Last week we had a meeting about plant updates about our largest plant at Welcome, NC. It included talking about all those terms we had heard in school days, quality control, six sigma etc. Then the boss moved on to machines speaking about the latest ones they plan to acquire or had already done so. Once again we went through the usual but one particular one caught my attention, which uptil then, had been unblinkingly focused on the large tray of donuts, bagels and muffins that the sweet cafeteria lady had wheeled in.
My boss was worried about increasing capacity and efficiency on the floor, I was more concerned about my colleagues decreasing capacity on the tray. That’s when he mentioned robotic welder. Now, anyone who has done engineering school in the disciplines of metallurgy and similar fields, would know how difficult it is to get a tidy weld the first time. I had tried my hand at both welding and soldering electronic components to printed circuit boards. The end result looked like somebody had thrusted a spanner in MF Hussain’s hand and had told him to fix his car assuming it was Madhuri Dixit. Needless to say the circuit board had fat blobs of metal all over the place. The lab technician ran after me with his high voltage stun gun(wonder why he keeps that) threatening to solder me to the wall to which I replied that I had a high melting temperature so was not good soldering material.
What I am getting at, can you imagine the amount of precision these monstrous things called robotic welders would require. I would go wow, just look at how far technology has reached. We can be assured of more consistent welds, higher speeds and productivity and obviously that leads to lower costs. But then what about “us”? Sure you need a CNC operator but…..
‘One robotic welder will replace four welders’ the Boss said, even as from the corner of my eye I saw Mr. Kenny replacing the pastry on the tray with an empty space. Are we really making ourselves redundant that one morning we wake up and see that there is no reason for us to get out of bed except to grab food ? Hmmm…
My boss was worried about increasing capacity and efficiency on the floor, I was more concerned about my colleagues decreasing capacity on the tray. That’s when he mentioned robotic welder. Now, anyone who has done engineering school in the disciplines of metallurgy and similar fields, would know how difficult it is to get a tidy weld the first time. I had tried my hand at both welding and soldering electronic components to printed circuit boards. The end result looked like somebody had thrusted a spanner in MF Hussain’s hand and had told him to fix his car assuming it was Madhuri Dixit. Needless to say the circuit board had fat blobs of metal all over the place. The lab technician ran after me with his high voltage stun gun(wonder why he keeps that) threatening to solder me to the wall to which I replied that I had a high melting temperature so was not good soldering material.
What I am getting at, can you imagine the amount of precision these monstrous things called robotic welders would require. I would go wow, just look at how far technology has reached. We can be assured of more consistent welds, higher speeds and productivity and obviously that leads to lower costs. But then what about “us”? Sure you need a CNC operator but…..
‘One robotic welder will replace four welders’ the Boss said, even as from the corner of my eye I saw Mr. Kenny replacing the pastry on the tray with an empty space. Are we really making ourselves redundant that one morning we wake up and see that there is no reason for us to get out of bed except to grab food ? Hmmm…
