automation
Automation: Stakeholders urged to be proactive amid fears of rising unemployment
Proactive steps are necessary to support Ready-Made Garment (RMG) workers who are at risk of unemployment as automation continues to grow in Bangladesh’s garment sector.
In the next two years, 80% of garment factory owners in Bangladesh plan to invest in automated machines, according to data from research which was presented by LightCastle Partners at a dialogue event held in Gulshan.
This was presented at an event at a hotel in the capital’s Gulshan on Monday organised by LightCastle Partners, an international leading business consultancy firm, in partnership with Policy Exchange Bangladesh.
Automation in the sector is expected to grow by over 13% during this period. Despite the increase in efficiency and projected production increases of up to 22%, concerns about rising unemployment persist. Out of an average of 2,250 workers per factory, only 500 are expected to be directly involved with automation processes, leaving many workers at risk.
Automation, while presenting challenges for the workforce, is also key to enhancing the industry’s global competitiveness.
Govt plans to introduce pension for RMG workers: Asif
Advanced technologies can significantly boost productivity, improve quality control, and lower operational costs, ensuring that Bangladesh’s RMG sector maintains its competitive edge internationally.
Embracing automation allows the industry to meet increasing demand for high-quality products with shorter lead times—critical for international buyers.
Zahedul Amin, co-founder and director of LightCastle Partners, delivered a keynote presentation titled "Future-Proofing RMG: Tackling Automation for Sustainable Growth and Worker Wellbeing."
He highlighted the need for a balanced approach that supports industry competitiveness through automation while safeguarding the workforce through upskilling and reskilling initiative.
The event emphasized the need for urgent action to address the potential impacts of automation on the workforce, calling for recommendations that ensure sustainable growth while protecting the livelihoods of garment workers.
During his presentation, Zahedul Amin shared findings from a recent research that showed 93% of garment operators in Bangladesh are willing to work with automated machines, with 70% of female workers expressing interest in gaining new skills for operating modern machinery.
All RMG factories except 3 open in Savar, Ashulia, Gazipur
Dr. M Masrur Reaz, Chairman of Policy Exchange Bangladesh, moderated the dialogue, where industry leaders and experts discussed the pressing issues.
Kazi Faisal Bin Seraj, Country Representative of The Asia Foundation, delivered the opening remarks, emphasizing the need for collective action to future-proof the RMG industry.
The speakers highlighted a range of strategies for ensuring the RMG sector’s resilience in the face of technological changes, including prioritizing the procurement of updated technologies, enhancing occupational safety, and implementing upskilling and reskilling programs to transition workers into new roles.
According to data from the Export Promotion Bureau, Bangladesh ranks second globally in ready-made garment exports. In the 2023 fiscal year, Bangladesh exported $47 billion worth of garments. The RMG sector contributed 10.35% to the country’s GDP in 2023, employing 4.1 million workers, 60% of whom are women.
As Bangladesh's garment industry faces transformative changes, LightCastle Partners remains at the forefront of developing strategies that combine technological advancement with worker protection, ensuring a sustainable and competitive future for the sector.
1 month ago
AI Robot Chefs: Automated Cooking Could Redefine Food Industry
Technology has revolutionized global networking, communication and traditional work procedures. Then came the Internet of Things or IoT which did the same all over again. In recent years the advancement of AI and robotic technology has reduced many workloads in our day-to-day life. Take cooking for example. Not all people enjoy cooking due to lack of time, skill, or interest. Now, what if we told you, you could get a robot to cook for you? Not just one dish but hundreds of them, all the while maintaining the exact taste every single time. Welcome to the age of AI robot chefs!
Benefits of AI chefs and automated cooking robots
Besides taking up the cooking challenge, AI robot chefs are also streamlining the process of food preparations. It’s making life easier with one less thing to worry about. For the culinary industry, AI robots are a game changer considering the efficiency they bring to the table.
To sum up the benefits, AI and automated cooking robots can
- solve the understaffing problem
- bring smart kitchen collaboration
- avoid the risk of food contamination
- minimize food waste.
Read more: AI & Future of Jobs: Will Artificial Intelligence or Robots Take Your Job?
Best AI Robot Chefs of 2023
Most AI chefs today are made for industrial-scale operations. The main aim is to reduce human interaction and make the process of large-scale cooking easier. While a good number of AI cooking robots are still in the development stages, only a few have moved to industrial operations. Here’s our pick of the most advanced AI robot chefs operating in 2023.
Flippy 2: The AI-powered frying chef
Flippy 2 is the successor of Flippy, a robotic fry cook chef from Miso Robotics based in the USA. The new iteration brings AI integration to the already successful Flippy. And the results are incredible, to say the least.
Flippy 2 is designed for industry-grade frying solutions. The robot uses separate baskets to fry different items at different temperatures. In this robot, the manufacturer has utilized a new feature called the AutoBin technology. This mechanism has been especially designed for low-volume specialty foods that cannot be fried in a large batch. For example, onion rings. The AutoBin automatically can efficiently monitor the raw material, frying size, and time. It can also decide the hot-holding time to wick away the extra oil after frying.
Flippy 2 has undoubtedly reduced human contact ranging from placing the raw foods in the basket to preparing served portions. The closed-loop system increases productivity by 30% as claimed by Miso Robotics.
Read more: Ai and Future of Content Writing: Will Artificial Intelligence replace writers?
Nosh by Euphotic Lab: Automated cooking robot
Healthy home food is just a NOSH away” – that’s the tagline of Euphotic Lab’s home cooking solution. What is interesting about Nosh is that its design has nothing like what we generally see in a robot chef. Usually, the robot chefs are large in shape bearing bulky robotic arms to move around stuff. Nosh is an automated robot chef featuring the design and size of a microwave oven.
1 year ago
Automation behind HATIL's most significant transformation, says Director Shafiqur Rahman
Introducing robotics and automation to HATIL’s manufacturing process was one of the most significant transformations since the furniture brand’s inception, according to HATIL’s Director Shafiqur Rahman.
“There was a time when a carpenter would be responsible for a specific product. If the carpenter was unwell or absent for personal reasons, the operation for that product would come to a halt,” he said.
“Now, if someone is unwell or on a personal leave, another person can finish the work with the help of automation at HATIL, making the process smoother and eliminating extra costs and delays,” Shafiqur Rahman told UNB during an exclusive interview.
HATIL employs a variety of advanced machines and automation to craft their furniture pieces at the factory. The use of technology ensures consistent design and size for every piece, which can be challenging to achieve with manual labor.
HATIL, Bangladesh's top furniture brand, is renowned for its quality and consistency, which has been crucial to the brand's enduring success. Shafiqur Rahman attributes this success to the brand's innovative approach, which incorporated advanced machinery and robotics into its production over the past decade.
“Previously, there was no plan in place to ensure an efficient manufacturing process,” Shafiqur said. “Often, it was seen that all parts for production were ready, but an important material was missing, causing the entire production process to come to a halt which, in turn, would add to the manufacturing cost.”
“Now, due to our streamlined operations, there is no backlog for any product,” he said.
Shafiqur came to be a part of his family’s decade-long wooden furniture business as an “intern.”
"Even though I formally joined HATIL's production unit in 2004, my association with the wood industry began well before that," he recalled.
Read more: HATIL’s ‘slim is smart’ has global appeal: Marketing Director Moshiur Rahman
1 year ago
High Paid Jobs that Will Never be Replaced by AI
Numerous occupations, particularly in manufacturing, retail, and data-crunching, are at risk of automation. Computers are virtually impeccably structured and capable of doing complicated calculations in a matter of seconds. They never tire, take vacations, or demand compensation. What computers cannot do is to think creatively or make the kind of intuitive leaps that result in creativity. As a result, certain occupations will always be immune to automation, at least until the insurrection.
Jobs that Artificial Intellingence can't Replace
Systems Analysts
The systems analyst is a computer-based career that will be mostly unaffected by artificial intelligence. Indeed, as the economy becomes increasingly automated, there will be an increased need for a system analyst capable of implementing and managing such systems.
Read Top 10 Software Engineer Skills to Help You Get Hired
Such analysts must collaborate with others to assess system capabilities, workflows, and scheduling constraints and to enhance or automate current systems. They must also study user issues, processes, and needs. As a result, doing such tasks would be almost impossible for robots.
Writers
It is a fact that some writing tasks are already performed by machines. The AP has employed automation for the past few years now to create numbers-based pieces.
More elements like stock market information and TV listings will probably depend on computers as time passes.
Read Best Productivity Tools, Apps, and Software to Organize Your Work
But because computers don’t comprehend emotion, they won't be able to compose the types of things that touch and inspire humans. It would be an insipid world without such types of creative tales.
Sportsmen
It would be really tedious for game lovers to watch machines play their favourite games. The concept of a gymnast robot is also rather meaningless.
Being a proper athlete entails being a human being. That is what makes all those sports enjoyable to watch, tough to play and valuable in general.
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Sports are mainly about what a man can and cannot do with his body.
Teachers
Teachers have a difficult task every day: reaching about 20 to 30 unpredictable, immature individuals, each with their own unique skills, learning styles, and complicating variables in their home life.
It is impossible for a mechanical robot to anticipate human behaviour. Due to their inability to multitask, they will be incapable of delivering material differently to individual pupils.
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Additionally, they lack the capacity to successfully support pupils' learning, a critical component of the profession.
Psychologists and Psychiatrists
Mental health has always been a very complicated subject that even humans struggle to comprehend. At times, psychological health work resembles shooting in uncertainty, trying to strike a target that would provide relief to the individual in distress.
Additionally, some individuals have exceedingly complicated diagnoses, including many illnesses. And the task needs empathy above all else in order to establish rapport with the patient.
Read 7 Ways to Become a Genuine Expert in Your Chosen Field
While robots are being employed in a limited capability to collect data about a human's health, they will never be a total substitute.
Surgeons
The surgeon's responsibility extends beyond the creation of machines that accept input and provide some kind of useful output. Though the majority of routine procedures may be completely automated, they will still need supervision by doctors.
AI will fundamentally alter the field and improve it in several ways, including illness pattern prediction, quicker and more accurate diagnosis. While machines may aid surgeons in a variety of ways, doctors are needed to engage with patients on a variety of levels; something robots cannot accomplish.
Read Finding Success in a New Job: 9 Key Ways
Professional Singers
AI is capable of creating and generating its own music. AI will eventually replace a large number of musicians since robotic orchestras already exist. However, AI will never be able to eradicate fans' feelings for their favourite musicians.
Singing is derived from the emotions expressed by vocalists. Robots are emotionless. If they sing, their voices will be boring and unappealing. As a result, robots will never possess the human capacity for emotional perception during live performance.
CEO
CEOs have to inspire enormous teams of individuals working, represent companies' aims and missions, as well as broad shape strategies. People will always invest in firms that are led by humans and obviously not by robots.
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And the position of chief executive officers is mostly centred on leadership. It's virtually hard to automate leadership. Because leadership is subjective, it's hard enough to teach it to robots.
Choreographers
Dance is not always a data-driven art form. It is about sensing the music and responding emotionally to a narrative expressed via dance.
Robots are incapable of discerning what constitutes an effective dance performance, all the more so since dance is most captivating when it incorporates elements of innovation or newness into known moves.
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Innovative leaps are not a robot's forte. It is significantly more straightforward to train robots to move and dance than it is to create a dance.
Registered Nurses
For one thing, robots are inadequate at providing care as well as comfort, which requires listening to the patient and providing them with what they want to feel better.
Oftentimes, this is merely reassurance, which robots do not need. Additionally, as orderly as robots are, they are not very adept at multitasking or altering the direction in the midst of a procedure. Nurses must be able to perform this function on an hourly basis.
Read Writing a Perfect Cover Letter: Important Factors to Consider
Veterinarians
Even while humans have a good understanding of animal-like behaviour and an encyclopedic database of animal ailments and remedies, what any particular animal would do in the present is very unexpected, which is why a robot can struggle to react when things do not go as planned.
Veterinarians must also have a strong bond with animals to be successful, something that robots lack.
Conclusion
AI is still far away from achieving the spectrum of human talents required for the majority of jobs.
Robots won't be able to take over the majority of tasks that demand a unique blend of logical thought, common sense, flexibility, physical dexterity, general and specialized empathy, knowledge, and communication skills.
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And humans are preferred and trusted above robots for all tasks requiring decision-making, judgment, and complicated thinking.
Due to the fact that no AI robots and machines can completely replace a Human, any work requiring a human heart and intellect will never be completely automated.
2 years ago