This is the case with most posts, long or short. There's a person typing and every single one of them will have their own view point.Quote:
One line answers and "quotes" only give you what the person projecting it want's you to hear.
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This is the case with most posts, long or short. There's a person typing and every single one of them will have their own view point.Quote:
One line answers and "quotes" only give you what the person projecting it want's you to hear.
On a different topic I was watching Countryfile whilst relaxing with a nice Sherry yesterday. The evening edition you understand, never drink Sherry before 9am.
Anyway, it did get me thinking about the impact of Brexit on automation as they had a wee section on agricultural automation. A sector that's already seen large scale reductions in total numbers of employees over the last couple of hundred years.
The change is coming, barring economic apocalypse. But it might be coming quicker than before.
Driverless tractors, harvesters, seeders, weeders, all on the cards for the coming years. Interesting times with some big implications across society as a whole.
I know we've seen waves of automation before, but the capabilities of incoming technologies is leading us down a road where it'll be cheaper to use a robot than a low skilled worker.
Edit, probably should mention that it might only need the perceived threat of losing cheap labour to accelerate the change.
Ahh, as an non agricultural example. And pertinent to someone with relatives that used to work in shoe factories.
https://www.ft.com/content/7eaffc5a-...8-91555f2f4fde
Article is about Adidas setting up highly automated factories in Germany for the first time in 3 decades.
While I don't want to switch sides in the argument, it's areas like automation where the UK has the potential to take a big lead on Europe post Brexit. With our weak unions and right-wing government, the UK could embrace automation in a way that countries like France would never let the EU get away with. That would reverse immigration - if there were no jobs to come here for because machines can do them faster and better.
An interesting example from your part of the country, Shaun. We (my wife and I) were on holiday, staying in a cottage near Alyth in the raspberry-growing area of Tayside, in early August a few years ago. We noticed harvesting machines going through the raspberry fields; but they had several workers on board. We got to speak to a raspberry farmer later: he told of the clever computerised machines with "hands" to pick the berries, but that workers are still needed to remove bits of unwanted vegetation that get picked off with the berries. He also said that the machines were fine for berries that were going into jam production, but hand-picking was still required to ensure pristine berries for sale as fresh fruit. So technology hasn't replaced the labourers yet.Quote:
Originally Posted by shaunaneto
Oh, and where did the seasonal workers come from? On two occasions we picked up workers who were hitch-hiking, and they were both Czech.
No technology hasn't replaced them yet, but it's getting there. Your example is a good one, as the labour is now only required to do what the technology can't. Instead of the whole thing!
Have a look at the 'Hands free hectare" and in Japan I think the first fully (or nearly fully) automated farm is about to start.
There'll obviously be some things that come in sooner, soft fruit being on of the last. But harvesting corn and the like, that won't be (relatively) long. Ploughing being another obvious choice.
Recruitment for 'some' of these farms is a little bit iffy. It seems that unless you want to live on the farm and pay rent for your accommodation and live in eastern Europe it's very difficult to even find a job advertised. There's a couple of farms where I've tried for some time to find the job adverts, and only succeeded when looking at a notice board on the farm itself. Never seen an advert elsewhere. Plenty of recruitment agencies in Poland seem to have adverts.
I can't access it Shaun. Strange as normally with the FT it's just a couple of survey questions to access an article. They must be tightening up.Quote:
Originally Posted by shaunaneto
Shame as I'd be interested to read it.
I have often said that if I could set up my factory again now, that I ran through the 90s, I could make more money than I did then.
I used to make leather comfort shoes for the older man and woman. I also made vulcanised slippers.
I sold a traditional mens Herringbone Twin Gusset slipper with rubber sole for around £2.75 but you could get inferior quality from Spain for less than £2 and equivalent quality from China for around the same $ price ex factpry as £ price in UK.
That meant the Chinese saved a little as $2.75 + duty + shipping on circa $1.60=£1 as it was then would save around 15%.
There were a few technical cheats such as the application of a textile scrim on the sole which brought the duty rate down from 17% to 4% so that saving became much more significant then.
Ultimately, it shrank the trade until there was no supply base left, and that lack of supply chain would now be the biggest barrier to a new start up.
Those $2.75 items are now around $6.
In terms of technology, British United Shoe Machinery were pushing this back in the 80s. The old lasting track (where they put the soles on) traditionally had around 25 staff doing the lasting, roughing, glueing, sole and heel attaching, cleaning, inspection and packing.
That was reduced by mechanisation to almost half, as manual jobs such as roughing and gluing were automated.
More recent technology could be seen in the ITV programme about New Balance in Maryport shown a couple of months ago.
If you cut out the unskilled labour, there is scope to produce back in the West. The cost of technology is one thing, but the cost of shipping has increased.
Cutting out the shipping cost and duty could be more than offset by the costs of manufacturing here in Europe. Along with improved lead time this is a real incentive to move production back.
On the back of the big buys such as Adidas, perhaps we will see a supply chain develop allowing smaller businesses to start on the back of it.
E.M Forster may have been a crusty Edwardian but the more I hear about all this, the more I realise that 'The Machine Stops' was amazingly prescient.
On a related matter, I have spent some time with Salmon Farmers in recent years.
They used to manually "harvest" the fish. Netting and gutting the fish, in their 1000s actually out at sea on the farm site.
I think this is exceptionally rare now.
A huge well boat comes long, hoovers up the fish, grades them so that smaller ones go straight back in to their farm and retains the correct sized fish in the boat.
They are then shipped to a dock, transferred direct to the processing plant where they are shocked and gutted before a quick manual clean and inspection.
It's incredible to see the process.
Other fish are now being farmed. It has taken time as the Salmon seem the best to do this with. But particularly Turbot, Bass and Halibut are now being farmed in the UK successfully.
Around Brexit there is much talk of the Fisheries coming back to us. But I wonder how significant fisheries will be in 20 years, especially when you consider that working a trawler is the most dangerous peace-time job and relies heavily on migrant labour.
There's clearly a market for "Wild" salmon, so I'm sure there will always be a UK fishing industry for the wild fish and shellfish, but it will change.
WP, there's a few articles about from the same date. Unfortunately none as good as the FT. I actually went through the questionnaire to read it first time round but can't now.
There is scope for sure, I'm not familiar with the shipping costs but I'd guess at raw materials being cheaper than finished products in general?Quote:
If you cut out the unskilled labour, there is scope to produce back in the West. The cost of technology is one thing, but the cost of shipping has increased.
Sophisticated automated production brings up all sorts of possibilities, e.g. You could go into you local running shop and have a 3D scan of your foot made, which then gets sent to the production unit for a fully customised shoe at a cost and speed not possible with a skilled craftsman in the equation. At the extreme end of this you could have a 3D scanner in you phone and a local production unit that delivers within 24hrs to you door.
This does of course lead to asking what everyone is going to do for a living? And how are they going to pay for shoes.
It's hard to see demand being met by supply if wild fish is cheap. So well either strip the oceans bare or massively scale up farming with wild fish a luxury product.Quote:
There's clearly a market for "Wild" salmon, so I'm sure there will always be a UK fishing industry for the wild fish and shellfish, but it will change.