Advantages and Disadvantages of Automation in The Workplace [+Infographic]

So, whenever I thought about Automation, it creeped me out. While living in a country where jobs are as scarce as they can be, we don’t need some machines to take over every single chance of employment right?

Of course, not but let’s see the bigger picture here. Automation does have some pretty legit reasons to come up, which might help you change your perspective about this whole concept.

What is Automation? – Automation is the process in which machines run the processes with minimal to zero human resources. This kind of bookish definition seems all sunshine and butterflies, but it’s bigger than that. And luckily, we are here to describe the advantages and disadvantages of Automation in the workplace in India.

So, let’s dig in.

Benefits of Automation in the workplace in India Infographic

Top 10 Advantages of Automation in the workplace

1. Quality work environment

So have you ever heard of repetitive strain injury? Well, if not, then here’s how it goes. When you perform a similar type of task receptively for long hours in a day, you might get a particular muscle strain which may lead to many health issues.

Let me give you an example, the workers in most oil refineries spend a lot of time smelling copious amounts of methane and all that. In many industries, they get at least 20 days off for recovery, but still, the majority of them end up having lung and liver issues before they hit 50. In a situation like this, Automation is the best option to replace workers with heavy machinery to operate those tasks.

2. Increased competitiveness

Yes, things will get more competitive when the machines hit the labor department. Since everything is run by machines now, the production of the goods will be automated and less in the sense of defects. As the resources are reduced to machinery, the production cost will also decrease.

3. No Labour issues

As discussed in the first point, there are some tasks for which it might not be our best idea if we use a human being. For example, lifting heavy goods. Let’s think about that for a second; It gets expensive since you’ll have to pay the person according to the task difficulty.

There will be a lot of risk of injuries and, at some point, death, which is not something you want if you are trying to stay in business. That’s where the machine can be a great solution.

4. Increased production capacity

As the industries are automated, production will increase with minimal human supervision since the machine can perform a task faster than a human with minimal defect rate and consistency.

5. Compliance consistency

So we have been talking about defective goods and products a lot but not once have we mentioned how we could know that the stuff has some defect without human help, right?

Well, that’s where some of the top-grade scanners come in to save the day. They are fast, easily programable, and customizable to your products. They save a lot more time than it is with manpower.

6. A new type of jobs

With New machines hurdling all over the industries, there will be a significant rise in new types of jobs. A lot of them are related to engineering and IT. These two subjects will be the basics of the elementary school curriculum at some point.

7. Better traffic control

Remember the good old times when you could break a traffic law, hand over some money to the police officer, and get away with it. Well, guess what can’t do that anymore. It’ll be hard to hide from the law with surveillance cameras all over the road field unless you are some top lever criminal masterminds.

Think of the world where all the roads are simonized. You can have an updated GPS to see traffic and, most importantly, No Cuts. That’s the world we are looking forward to. Also, you’ll notice a steep decline in street crimes, and if so, it won’t take time to catch the culprits.

8. Medical Aid-

So as we take the roads and everybody has somewhere to go. Sometimes there isn’t room for an ambulance to arrive at the emergency spot. That’s where the ambulance drone comes to save the day.

They are usually the size of a small car or even smaller if all you need is some first Aid.

9. Less humanly corruption

Now here is something I am personally looking for. I have no clue how and when that will start but something good to look forward to. You know most of the developing countries are suffering from stunted growth due to corrupt governments.

Let me give you, for instance. There were many government educational institutions where teachers didn’t even show up. But since they have installed Biometric attendance and cameras, the education sector has quite improved.

Now, these types of changes will only be possible with the help of Automation.

5 Disadvantages of Automation

By reading the advantages, you might see that it’s all sunshine and butterflies but guess what, everything comes with a downside. We’ll discuss some of the 5 most important disadvantages of Automation.

1. Huge initial investment

Yup, you heard it right, it may not be gold, but it doesn’t come cheap. You’ll require a huge initial investment for the machines to set up in your factories or institutions, and not just that, you’ll also require an expert to handle those machines with a proper budget for maintenance.

At some point, you’ll think o human laborers running the place but always remember that it’s for a good cause.

2. Unemployment

Since machines and robots can replace every job, unemployment can be a great issue to face in the future. But you can always think of it this way; Survival of the fittest can be old news, but as long as humans use their brains, they’ll find ways to live on this planet and make the best of it. Now I don’t know much about online games, but here it goes.

There was a time when playing online gaming was a waste of time, but now people are making good money out of them. We used to despise the media and dramas, but since everyone is watching it, that makes a content creator lots of money.

Unemployment can be an issue with Automation, but there will be new jobs different from the traditional ways.

3. Demand New Skills

It’s not a disadvantage per se, but Automation will require lots of new skills for humanly hands to learn and practice.

4. Maintenance

The maintenance of the huge industrial machinery can be a big issue. you’ll require a quite big percentage of your business budget to buy and maintain the machines.

5. Minimal customization and creativity

Since the machines are made to do a single job, you’ll need different sets for different tasks. And unless they are programable, most of the items produced will be similar with zero creativity.

6. Industrial pollution

Yup, here is a biggie. We are already on the verge of a global warming crisis, and with more machines taking over the planet, this thing isn’t going to get better. It’ll be best for us to keep ourselves educated and keep planting trees.

7. Unpredictable costs

So let’s say you have bought a new machine for your garments factory. Everything has been running smoothly for a year or so, and suddenly out of nowhere, the machine stops working. You have no clue what went wrong.

You’ll need a professional analysis and repairman for that, and you guessed it right. That’s not something cheap either.

8. The risk of hacking

This risk goes to everything that runs with minimal human supervision. It can be traffic cameras where the footage can be removed to help a criminal activity. It can even create national security threats.

A strong cyber security system is also something to look forward to tackling this issue.

Conclusion

So that’s it with the advantages and disadvantages of Automation. Automation can have its own set of pickles, but we have to proceed wisely as modern problems require modern solutions and that we will have as long as we keep our brains running.