• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

My TechDecisions

  • Log In
  • Best of Tech Decisions
  • Topics
    • Video
    • Audio
    • Mobility
    • Unified Communications
    • IT Infrastructure
    • Network Security
    • Physical Security
    • Facility
    • Compliance
  • RFP Resources
  • Downloads
  • Podcasts
  • Subscribe
  • Project of the Week
  • About Us
    SEARCH
IT Infrastructure

Human Touch or Artificial Intelligence—Which Handles More Tasks at the Factory?

Data uncovers some surprising information about the humans’ value to the productivity of factories compared to artificial intelligence.

November 14, 2018 Lisa Montgomery Leave a Comment

artificial intelligence

With all of the buzz recently about machine learning, artificial intelligence, and robots, it would appear as if humans’ days are numbered on the factory floor. But according to data released by A.T. Kearney and Drishti, humans still perform 72 percent of manufacturing tasks, providing more value than machines.

What took so long to come  to this conclusion? The minimization of humans’ importance  to the productivity of a factory can be attribute to the universal lack of data into the activities that people perform every day. These small but important duties seem to have been brushed over and the industry focuses its attention on technological improvements. The analytical gap suggests that manufacturers may overprioritize automation due to an inability to quantify investments in the human workforce.

“Despite the prominence of people on the factory floor, digital transformation strategies for even the most well-known, progressive manufacturers in the world remain largely focused on machines,” says Michael Hu, partner at A.T. Kearney. “This massive imbalance in the analytics footprint leaves manufacturers around the globe with a human-shaped blind spot, which prevents them from realizing the full potential of Industry 4.0.”

 

“Humans are the most valuable asset in the factory, and manufacturers should leverage new technology to extend the capabilities of both direct and indirect labor,” adds Prasad Akella, founder and CEO of Drishti. “If you could give your senior engineers more than a third of their time back, you’d see immediate gains. Instead of spending so many hours collecting data, their attention and capabilities would remain focused on the most critical decisions and tasks.”

The survey also revealed the flip side of human contributions to manufacturing systems: Survey respondents noted that 73 percent of variability on the factory floor stems from humans, and 68 percent of defects are caused by human activities. Perhaps as a result, 39 percent of engineering time is spent on root cause investigations to trace defects – another manual expenditure of time that could be greatly reduced with the collection of better data.

Tagged With: Control & Automation

Related Content:

  • How To Take Sales Automation To The Next…
  • HDMI Ethernet Switch from ZeeVee and Netgear Integrates HDMI…
  • customer service Autonomous Customer Service Solution from Jacada Gets a…
  • The Critical Role of Visibility in Next-Generation Networks…

Free downloadable guide you may like:

  • RFP Template: Interactive Whiteboards

    Are you in the market for an interactive whiteboard? Whether you are a company shopping for a huddle room or school looking for a classroom solution, you will likely soon be writing a request for proposal (RFP). Let our editors help.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Get the FREE Tech Decisions eNewsletter

Sign up Today!

Latest Downloads

RFP Template: Interactive Whiteboards

Are you in the market for an interactive whiteboard? Whether you are a company shopping for a huddle room or school looking for a classroom solutio...

RFP Template: Video Walls

You may be looking for a video wall to promote the next sporting event on a college campus or an eye-catching display at your new company headquart...

RFP Template: Projectors

Writing a request for proposal (RFP) takes a lot of time. Many of our readers say that it is one of the least favorite parts of their job. We want ...

View All Downloads

Would you like your latest project featured on TechDecisions as Project of the Week?

Apply Today!

More from Our Sister Publications

Get the latest news about AV integrators and Security installers from our sister publications:

Commercial IntegratorSecurity Sales

Footer

TechDecisions

  • Home
  • Welcome to TechDecisions
  • Subscribe to the Newsletter
  • Contact Us
  • Media Solutions / Advertise
  • Comment Guidelines
  • RSS Feeds
  • Terms of Use
  • Privacy Policy
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linkedin

Free Technology Guides

FREE Downloadable resources from TechDecisions provide timely insight into the issues that IT, A/V, and Security end-users, managers, and decision makers are facing in commercial, corporate, education, institutional, and other vertical markets

View all Guides
TD Project of the Week

Get your latest project featured on TechDecisions Project of the Week. Submit your work once and it will be eligible for all upcoming weeks.

Enter Today!

© 2019 Emerald Expositions, LLC. All rights reserved.