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  3. Automation The term automation was coined around 1946 by the automobile industry to describe the increased use of automatic

Automation The term automation was coined around 1946 by the automobile industry to describe the increased use of automatic

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问题                                           Automation
    The term automation was coined around 1946 by the automobile industry to describe the increased use of automatic devices and controls in mechanized production lines. Today, it is widely used in a manufacturing context but is also applied outside of manufacturing in connection with a variety of systems in which there is a significant substitution of mechanical, electrical, or computerized action for human effort and intelligence. An operation is commonly described as automated if it is Substantially more automatic than its predecessor.
    In its most general usage, automation can be defined as a technology concerned with carrying out a process by means of programmed commands combined with the automatic feedback of data relating to the execution of those commands. The resulting system is capable of operating without human intervention. The development of this technology has become increasingly dependent on the use of computers and computer-related technologies. As a consequence, automated systems have become sophisticated and complex. Advanced systems of this sort now represent a level of capability and performance that surpass in many ways the abilities of humans to accomplish the same activities.
    Automation technology has matured to a point where a number of other technologies have developed from it and have achieved a recognition and status of their own. Robotics is one such technology. It is a specialized branch of automation in which the automated machine possesses certain characteristics. The most typical humanlike characteristic of a modern industrial robot is its powered mechanical arm. The robot’s arm can be programmed to do a sequence of motions to perform useful tasks, such as loading and unloading parts at a production machine or making a sequence of spot-welds on the body of an automobile. The robot will repeat the motion pattern until it is reprogrammed to perform some alternative task. As these examples of robot applications suggest, an industrial robot is typically used to replace a human worker in a factory operation.
    The field of robotics has its roots in the development of automation technology. Numerical control (NC) and telecherics are two important areas of technology that constitute the foundations of robotics technology.
    Over the years, the social merits of automation have been argued by labour leaders, government officials, business executives, and college professors. No doubt the biggest controversy has focused on the employment issue: What is the effect of automation on employment? There are other important aspects of the automation issue as well, including its effect on productivity, economic competition, education, and quality of life.
    The advantages commonly attributed to automation include increased production rates, more efficient use of materials, better product quality, improved safety, shorter workweeks for labour, and reduction of factory lead times.
    Automated machines are usually designed to operate at higher production rates than humans are capable of achieving. This increased productivity has been one of the biggest reasons for justifying the adoption of automated systems. Notwithstanding the claims of high quality from good workmanship by humans, automated systems are generally capable of carrying out the manufacturing process with less variability that humans make, thus yielding greater control and consistency of product quality. In addition, the increased process control makes possible more efficient use of materials, resulting in less waste.
    Automated manufacturing systems often, remove workers from the workplace, thus safeguarding them against hazards in the work environment. In the United States, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970 (OSHA) was enacted with the objective of making work safer and protecting the physical well-being of the worker on a national scale. OSHA has had the effect of promoting the use of automation and robotics in the factory.
    Another of the benefits of automation noted above is the reduction in the number of hours worked on average per week by factory workers. Around the turn of the century, the average workweek was about 70 hours. This has gradually been reduced, so that today the standard workweek in the United States is about 40 hours. Mechanization and automation have played a significant role in this reduction. Finally, the time required to process a typical job through the factory is generally reduced with automation. Referred to as the manufacturing lead time, this is the amount of time between the beginning of a project or process and the appearance of its results.
    Among the major disadvantages associated with automation is worker dislocation. This problem was touched upon earlier. Whatever the ultimate social benefits that might result from retraining displaced workers for other (perhaps more skilled) jobs, in almost all cases the worker whose job is taken over by a machine suffers considerable personal stress. In addition to displacement from work, the worker may be displaced geographically. To find other work, an individual may have to relocate, which is itself another source of emotional stress.
    Another significant disadvantage associated with automation is high capital expenditure. Automated systems can cost millions of dollars to design, fabricate, and put into operation. Still other problems characteristic of automated equipment include a higher level of maintenance than is required by manually operated hardware and an inherent lack of flexibility in terms of the variety of products that can be produced.
    Also, automation is not without its potential dangers. As often suggested in works of science fiction, the technology associated with automation might ultimately subjugate rather than serve humankind. There is a possibility that workers will become slaves to automated machines, that the privacy of humans will be invaded by vast computer data banks, that human error in the management of technology will somehow endanger the health of civilization, and that society will become completely dependent on automation for its economic well-being.
The reduced ______ is an advantage attributed to automation.
选项
答案factory lead times
解析 文章第六自然段说明此点。“lead time”意为“产品的生产期”。
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