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Robots Replace not only Simple but also Advanced Tasks
Cup\T-i,l{ h t Budapl·~!.
©
I F.\(" 9th 1 rlt' llllial \rntld ClJll),tlt·" I l ung,ln. 1 ~I,q
ROBOTS REPLACE NOT ONLY SIMPLE BUT ALSO ADV ANCED TASKS W. Wobbe-Ohlenburg .\O:'/O/O,I[/I("hl"
FllnrhulIg,iw.lilllt (S()FI). 1..'1li1't'fSity of (;ottingnl. Frll'{lIii1l(/f'I l\ 'rg 11.
/)-J-IO{)
(~ijttillgfl/.
F"dao/ Rl'publtr
or
(;t'nll(JI/.,·
Abstract. The essay substantiates that replacement by robots not only gives rise to a new technical phase but also to one in the labour and employment fields. This modifies the view of the older school of french labour sociology towards the social consequences of automation. Comparisions are made between manual and robot production. Similarly a comparison is made between programable robot technology and traditional electromechanical automation techniques. The latter shows a decline in the qualification level of the labour pool. The essay i s based on empirical research made by SOFI in the Vo l kswagen plant in Wolfs burg and takes i nto consideration most recent stu d i es and inquiries into newest robogate systems. Keywords . Automobils, Robots, Work-structure, Technological forecasting , Social and behavioural sciences, Human factors.
questions. The effects on work are looked into by making comparisons - firstly between robot and the older automated production. Only by taking this double view- point can one determine whether the new "technical revolution in the factory - hall" effects the l abour and employment structures any dif f erent l y to t h e old automation technology.
We are presently overrun with reports of a "Revolution in the factory halls" which refer to an upheava l taking place in production techniques in factories . Amongst the many aspects of computerised production technology which are making such rapid changes possible , the role played by robots holds an outstanding position in the coverage of the s u bject , due to the fact that they most vividly demonstrate the possibilities of this new mode of production. The reasons for their increasing employment in industry lie in the economical advantages which this new technology offers, e . g. their universal application, high productivity , adaptability through programming towards varying production requirements, dependabi l ity and ease of reuse with production change - overs.
As a basis I will use empirical data from the car manufacturing industry , where the advanced employmen t of robots is to be observed, especially in the carbody s h op. The "Robot Study" of the " Soziologisches Forschungsinstitut GOttingen (SOFI) " and the University of Bremen 1 , as well as more recent inquiries 2 , are incorporated into the study. The results presented here are not of a speculative , theoretical nature , rather , they constitute empirical documentation of the development of production labour in what is certainly a specific field of production. They cannot be universally applied to all fields of computerised production .
The consequences on work and employment are often not made clear in the reports. The robot - factory is not completely deserted - as often supposed rather, people are found to be scarce. Nevertheless , the emerging consequences on the work of the remaining work-force still remain op to now in the dark and scarcely researched. Thereby, the predominating impression being circulated is one of loss of simple production work and creation of other , more challenging jobs such as supervision, maintenance and manufacture of robots. If we reca ll the socalled automation debate of twenty - five years ago (concerning the consequences of electrically regulated and controlled automation in factories), then it is striking that the same hypothesis , namely the reduction of simple , irksome production work and increase in qualified, skilled work, was also then presented.
Nevertheless , we shall prove with this possibly provocating thesis that a new phase in the effects of robots on the quality of work has begun . It is no way limited to the replacement of simple work, 1Mickler , 0., Pelull , W. , Wobbe-Ohlenburg , W., Kalmbach, P. , Kasiske, R. , Manske, F . , Industrieroboter, Bedingungen und soziale Folgen des Einsatzes neuer Tech no l ogien in der Automobilproduk tion (Industrial robots , conditions and social consequences of employment of new technologies in Car manufacturing), in: the periodical "Humanisierung des Ar beitslebens" ("Humanisation of the working life " ) pub l ished by the Bundesminister fur Forschung und Technologie , Frankfurt/New York 1981. Wobbe - Oh l enburg , W., Automobilarbeit und Roboterproduktion. A case study of employment of indu stria l robots in the Volkswagenwerk , Ber l in 1982 .
Are the n the effects of microelectronics and programmable technology on work actually the same as those shown by the introduction of electromechanical automation techniques, or are there differences? Is there not an even greater demand for more highly qualified workers, due to new, more complex technologies and computer control, resulting in an increase in the number of more challenging jobs. Or is , actually, the reverse true?
2senz - Overhage , K., Brumlop , E., van Freyberg , Th. , Papadimitriou , Z., Neue Technologien und alterna tive Arbeitsgestaltung (New technol ogies and alternative work organisation). Effects of employment or computers in industrial production. Frankfurt/New York 1982. Additional , separate investigations were undertaken into the employment of the newest robogates.
The following essay intends to deal with these
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rather, when compared with the traditional automation technology, it is found that particulary valuable, specialised labour is being economised upon. This field includes not only maintenance and repair, but also the manufacture of factory equipment. The structure of the followi n g, selected carbody production process of a significant German car manufacturing firm is, as in the plants of similar enterprises, a mixed field in both manufacturing techniques and variety of work activities. Manual work with electrode holders, both stationary and on conveyor belts, is performed. This involves the use of single welding units as we ll as highly complex welding installations. Likew ise there are robot lines fed by fixed and flexible workpiece conveyance systems. Thus the process of carbody construction is not a fully automated one. Through the complexity and manifold nature of the workpieces, varying levels of output and the special ised production processes, it actually displays the greatest variety of mechanisation, automation
and robot technologies. Consequently, this field of production is excellently suited to the task of establishing the structure of labour at differing technical levels. 3 In doing so, we intend to distinguish between the various groups of workers 4 which are particularly typical of automobile production , not only in car body building but also in other production departments. We shall use the various qualification demands of the respective work- and technical systems as a means of differentiation.
Tab l e 1: 9Ualification levels of activities Qualification level un-skilled
Activity Component handling Processing operations
specific
semi-skilled Quality control semi-skilled
complex
skilled
Supervision/Fitting Maintenance
On the lowest qualification level are the comvonent handler s . While remaining more or less statio·nary, they move parts for machinery service , packaging etc. These tasks are simple enough to lie within the capabilities of almost everyone. The second group involved directly in production are
p~oce ss o r s
which includes welders,
sprayers,
grinders etc. Though their work involves the use of tools, it is largely specific and limited in scope. The qualification requirements are met through practice and r o utine and are of a physical, principal l y manual nature. Similarly for the worker involved in quality con t r ol , acquired semi - skills are necessary. Their tasks include visual inspection, random spot-checking and uncomplicated touching-up work of the product. Their qualification requirements correspond roughly to those of the processors and are also met through specific working-in instruction. Su~eF,;isi(; Y'2
av:. d
."'-"'Z.~ :te ~12 work on highly mechanised
3 Cf . Mi ckler et al . , Industrieroboter , op. cit . pp 213 - 22 7 . 4 Cf . Wo bbe-Ohlenburg, \'1. , Automobilarbeit ... , op. cit. , pp 31 - 41. The quality control includes visual testers, quality controllers and rewo rkers.
production installations , which entails eliminating faults, making adjustments, general service, super-
vision and readaptation of this machinery. This work demands a certain degree of mental aptitude and skill in fitting. The qualification level is reached through a complex , working-in training process. The final group which is assigned to the running production is that of maintenance-workers, whose task is to repair the installations . It includes tradesmen of various disciplines e.g. electrical, electronic , mechanical, hydraulic, etc'. Their qualification requires an educational training in their respective skills and is, in this field of production, clearly the highest level to be found within the various worker - groups under discussion .
At this point it is interesting to establish the preponderance of these working groups of the various technical levels. For this reason we are
including in the present discourse those modes of production which are characteristic of the various stages of car body building and also of other production departments involved in car manufacturing. We wish now to distinguish between these different types of production modes which are characterised by varying levels of mechanisation. In manual production , the single pane ls are welded together piece by piece (using both spot and arc welding) while being held on a stationary fixture in what is a complex operation. Conve yor Droduc tiG.~ is a variant of this manual mode of assembly which uses a stationary jig, with the distinction that the division of labour is more advanced. Transport and feeding processes are sepa rated and the working process is more specialised , though still manually executed by the workers. The classic electromechanical techniqu es in the car manufacturing industry work with transfer line s , whereby various welding units replace the processing operations. Here the parts are conveyed manually to the installation but thereafter , the carbody is transfered mechanically from one welding station to the next (in a fixed order) .
Robot Droduc tion can, in contrast to the transfer line, be characterised as highly flexible since the production station s (in which several robots work) are capable of various methods of welding and are fed by a flexible , auto mated transport system. In principle, all of the separate production stations can be fed by any or all of the conveyance vehicles. This flexible system is termed a "r obopa te ". 5 It is more flexible than a robot transfer line in which the welding stations consist of robots but in which, nonetheless, the rigid, filed of succe s siv e conveyance is retained.
Thus, in a "robogate", a doubled flexibility with regard to processing and conveyance is guaranteed.
In the following table 2, the production sub - sectors were selected so that a high level of technical consistency with the previously described modes of production was ensured. Nevertheless,
they do not pertain s o lely to the "pure" production operations - we have also included subsidiary activities, such as maintenance and quality con trol, which are just as technically necessary for successful production. Omission of these activities
would have given us only a limited perspective of the entire work and qualification structure of the entire work and qualification structure of the respective sub-sectors.
Three of the sub - sect o r s c o ncern the manufacture of the carbody frame. The production of wing panels is the single s elected example of manual 5A:cordinQ to an early sy s tem o f the Fiat firm.
Robots Replace Simple and Advan ced Tasks production. While the figures from robot producti on are from 1983 , those from the othe r areas are from 1978. Our job differentiation Can now be examined in a relation to the various production and techn ical systems, whereb y it is possib le to test the vali dity of the view expressed in the following quotation - a view which is prevalent in the discussion on the consequences of robot substitution on wor~6 "The balance appears to be so: robots replace jobs which, by our present - day standards ,have become unreasonable. The reSUlting released work-force can take up employment in othe r more challeng ing areas. Thus, automated production also creates new valuable work-places for a highly qualified workf orce. " This is the c ontention of an automobile manufac turer. We shall, for the time being , disregard the relati onship between robot s and machines i.e. between robot p roducti o n and the old automation technology manufacturing and instead take into consideration that between manual and robot production (the subject of the above quotation). Then we find:
TabZ ," ;; : Activity leve l s of selected mechanisation le vels Activity
~anual
iProduction
Conveyor Automation Robot production technology product. product ion
No.
%
NO.
-
10
13,4
94,5
54
72,0
-
2 ,2
7
9,3
72
-
-
-
3,3
4
5,3
omponent h and l ers Pro86 cessors 0uality contro2 ler Supervisors/ Fitters Mainte 3
C~~~~r~
TOTAL
91 100
75
%
100
No.
%
%
16
41,0
4
10,0
18,4
7
18,0
24
6,1
6
15,5
125
32,0
6
15,5
170
43,5
No.
-
391 100
39 100
Jobs are created in the fields of maintenance (qualified) and supervision and fitting (lower qualification level than maintenance). At any rate it is clear that their number is far less than the positions for mechani cs which are lo st through mechanisation. On the same qualification level (as processors), a greater need fo r certainty of quality with the introduction of mechanised techno l o gy results in a greater demand for workers executing visual con trol, quality spot -checks and refinishing work. Quan tita vily , the most significant effect o f mec hanisation with re spect to lowering of qualifi cation level is to be observed amongst the component handlers wh ose task it is to insert , remove and store parts.
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generally follows a mechanisation (process) is already to be observed in conveyor produc ti on at each end of the qualification spectrum. It expresses itself clearly with highly mechanised transfer line technology. Regarding the latter we can even begin to talk about a poZarisation in qualification because in the extreme qualification groups the numbers of w9rkers increase while those in the centre decrease. We shal l now compare robot production with the o ld automation techn iques using transfer lines i.e. a comparison of the ef fects on work of different levels of mechanisation. Here it is striking that - there is a clear decrease in the number of workers involved in maintenance i. e . those who are most highly qualif ied. - Supervision and fitting, a lowly qualified group, have on the other hand increased to a greater extent. This is because programmable computer-controlled technology demands a higher level of supervision than is necessary with mechanically determined methods of production; the tools require more maintenance and resetting though programming changes occur more frequently. - It is also striking that not all processors are replaced. Despite mechani sa tion, those remaining few still carry out manual welding operations . - It is astonishing that the work of component handl ers is in no way reduced with the advancement from th e old automation technology. (The problem of manually compensatinq for the technical inadequac ies of transfer lines became known through the employment of so called human "gapstoppers of mechanisation".S) This is in spite of the fact that robots are often characterised as handling apperatus whic h, because of their technical ab ilit ies, are capable of replacing component handl ers. We can therefore come to the general conclusion, using this method of comparison, that there is a sinking in qualification level in the advancement from automated to robot production i.e. an economising in highly qualified work. In the following discussion it will become evident that this problem is intensified in the field of production preparation. With production preparation we are r eferring to the highly qualified sector including installation manufacture and production planning. These activities constitute what is fundamentally a separate unit within the factory_ The sector is comparable with any normal, independant mechanical engineering factory and displays an over all activity structure which is corresponding as complex. Production in this secto r is based on a highly qualified work force which extends from the designer and technical experts in production planning to the assemblers and qualified tool mechanics. In the following table, the significance of this sector with regard to employment in carbody manufacturing can be seen in that almost every tenth person is involved.
Using this method of compa rison, we can conclude that :-;:,, "':::- a qualification pyramid exists_ A quanti tavily small group of highly qualified workers remain s and at the bott om , a numerically very large group of lowly qualified workers, who carry out Simple tasks, comes in t o existence. This regrouping o f qualification levels which
7
6 This vie" is mai ntai ned by many robot-manufacturer and -us ers as well as Eng e lberger. Cf. Engelberger, J . F. , Industrierobo ter in der praktischen Anwendung (Industrial robots in practical use), Mu nc hen 1981.
8Friedmann, G., Der Me nsch in der mechanisierten Produktion (Peop le in mechanised production), Koln 1952.
Kern, H., Schumann, M., Industriearbeit und ArbeiterbewuBtsein (Industrial work and worker c onsciousness),Frankfurt a.M. 1972, pp 150 - 151.
w.
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Table 3: Employment figures for carbody manufacture
No. direct production* production planning/ installation manufacture
5 , 730 620 6,350
%
90,2 9,8 100
*Thi s includes activities s uch as component handling, processing operations, supervision, fitting, quality control, maintenance from Wobbe - Ohlenburg, Automobilarbeit .. . , op.ci t. and VW-Belegschaftsbericht 1978 . Thi s sector first grew in size and importance through mechani sat i o n and automation of producti on , since the complex apparatus and installations had to be planned, manufactured and finally adapted to production requirements . What is more , the process had to be repeated with change-overs in production. The emergence of an independent , qualified field of wo rk within t h e factory e n cou raged above all the French School of sociologists t o promote the the o ry that in the field of automation, a n e w class of h ighly qualified workers would arise and through this, the general qualification level in factori es would ri se . 9
It is exactly this sector that is hit in the long term by the i ntroduction o f robot manufacturing technology. Altho ugh initially there is an incre ase in employment with mechanisation, a s with the adoption of automation techno l ogy , in the long term there is a sink ing in labour requ ire ments with respect to the o l d electromechanical production technology. The r o bot study led by SOFI and the University of Bremen incorporates an e xampl e which sets forth the extent of economisation on the work of designer s and skilled tradesmen. 10 Two produ ct i on lines (producing th e same artic l e) are discussed, which were planned and developed by the company . In the case of a conventiona l transfer lin e with a daily capacity of 2 , 500 parts , s ingle - purpose mechanisation was estimated to cost 10 million OM. On the other hand, the correspon ding estimate for a robot installation producing 1, 000 parts dai l y was 6 million OM. If the capacity of the latter were increased by 250 % i. e . a l so 2 , 500 parts/day, the mechanisation process would cost abou t 15 million OM. But while the ini t ial i nvestment for robot installations is certain l y greater, subse quent i nvestments with model change -ave rs are con siderab l y smaller . Assuming that the reutil ization values of the single - purpose and r~ ot instal lat ions are respectively 40 % and 70 %, then 1 , 5 m. DM is saved. In extreme cases where the depreciation of conventional production lines can be as high as 80 % and that of robot units as low as 20 %, the cost advantage is almost 5 m. OM
Wh en this is expressed in terms of the emp l oyment of technical staff and skilled specialists we find that: in the fir st case (depreciation va lue s of 60 % and 30 %) 25 man-years ar e econ omised upon and in the second case (depreciation values o f 80 % and 20 %) , the saving is almost 83 man9According fort to Touraine, A" L'evolution du travail ouvrie r aux Usines Renault, Paris 1955 and later, amongst others , Mallet, S., Die neue Arbeite rklas se (The n ew working class) , Neuwied/ Berlin 19 72 .
lOMick ler et. al. , Industrieroboter ... , op.cit . p . 149.
years . 11 This economising upon labour effects firstly skilled specialists who manufacture the insta llati o ns and secondly , the staff of the technical offices who plan and de sign the appliances. I t can therefore b e concluded t hat in the field of specia lised installation manufacture , there is a ca. 20 % reduction in all of the work performed by t h e technical staf f. According to the assertion s of experts , the expense of constructing robot installations which use highly st andardised unit s is reduced by 70 - 80 %. Very generelly , economisation of labo ur in install a tion manufacture is po ssible because: - Using robot production, several model variants can be manufactured with only one installation, which removes the need for parallel of additional installations . - With a model change- ove r , the reutilization va lue of robo t installations amou n ts to between 50 a nd 80 %. On the oth er hand, this figure f or transfer lines is o nl y 1 5 to 40 %. So there is a conside rabl e r eduction in labour requirements in mechanical engineering. - The expenditure for th e replacement requirements of wea ring part s is reduced because this universal technology has in the mean time been exten sively standardised and tested. I t is series - produced, unlike earlier when speciel installation s had to be manufactur ed si ngly . Techni ca l staff are affected by the incorporation o f programmable un its into production technology in an additional way : construction and planning activities , based on the manufacture of specialised installations, decrease considerably. Thi s i s because the complete installation component s (welding units and feeding systems) are not developed through specialised manufacturing processes (not specifically manufactured insta l lation units e.g. in the way robot are). The reby the work methods and quantitative v o lume o f contruction o f the machanica l engineer shifts in the direction of those of a mass-producer, a lthough specialised installations are stil l manufactured. In summarising we can t herefore state the following: through the employment of programmable, universally applicable and s t andard ised units of produ ction technology, such as industrial robots , considerab le reduc t ion are achieved in the construction and p lanni ng sec t ors as well as work in installation manufacture. As a result, our thesi s r einforces the view that industrial r obots have not o nly led to a technical revo lution in production but also to the appearance of a new phase in the development of work and employmen t: in compa rison with the electro-mechanical automation technology , there is a sinki n g in requiremen ts f or a highly qua lified workforce. This process will in the future affect not only the production field i.e . maintenance but also the pre-production sector: construction, p r oduction p l anning and i n sta ll ation manufacture.
l i The saving f o r the enterprise was estimated at 60,000 OM p er year per s kil led worker. Naturally , the sav ing is first achieved only through with mode l changes.
©
I F.\(" 9th 1 rlt' llllial \rntld ClJll),tlt·" I l ung,ln. 1 ~I,q
ROBOTS REPLACE NOT ONLY SIMPLE BUT ALSO ADV ANCED TASKS W. Wobbe-Ohlenburg .\O:'/O/O,I[/I("hl"
FllnrhulIg,iw.lilllt (S()FI). 1..'1li1't'fSity of (;ottingnl. Frll'{lIii1l(/f'I l\ 'rg 11.
/)-J-IO{)
(~ijttillgfl/.
F"dao/ Rl'publtr
or
(;t'nll(JI/.,·
Abstract. The essay substantiates that replacement by robots not only gives rise to a new technical phase but also to one in the labour and employment fields. This modifies the view of the older school of french labour sociology towards the social consequences of automation. Comparisions are made between manual and robot production. Similarly a comparison is made between programable robot technology and traditional electromechanical automation techniques. The latter shows a decline in the qualification level of the labour pool. The essay i s based on empirical research made by SOFI in the Vo l kswagen plant in Wolfs burg and takes i nto consideration most recent stu d i es and inquiries into newest robogate systems. Keywords . Automobils, Robots, Work-structure, Technological forecasting , Social and behavioural sciences, Human factors.
questions. The effects on work are looked into by making comparisons - firstly between robot and the older automated production. Only by taking this double view- point can one determine whether the new "technical revolution in the factory - hall" effects the l abour and employment structures any dif f erent l y to t h e old automation technology.
We are presently overrun with reports of a "Revolution in the factory halls" which refer to an upheava l taking place in production techniques in factories . Amongst the many aspects of computerised production technology which are making such rapid changes possible , the role played by robots holds an outstanding position in the coverage of the s u bject , due to the fact that they most vividly demonstrate the possibilities of this new mode of production. The reasons for their increasing employment in industry lie in the economical advantages which this new technology offers, e . g. their universal application, high productivity , adaptability through programming towards varying production requirements, dependabi l ity and ease of reuse with production change - overs.
As a basis I will use empirical data from the car manufacturing industry , where the advanced employmen t of robots is to be observed, especially in the carbody s h op. The "Robot Study" of the " Soziologisches Forschungsinstitut GOttingen (SOFI) " and the University of Bremen 1 , as well as more recent inquiries 2 , are incorporated into the study. The results presented here are not of a speculative , theoretical nature , rather , they constitute empirical documentation of the development of production labour in what is certainly a specific field of production. They cannot be universally applied to all fields of computerised production .
The consequences on work and employment are often not made clear in the reports. The robot - factory is not completely deserted - as often supposed rather, people are found to be scarce. Nevertheless , the emerging consequences on the work of the remaining work-force still remain op to now in the dark and scarcely researched. Thereby, the predominating impression being circulated is one of loss of simple production work and creation of other , more challenging jobs such as supervision, maintenance and manufacture of robots. If we reca ll the socalled automation debate of twenty - five years ago (concerning the consequences of electrically regulated and controlled automation in factories), then it is striking that the same hypothesis , namely the reduction of simple , irksome production work and increase in qualified, skilled work, was also then presented.
Nevertheless , we shall prove with this possibly provocating thesis that a new phase in the effects of robots on the quality of work has begun . It is no way limited to the replacement of simple work, 1Mickler , 0., Pelull , W. , Wobbe-Ohlenburg , W., Kalmbach, P. , Kasiske, R. , Manske, F . , Industrieroboter, Bedingungen und soziale Folgen des Einsatzes neuer Tech no l ogien in der Automobilproduk tion (Industrial robots , conditions and social consequences of employment of new technologies in Car manufacturing), in: the periodical "Humanisierung des Ar beitslebens" ("Humanisation of the working life " ) pub l ished by the Bundesminister fur Forschung und Technologie , Frankfurt/New York 1981. Wobbe - Oh l enburg , W., Automobilarbeit und Roboterproduktion. A case study of employment of indu stria l robots in the Volkswagenwerk , Ber l in 1982 .
Are the n the effects of microelectronics and programmable technology on work actually the same as those shown by the introduction of electromechanical automation techniques, or are there differences? Is there not an even greater demand for more highly qualified workers, due to new, more complex technologies and computer control, resulting in an increase in the number of more challenging jobs. Or is , actually, the reverse true?
2senz - Overhage , K., Brumlop , E., van Freyberg , Th. , Papadimitriou , Z., Neue Technologien und alterna tive Arbeitsgestaltung (New technol ogies and alternative work organisation). Effects of employment or computers in industrial production. Frankfurt/New York 1982. Additional , separate investigations were undertaken into the employment of the newest robogates.
The following essay intends to deal with these
3399
3400
W. Wobbe-Ohlenburg
rather, when compared with the traditional automation technology, it is found that particulary valuable, specialised labour is being economised upon. This field includes not only maintenance and repair, but also the manufacture of factory equipment. The structure of the followi n g, selected carbody production process of a significant German car manufacturing firm is, as in the plants of similar enterprises, a mixed field in both manufacturing techniques and variety of work activities. Manual work with electrode holders, both stationary and on conveyor belts, is performed. This involves the use of single welding units as we ll as highly complex welding installations. Likew ise there are robot lines fed by fixed and flexible workpiece conveyance systems. Thus the process of carbody construction is not a fully automated one. Through the complexity and manifold nature of the workpieces, varying levels of output and the special ised production processes, it actually displays the greatest variety of mechanisation, automation
and robot technologies. Consequently, this field of production is excellently suited to the task of establishing the structure of labour at differing technical levels. 3 In doing so, we intend to distinguish between the various groups of workers 4 which are particularly typical of automobile production , not only in car body building but also in other production departments. We shall use the various qualification demands of the respective work- and technical systems as a means of differentiation.
Tab l e 1: 9Ualification levels of activities Qualification level un-skilled
Activity Component handling Processing operations
specific
semi-skilled Quality control semi-skilled
complex
skilled
Supervision/Fitting Maintenance
On the lowest qualification level are the comvonent handler s . While remaining more or less statio·nary, they move parts for machinery service , packaging etc. These tasks are simple enough to lie within the capabilities of almost everyone. The second group involved directly in production are
p~oce ss o r s
which includes welders,
sprayers,
grinders etc. Though their work involves the use of tools, it is largely specific and limited in scope. The qualification requirements are met through practice and r o utine and are of a physical, principal l y manual nature. Similarly for the worker involved in quality con t r ol , acquired semi - skills are necessary. Their tasks include visual inspection, random spot-checking and uncomplicated touching-up work of the product. Their qualification requirements correspond roughly to those of the processors and are also met through specific working-in instruction. Su~eF,;isi(; Y'2
av:. d
."'-"'Z.~ :te ~12 work on highly mechanised
3 Cf . Mi ckler et al . , Industrieroboter , op. cit . pp 213 - 22 7 . 4 Cf . Wo bbe-Ohlenburg, \'1. , Automobilarbeit ... , op. cit. , pp 31 - 41. The quality control includes visual testers, quality controllers and rewo rkers.
production installations , which entails eliminating faults, making adjustments, general service, super-
vision and readaptation of this machinery. This work demands a certain degree of mental aptitude and skill in fitting. The qualification level is reached through a complex , working-in training process. The final group which is assigned to the running production is that of maintenance-workers, whose task is to repair the installations . It includes tradesmen of various disciplines e.g. electrical, electronic , mechanical, hydraulic, etc'. Their qualification requires an educational training in their respective skills and is, in this field of production, clearly the highest level to be found within the various worker - groups under discussion .
At this point it is interesting to establish the preponderance of these working groups of the various technical levels. For this reason we are
including in the present discourse those modes of production which are characteristic of the various stages of car body building and also of other production departments involved in car manufacturing. We wish now to distinguish between these different types of production modes which are characterised by varying levels of mechanisation. In manual production , the single pane ls are welded together piece by piece (using both spot and arc welding) while being held on a stationary fixture in what is a complex operation. Conve yor Droduc tiG.~ is a variant of this manual mode of assembly which uses a stationary jig, with the distinction that the division of labour is more advanced. Transport and feeding processes are sepa rated and the working process is more specialised , though still manually executed by the workers. The classic electromechanical techniqu es in the car manufacturing industry work with transfer line s , whereby various welding units replace the processing operations. Here the parts are conveyed manually to the installation but thereafter , the carbody is transfered mechanically from one welding station to the next (in a fixed order) .
Robot Droduc tion can, in contrast to the transfer line, be characterised as highly flexible since the production station s (in which several robots work) are capable of various methods of welding and are fed by a flexible , auto mated transport system. In principle, all of the separate production stations can be fed by any or all of the conveyance vehicles. This flexible system is termed a "r obopa te ". 5 It is more flexible than a robot transfer line in which the welding stations consist of robots but in which, nonetheless, the rigid, filed of succe s siv e conveyance is retained.
Thus, in a "robogate", a doubled flexibility with regard to processing and conveyance is guaranteed.
In the following table 2, the production sub - sectors were selected so that a high level of technical consistency with the previously described modes of production was ensured. Nevertheless,
they do not pertain s o lely to the "pure" production operations - we have also included subsidiary activities, such as maintenance and quality con trol, which are just as technically necessary for successful production. Omission of these activities
would have given us only a limited perspective of the entire work and qualification structure of the entire work and qualification structure of the respective sub-sectors.
Three of the sub - sect o r s c o ncern the manufacture of the carbody frame. The production of wing panels is the single s elected example of manual 5A:cordinQ to an early sy s tem o f the Fiat firm.
Robots Replace Simple and Advan ced Tasks production. While the figures from robot producti on are from 1983 , those from the othe r areas are from 1978. Our job differentiation Can now be examined in a relation to the various production and techn ical systems, whereb y it is possib le to test the vali dity of the view expressed in the following quotation - a view which is prevalent in the discussion on the consequences of robot substitution on wor~6 "The balance appears to be so: robots replace jobs which, by our present - day standards ,have become unreasonable. The reSUlting released work-force can take up employment in othe r more challeng ing areas. Thus, automated production also creates new valuable work-places for a highly qualified workf orce. " This is the c ontention of an automobile manufac turer. We shall, for the time being , disregard the relati onship between robot s and machines i.e. between robot p roducti o n and the old automation technology manufacturing and instead take into consideration that between manual and robot production (the subject of the above quotation). Then we find:
TabZ ," ;; : Activity leve l s of selected mechanisation le vels Activity
~anual
iProduction
Conveyor Automation Robot production technology product. product ion
No.
%
NO.
-
10
13,4
94,5
54
72,0
-
2 ,2
7
9,3
72
-
-
-
3,3
4
5,3
omponent h and l ers Pro86 cessors 0uality contro2 ler Supervisors/ Fitters Mainte 3
C~~~~r~
TOTAL
91 100
75
%
100
No.
%
%
16
41,0
4
10,0
18,4
7
18,0
24
6,1
6
15,5
125
32,0
6
15,5
170
43,5
No.
-
391 100
39 100
Jobs are created in the fields of maintenance (qualified) and supervision and fitting (lower qualification level than maintenance). At any rate it is clear that their number is far less than the positions for mechani cs which are lo st through mechanisation. On the same qualification level (as processors), a greater need fo r certainty of quality with the introduction of mechanised techno l o gy results in a greater demand for workers executing visual con trol, quality spot -checks and refinishing work. Quan tita vily , the most significant effect o f mec hanisation with re spect to lowering of qualifi cation level is to be observed amongst the component handlers wh ose task it is to insert , remove and store parts.
340 I
generally follows a mechanisation (process) is already to be observed in conveyor produc ti on at each end of the qualification spectrum. It expresses itself clearly with highly mechanised transfer line technology. Regarding the latter we can even begin to talk about a poZarisation in qualification because in the extreme qualification groups the numbers of w9rkers increase while those in the centre decrease. We shal l now compare robot production with the o ld automation techn iques using transfer lines i.e. a comparison of the ef fects on work of different levels of mechanisation. Here it is striking that - there is a clear decrease in the number of workers involved in maintenance i. e . those who are most highly qualif ied. - Supervision and fitting, a lowly qualified group, have on the other hand increased to a greater extent. This is because programmable computer-controlled technology demands a higher level of supervision than is necessary with mechanically determined methods of production; the tools require more maintenance and resetting though programming changes occur more frequently. - It is also striking that not all processors are replaced. Despite mechani sa tion, those remaining few still carry out manual welding operations . - It is astonishing that the work of component handl ers is in no way reduced with the advancement from th e old automation technology. (The problem of manually compensatinq for the technical inadequac ies of transfer lines became known through the employment of so called human "gapstoppers of mechanisation".S) This is in spite of the fact that robots are often characterised as handling apperatus whic h, because of their technical ab ilit ies, are capable of replacing component handl ers. We can therefore come to the general conclusion, using this method of comparison, that there is a sinking in qualification level in the advancement from automated to robot production i.e. an economising in highly qualified work. In the following discussion it will become evident that this problem is intensified in the field of production preparation. With production preparation we are r eferring to the highly qualified sector including installation manufacture and production planning. These activities constitute what is fundamentally a separate unit within the factory_ The sector is comparable with any normal, independant mechanical engineering factory and displays an over all activity structure which is corresponding as complex. Production in this secto r is based on a highly qualified work force which extends from the designer and technical experts in production planning to the assemblers and qualified tool mechanics. In the following table, the significance of this sector with regard to employment in carbody manufacturing can be seen in that almost every tenth person is involved.
Using this method of compa rison, we can conclude that :-;:,, "':::- a qualification pyramid exists_ A quanti tavily small group of highly qualified workers remain s and at the bott om , a numerically very large group of lowly qualified workers, who carry out Simple tasks, comes in t o existence. This regrouping o f qualification levels which
7
6 This vie" is mai ntai ned by many robot-manufacturer and -us ers as well as Eng e lberger. Cf. Engelberger, J . F. , Industrierobo ter in der praktischen Anwendung (Industrial robots in practical use), Mu nc hen 1981.
8Friedmann, G., Der Me nsch in der mechanisierten Produktion (Peop le in mechanised production), Koln 1952.
Kern, H., Schumann, M., Industriearbeit und ArbeiterbewuBtsein (Industrial work and worker c onsciousness),Frankfurt a.M. 1972, pp 150 - 151.
w.
3402
I,obbe-Ohlenbur!!
Table 3: Employment figures for carbody manufacture
No. direct production* production planning/ installation manufacture
5 , 730 620 6,350
%
90,2 9,8 100
*Thi s includes activities s uch as component handling, processing operations, supervision, fitting, quality control, maintenance from Wobbe - Ohlenburg, Automobilarbeit .. . , op.ci t. and VW-Belegschaftsbericht 1978 . Thi s sector first grew in size and importance through mechani sat i o n and automation of producti on , since the complex apparatus and installations had to be planned, manufactured and finally adapted to production requirements . What is more , the process had to be repeated with change-overs in production. The emergence of an independent , qualified field of wo rk within t h e factory e n cou raged above all the French School of sociologists t o promote the the o ry that in the field of automation, a n e w class of h ighly qualified workers would arise and through this, the general qualification level in factori es would ri se . 9
It is exactly this sector that is hit in the long term by the i ntroduction o f robot manufacturing technology. Altho ugh initially there is an incre ase in employment with mechanisation, a s with the adoption of automation techno l ogy , in the long term there is a sink ing in labour requ ire ments with respect to the o l d electromechanical production technology. The r o bot study led by SOFI and the University of Bremen incorporates an e xampl e which sets forth the extent of economisation on the work of designer s and skilled tradesmen. 10 Two produ ct i on lines (producing th e same artic l e) are discussed, which were planned and developed by the company . In the case of a conventiona l transfer lin e with a daily capacity of 2 , 500 parts , s ingle - purpose mechanisation was estimated to cost 10 million OM. On the other hand, the correspon ding estimate for a robot installation producing 1, 000 parts dai l y was 6 million OM. If the capacity of the latter were increased by 250 % i. e . a l so 2 , 500 parts/day, the mechanisation process would cost abou t 15 million OM. But while the ini t ial i nvestment for robot installations is certain l y greater, subse quent i nvestments with model change -ave rs are con siderab l y smaller . Assuming that the reutil ization values of the single - purpose and r~ ot instal lat ions are respectively 40 % and 70 %, then 1 , 5 m. DM is saved. In extreme cases where the depreciation of conventional production lines can be as high as 80 % and that of robot units as low as 20 %, the cost advantage is almost 5 m. OM
Wh en this is expressed in terms of the emp l oyment of technical staff and skilled specialists we find that: in the fir st case (depreciation va lue s of 60 % and 30 %) 25 man-years ar e econ omised upon and in the second case (depreciation values o f 80 % and 20 %) , the saving is almost 83 man9According fort to Touraine, A" L'evolution du travail ouvrie r aux Usines Renault, Paris 1955 and later, amongst others , Mallet, S., Die neue Arbeite rklas se (The n ew working class) , Neuwied/ Berlin 19 72 .
lOMick ler et. al. , Industrieroboter ... , op.cit . p . 149.
years . 11 This economising upon labour effects firstly skilled specialists who manufacture the insta llati o ns and secondly , the staff of the technical offices who plan and de sign the appliances. I t can therefore b e concluded t hat in the field of specia lised installation manufacture , there is a ca. 20 % reduction in all of the work performed by t h e technical staf f. According to the assertion s of experts , the expense of constructing robot installations which use highly st andardised unit s is reduced by 70 - 80 %. Very generelly , economisation of labo ur in install a tion manufacture is po ssible because: - Using robot production, several model variants can be manufactured with only one installation, which removes the need for parallel of additional installations . - With a model change- ove r , the reutilization va lue of robo t installations amou n ts to between 50 a nd 80 %. On the oth er hand, this figure f or transfer lines is o nl y 1 5 to 40 %. So there is a conside rabl e r eduction in labour requirements in mechanical engineering. - The expenditure for th e replacement requirements of wea ring part s is reduced because this universal technology has in the mean time been exten sively standardised and tested. I t is series - produced, unlike earlier when speciel installation s had to be manufactur ed si ngly . Techni ca l staff are affected by the incorporation o f programmable un its into production technology in an additional way : construction and planning activities , based on the manufacture of specialised installations, decrease considerably. Thi s i s because the complete installation component s (welding units and feeding systems) are not developed through specialised manufacturing processes (not specifically manufactured insta l lation units e.g. in the way robot are). The reby the work methods and quantitative v o lume o f contruction o f the machanica l engineer shifts in the direction of those of a mass-producer, a lthough specialised installations are stil l manufactured. In summarising we can t herefore state the following: through the employment of programmable, universally applicable and s t andard ised units of produ ction technology, such as industrial robots , considerab le reduc t ion are achieved in the construction and p lanni ng sec t ors as well as work in installation manufacture. As a result, our thesi s r einforces the view that industrial r obots have not o nly led to a technical revo lution in production but also to the appearance of a new phase in the development of work and employmen t: in compa rison with the electro-mechanical automation technology , there is a sinki n g in requiremen ts f or a highly qua lified workforce. This process will in the future affect not only the production field i.e . maintenance but also the pre-production sector: construction, p r oduction p l anning and i n sta ll ation manufacture.
l i The saving f o r the enterprise was estimated at 60,000 OM p er year per s kil led worker. Naturally , the sav ing is first achieved only through with mode l changes.