Manufacturing automation has been around for decades, alongside debates over technology costing jobs for humans. The use of more advanced robots, boasting various sensors and AI logic, has become a flash point.
Case in point: General Motors recently installed 50 collaborative robots (or cobots) from industry automation leader FANUC at its Factory Zero plant in Detroit, provoking a negative reaction from United Auto Workers Local 22 officials.
The deployment was first reported by local Detroit media and came after more than 1,000 layoffs at the plant. GM defended the move as a way to stay competitive and to improve safety and ergonomics for factory workers, noting that cobots are implemented alongside the team of human workers, according to comments from GM spokesman Kevin Kelly reported by several media outlets.
GM has suffered through sharply reduced demand for EV models, pushing up the need for cost cutting.
The cobots are working alongside remaining humans at the plant to attach heavy body panels to vehicles as they move down the track, according to various reports.
FANUC is an industry leader in manufacturing automation and more recently displayed its wares at the Automation event in Chicago, including a variety of cobots that include large arms meant to work alongside human workers.
FANUC’s CR/CRX cobots use a highly sensitive force sensor, often in the base or joints, to continuously measure force and torque, according to FANUC America documents. That means it is designed to detect unexpected contact with a human to trigger an instant stop or retreat motion. Some cobots rely on external sensing, but FANUC focuses on a single integrated force sensor for safety.
Analysts noted that cobots generally work slower than traditional industrial robots that might be used for repetitive welding jobs and often are fenced in to prevent human contact. Beyond the dedicated force sensor, FANUC robots constantly monitor joint torque, position and velocity and deviation from an expected motion.
FANUC has a long history with GM, but not necessarily with cobots, according to reports. Some FANUC deployments incorporate vision systems to detect human presence or even to locate or inspect auto parts. Engineering teams at various manufacturers might add lidar, IR or ultrasonic sensors.
What industry analysts are saying
Two analysts responded to questions from Fierce saying the labor union reaction to the Detroit cobots was expected and inevitable, even as concerns raised over humans losing jobs to robots and other automation are understandable.
“As with AI, the use of robotics should be primarily to increase productivity and quality, to be more competitive,” said IDC analyst Phil Solis, who follows the robotics space closely. “Companies should be using technology to expand their revenue potential and not just to cut costs. However cost-cutting is a reality and will be the focus of companies that cannot expand their potential and win market share because they can increase their margins.”
Having said that, Solis said GM is not necessarily abusing the use of the tech. “Repetitive, physical labor jobs that can be replaced by robots are going to be replaced. It’s inevitable. Since the time of electrification, many machines replaced jobs that were done with simpler tools.”
Jack Gold, principal analyst at J. Gold Associates, said GM’s use of cobots “is an old story with a new twist. Any time there is automation, people lose some of their jobs and protest. It’s been true for many years…Cobots are simply another phase in automating manufacturing…
“While it may cost some assembly worker jobs, manufacturers really have little choise in deploying cobots as cost containment is critical in most industries these days…You really can’t stop automation progress, unless you sant manufacturers to go out of business.”
Gold said newer competitors will be more automated than existing companies. “Bottom line, while no one wants to lose their job, cobots and other automated systems are here to stay and future ones will be even more job-replacement focused,” he said.
Employees will be required to develop new skills that machines cannot do very well, if at all, Gold added. “And unions should be promoting retraining, rather than trying to save jobs that don’t have a long term future. That’s really more political than technical, but we’re been having the battle for many years and cobots are just the latest instantiation of this trend.”
Cobots aren’t new, but the GM example shows they are showing up in final assembly. The latest episode stands as a preview of UAW’s negotiation battleground over AI in general.
(FANUC America would not comment and GM did not respond to a Fierce request to comment directly.)
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