Yet this may be shaping up to be a reset moment for automation. “You already had automation technologies that were becoming more ubiquitous and accessible, and then this labour shortage hits on top of that, and it’s not going away,” says Brendan Sweeney, managing director at the Trillium Network for Advanced Manufacturing. “It’s an eloquent solution to a real problem.”
Meanwhile, the mix of companies seeking automation tools is evolving fast, he says. While vehicle manufacturers are already heavily automated, other manufacturers in the consumer packaged goods and food and beverage sectors are much further behind, having relied more heavily in the past on manual labour in their operations.
The long-delayed robot invasion of Canada is evident in what companies are telling analysts about their automation plans. In a statement, Stephanie Bonk, a spokesperson for Metro, said the grocer launched its “modernization journey” in 2017 and that under the $800-million initiative, it has opened two automated distribution centres over the past two years, with another slated to open in 2024. Meanwhile, 350 of its stores now have self-service checkouts, while 17 stores feature “scan, bag and go” technology allowing customers to scan their own products as they add them to their cart.
In late 2020, Waste Connections ordered 25 of the robots and is set to expand to 45 by mid-2022. “They don’t get tired, they don’t get sick and not show up, they don’t get distracted, and you don’t have restrictions on how long they can go before taking a break,” Mr. Kurtz says. “And they can be installed in a weekend.”
Still, not all companies see automation as a fix for the current labour crunch. During an analyst call in November to discuss the latest results for Loblaw Cos. Ltd., analysts challenged then-chairman and now CEO Galen Weston on why the retailer was planning to build new manual-pick fulfilment centres for online orders, rather than investing in automated order filling.
Robots ARE THE FUTURE people. WAKE UP before it Tttoooooo Late !
Time to talk about basic universal income. Jobs for humans are going to disappear exponentially,if governments late to the game chaos