US companies put record number of robots to work in 2018

28 February 2019 - 23:41US companies installed more robots last year than ever before, as cheaper and more flexible machines put them within reach of businesses of all sizes and in more corners of the economy beyond their traditional foothold in car plants.

Shipments increased in every sector the group tracks, except automotive, where carmakers cut back after finishing a major round of tooling up for new truck models. Pressure to automate is growing as companies seek to cut labour costs in a tight job market. Many companies that are considering bringing work back from overseas in response to the Trump administration’s trade wars may find automation the best way to stay competitive, even with higher-cost US workers.

“We had three propane, 5,000-pound forklifts,” said Ken Hahn, the company’s president. “We’ve eliminated those.” Hahn’s robot cost $40,000, about twice that of the cheapest option he considered, but far below the $125,000 machines also on offer.

United States United States Latest News, United States United States Headlines

Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.

Drake makes industry history as world's best-selling artist of 2018Drake's dominance over the 2018 charts has helped him to make music industry history as the first person to be crowned the world's best-selling artist in multiple years.
Source: Channel24 - 🏆 48. / 51 Read more »

Massmart 2018 earnings down nearly 32%This is against the backdrop of a difficult economic environment, characterised by low economic and wage growth.
Source: TheCitizen_News - 🏆 6. / 75 Read more »

Despite Nigerian run-ins, MTN’s earnings nearly doubled in 2018In 2018, the mobile operator was slapped with demands totalling $10.1bn from Nigerian regulators And yet MTNza cancelled FreeTwitter
Source: BDliveSA - 🏆 12. / 63 Read more »