[Tallguy]

“The problem with automation is not that it is expensive but that, in most cases, it is infeasible (prohibitively expensive, if you want to split hairs).”

I don’t disagree with that. I would add that every product has a life-cycle. For things like electronic sub-components these lives can be measured in just a few years.

Automation really only helps cut costs during the high-production phase. Once the product slips back into low-production or MRO phases then the automation is mothballed/converted to another product. That older component often gets shipped off to a foreign subsidiary that does the work with hand tools and “Level One” automation because the product gets labor-intensive again.

[TopQuark]

That is all true for "for things like electronic sub-components," as you said. The problem I had with your statement was that it was overreaching: you generalized to business decisions in a generic company. Many people have in mind computers and such when thinking about business in general. But most businesses are not GE or P&G. If a midimum-size furniture manufacturer does not use robots, he cannot start doing so because it is prohibitively expensive.