It was inevitable but they hurried it along. Robots don’t call in sick, they”ll work 18 hour days, they don’t gossip or talk back, don’t drink on the job or show up hungover, they don’t sue or get injured on the job (if they are it can be fixed) and eventually they will multitask. But it sounds like these robots are more like assembly line work replacement, similar to what is used in automotive industry. They just do one thing over and over.
Will it save money? That is an honest and open question. It will require maintenance and energy resources. But even if it is breakeven (for now - eventually they will be cost effective) it’s better that it’s reliable and responsive and requires little human interaction. Less humanity of course but also without human frailty and human troubles. It’s unfortunate in many ways, but also was inevitable. Just hurried along by wage laws.
People talk about $20 per hour but it’s more like $35 per hour to the employer when you include workers comp insurance, payroll taxes and the hassle factor.
“ Will it save money? ”
There are savings in Human Resources costs- hiring, firing, union issues, discrimination, benefits, sick leave, annual leave.
I’d say it will save money from those issues alone.
And once the robot is paid off, it will help a lot with the business’ bottom line.
Another trend is high school kids that are in robotics clubs that go into industrial engineering.