Labour-intensive future

Labour-intensive future Article Type: Editorial From: Assembly Automation, Volume 31, Issue 2 Our theme for this issue is the rather all encompassing “advanced manufacturing processes” and it is interesting to consider both how manufacturing has changed in the last few decades and how it may change...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Assembly automation 2011-04, Vol.31 (2)
Main Author: Loughlin, Clive
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Life expectancy
Manufacturing
Medical research
Recycling
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Labour-intensive future Article Type: Editorial From: Assembly Automation, Volume 31, Issue 2 Our theme for this issue is the rather all encompassing “advanced manufacturing processes” and it is interesting to consider both how manufacturing has changed in the last few decades and how it may change in the next. Trying to think of words or phrases that sum up the recent past, I consider that “flexibility” must be pretty high on the list, coupled perhaps with “reduced product life cycles”, “improved quality” and “easier to use”. Pointing to the other path, recent medical research has concluded that average life expectancy is increasing by a quarter of a year every year, and that reaching the ripe old age of 100 will soon be commonplace; or in other words, more and more labour will become available at the same time that less and less of it will be needed.
ISSN:0144-5154
2754-6969
1758-4078
2754-6977
DOI:10.1108/aa.2011.03331baa.001