Automation: Potential for Investment

Automation sparks conversations about industrial robots, productivity, cost, and job concerns. Although automation has a key role to play in the digital transformation of the design and manufacturing industry, our adoption globally perhaps isn't where it needs to be. As throughout its history, automation continues to change the game. Current advances point to a bright future, so perhaps automation is a way to eliminate some of the non-value-adding undertakings that can free up more time for us.

If we look at the infrastructure of the developed world, we will realize that there are many things that need to be rebuilt, such as crumbling bridges and roads in poor condition. In emerging countries, it is necessary to build new infrastructure: train tracks, roads, tunnels and bridges. There are not, however, enough raw materials or money to do things the way they have been done in the past.

Meanwhile, the world population is expected to grow to close to 10 billion by 2050, with 75% of people living in large cities. Those people, half of whom will be middle class, will generate more demand for energy because they will buy more cars, more refrigerators and more things in general. That sounds like a bad omen for the planet with its precarious resources, but in tomorrow's world of work, increased construction and production could be achieved using the same or even fewer resources than today. In an automated world, technology will increase efficiency and decrease waste while assigning more people to more projects.

Automation is not about eliminating people; instead, it eliminates repetitive tasks and makes way for creating high value-added tasks that lead to business growth. As automation accelerates, companies will be able to make data-driven decisions that will propel them to a more competitive position and a more innovative and resilient future. Consider this: When ATMs were first introduced in 1967, many people immediately predicted the end of the bank clerk. By the time ATMs had become commonplace in the ‘80s, the number of bank employees had increased and continued to increase until it reached its maximum level in 2006. In Latin America, the global trend is for technology to replace manual tasks.

It is clear that, in the last 50 years, construction automation has advanced remarkably, and today, it is in a privileged position to help solve some of the problems of the sector. In this way, it will contribute to overcoming the problem of shortage of qualified labor, attracting younger generations, who are more inclined to work with advanced technologies. It will also help make workplaces safer for all workers and improve insights and analysis through data collection. And perhaps most importantly, it can help tackle the current global housing crisis. Also, with improvements in robotics, factory automation, 3D printing and generative design, the limitations of projects and processes in the manufacturing and construction industry can be reduced. 

This is all good news for employers; yet, there is debate about how workforce automation will affect factory and construction workers. The workforce will have to adapt, either by training to do more sophisticated work or by moving into growth industries. Certainly robots in the manufacturing and construction industry will take over some repetitive and impossible tasks, replacing human jobs, but the era of automation and robotic augmentation brings good news. It's an exciting time to be an engineer: being able to design new products that are cheaper, manufactured more efficiently, and focused on automation. And because robots in the workforce can build things that humans can't, engineers will have more opportunities to explore more ideas and create more products.

I think employers have an important role to play here, since they can shorten the distance between learning and work. If we are successful in our ability to shift people's minds to the notion of learning, we can have new opportunities and continuous progress. Likewise, having the foresight to evaluate the jobs, skills and competencies of the future can help people to learn appropriately. Automation will really help us impact the world so that what we design and build is better, because as employers move toward automation with a platform-based approach, data connectivity will help them achieve better results.

Automation will make two things happen: it will transform existing industries and it will create entirely new ones. As a result, the future population will have to adapt to a more sophisticated work environment from a technological perspective. Employees will spend more time interacting with technology than they do today. Whatever the future of creating things, automation is going to open up a world of opportunity.