And, a recent tour of one of the Asian powerhouse’s vehicle plants has proved this beyond a shadow of a doubt, at least to Honda President and CEO Toshihiro Mibe.
“We have no chance against this,” Mibe said upon a visit to a Shanghai parts factory, commenting on its seamless automation across all levels of production. Logistics, procurement and all aspects of the process were so automated, in fact, that he did not spot a single human worker on the supplier’s floor.
Ford executives saying even three years ago that China was way ahead of the game
Toyota’s CEO has likewise said regarding not just his company, but the industry in general, “unless things change, we will not survive”
I wonder how much of the US problems stemmed from unionized labor pushing against extreme automation (dark factory).
There’s no doubt companies got complacent but I imagine foreign manufacturers are abliged contractually bound to employee American folks in their plants.
What is a union supposed to do when your entire industry is in a “adopt (by accepting automation) or die” situation?
I’m all for worker protection and rights but how else do you compete in this landscape?
The unions’ original demand was worker ownership, which actually fixes the problem. This is the compromise that the original owning class suggested, it’s not the unions’ failt that it was a fuckup.
Most automaker plants in southern states in the us are not unionized. That was the whole point: third world salaries in one of the largest markets