Sue, Randall, Colin and Bobby are 4 of the most reliable FedEx workers in Memphis. Each clocks 8 hours a day, sorting 1,300 packages an hour. They almost never take breaks, as they are actually 260-pound industrial robot arms.
They work only about half as fast as skilled humans, but they are quickly becoming an important part of the chain that keeps packages flowing. These robots, getting both “eyes” and “brains” that allow them to sense and respond, typify an important and growing trend in automation, writes The Wall Street Journal (Aug. 8-9, 2020). They have cameras which perceive visible light and sensors to perceive depth, and their “brains” are built with machine-learning AI. This gives them a level of adaptability not before seen. (There is an excellent 6 min. video that opens this WSJ article).
But the robots are not about to steal all the jobs in these industries. For now, they’re mostly filling vacancies created by surging demand. The explosion of e-commerce means an explosion in the volume of packages shipped to homes. Some 87 billion parcels were shipped worldwide in 2018—that’s 40 a year to every person in the U.S.—and this volume will more than double by 2025.
The need for social distancing within warehouses means robots can play a role in helping workers do their jobs without being directly adjacent to one another. And logistics companies are still finding it hard to hire people fast enough. (FedEx’s air hub in Memphis currently has 500 job openings). FedEx estimates one human could tend up to 8 robots.
The overwhelming majority of industrial robot arms in the world are still the “dumb” kind: They repeat the same action over and over again—for example welding the same parts together repeatedly on an auto production line. The holy grail of picking technology—a robot that can handle the same variety as a human—will remain out of reach for a long time, in the same way we have yet to create an autonomous vehicle that can handle the same variety of road situations a human can.
Classroom discussion questions:
- Why is it so hard for robots to replace warehouse workers?
- Why are firms like FedEx more driven to automate?