A study showed that the heaviest concentration of industrial robots is in 10 Midwestern and Southern states in the US, according to Mark Muro, a senior fellow at the Brookings Institute.
Muro based the study’s findings by analyzing data from the International Federation of Robotics. It only reviewed the number of and incidence of robots for every one thousand privately employed workers in metropolitan areas in 2015.
Man vs. Machine
The U.S. manufacturing industry has used robotics as a good alternative for automated work, particularly in the automotive sector. It seems that the rise of computer technology also contributed to the development of software solutions for companies. Automated purchase orders, for instance, are now possible for order management. It reduces the likelihood of human error while ensuring accuracy at the same time.
In the context of automated manufacturing, the study said that the ten manufacturing-centric states account for over half of 233,305 industrial robots in the country, according to Muro. These perform a variety of tasks from “burning welds, painting cars, assembling products, handling materials, or packaging things,” he added.
Online Convergence
Aside from robots, the Internet of Things has begun to be more popular in the manufacturing sector. An IBM report showed that some companies have sought to determine how online technology can help in establishing an Internet-friendly manufacturing process.
Cost-reduction arguably serves as the top reason behind the increased push for integrating the Internet with manufacturing work, aside from modernizing ways for production such as 3D printing. With the pace of development, American manufacturing could soon be completely integrated with the internet.
Some people consider robots to be a threat to humans since it displaces the latter for employment opportunities. For others, they believe that using robots indicate a modern way of doing things that goes beyond the capability of humans.