Human + Machine

1

The Self-Aware Factory Floor

AI in Production, Supply Chain, and Distribution

For centuries, factories have been the paragon of automation. And the people who work in factories, as a result, have often been measured by the standards of machines. So it’s no surprise that the relationship between people and machines in industry has been fraught, with human workers feeling as if they’ve been dealt a losing hand. There’s ample reason for that feeling. Since 2000, the United States has lost five million manufacturing jobs, roughly half of that through efficiency gains and automation.¹

But things aren’t as clear cut as they might first seem. As we discussed in the previous chapter, the second wave of business transformation was all about automating ...