. Instead of “freeing” production from
by the computer. With automation, the worker has the “human element,” automation only increases the
gone through a series of transformations-from a di- importance of highly qualified, versatile, and motivated
rect producer of goods and services to the operator of workers. Accidents at the nuclear power plants at Three
productionequipmenttotheprogrammer of the Mile Island and Chernobyl testifythat automationdoes
computer that operates and controls that equipment. not eliminate the possibility of human error; itonly
Engineering changedfromhands-on tinkering with makes this error morecostly.
126 AUTOMATION
The Taylorist logic of seeking productivity by accel- nical systems” approach, elaborated in Britain. Based
erating the pace of work may not apply in a compu- on group assembly instead of a conventional assembly
terized workplace. With computerization, companies line, this new designgave workersmore initia-
do not simply automate, but “informate” their opera- tive, flexibility, and control over product quality. In the
tions. Computer-based control of production becomes 1980s major American manufacturers began experi-
an information-processing task; workersturn into menting with workerinvolvement in decision-making,
analyzers of information rather than simple machine a recent example being GM’s Saturn project. The
minders. Improving thequality of this analysis, instead human-centered approachfinds a source of productiv-
of speeding up workers’ movements, becomes a crucial ity inmore efficient utilizationof human abilities, rather
problem of automation. than in the utopian efforts to eliminate people from
production.
An alternative approach aspires to change the work-
force from being part of the manufacturing problem
Bibliography
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Slava Gerovitch
Gaines Foods, realized that greater productivity did not
come automatically withmore sophisticated equip-
ment but required profound organizational change. AUXILIARY MEMORY
In1974 Volvo built a highly productive plant at
Kalmar, Sweden, which implemented the “sociotech- See MEMORY:AUXILIARY.