DOCUMENT 1 e.

l’efficacité

Why automate with industrial robots ? 4. a. Why does the journalist use the word ‘fear’ (line 1) ?
b. Find an expression in the first paragraph that shows how relunctant the staff was at the
Fear. It’s a common reaction for small- and medium-sized firms which must idea of using robots.
automate with industrial robotics in order to stay competitive. To meet the needs of
its customers, the company’s choice of automating with industrial robots was a do- 5. Explain in your own words why small or medium-sized firms choose to automate with
or-die decision. Staff first reacted fearfully to the idea of automating with robots, as industrial robots.
many in the industry believe robotic automation leads to staff layoffs.
6. Was anyone made redundant at Vickers ? Develop your answer.
“The initial thought was we were all going to lose our jobs,” said Jordan Klint,
engineering manager at Vickers. “But we were able to add robotics and not have a 7. Find the question that shows how popular industrial robots became at Vickers.
reduction in headcount because of how we’re structured. Some positions don’t exist
anymore, but the people are still here in new roles. » 8. Explain why its managers decided to automate as many cells as possible.
“We were first asking ourselves ‘why would we automate that,’ but then it really
flipped and we started asking ‘why wouldn’t we automate that?’” Matt Tyler 9. Say if the following statements are RIGHT or WRONG and justify your answer each time.
commented. “We want to automate as many cells as we can because we are a. The robots bought by Vickers were quite cheap.
targeting higher volume work.” b. The price of a robot depends mainly on the advantages they can provide.
Industrial robots are expensive and their effectiveness is application-specific. One c. Human labor is much more efficient than robots.
robot can cost between US$25,000-700,000, depending on the application and
whether it is bought new or used. 10. Find an example in the article that shows how robots made things much easier for
This doesn’t include maintenance or integration costs. Industrial robots attain their workers.
cost effectiveness through the advantages they provide over human labor (even the
cheap kind). 11. a. According to the journalist, what are the main advantages of robots over human
“When we originally automated, we had a cell that required three people to transfer beings ?
the product within the cell and it had an extreme fatigue factor,” Tyler explained. b. What is the main condition to prevent them from making mistakes?
“Automation was clearly the most effective way to solve the issue. We went from
three people in a cell down to one and it solved a myriad of problems.”
Industrial robots never need to rest, never lose focus and rarely make mistakes—if
maintained correctly.
Source : https://www.engineering.com/
Adapted from Kagan Pittman’s article, February 22, 2016

1. Identify the nature of the document

a. a photo b. a web article c. a newspaper article
Justify your answer.

2. What is the article about ?

a. Robots and human workers b. The dangers of industrial robots c. The advantages
of using industrial robots
Justify your answer

3. Read the article again and find the equilavents for :

a. de taille moyenne : b. un choix crucial :
c. un effectif : d. acheté d’occasion :