A Smarter Strategy for Using Robots

Automation should focus more on flexibility than on productivity.

by

Ben Armstrong

and

Julie Shah

by

Ben Armstrong

and

Julie Shah

From the Magazine (March–April 2023) · Long read

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01

A Smarter Strategy for Using Robots

Summary.

Despite advances in automation technology, the promise of productive and flexible automation, with minimal involvement of human workers, is far from reality, for two main reasons.

First, adoption of automation technology has been limited. Second, when firms do automate, what they gain in productivity they tend to lose in process flexibility, resulting in what the authors call zero-sum automation.

This article introduces positive-sum automation, which enables productivity and flexibility. To achieve it, companies must design technology that makes it easier for line employees to train and debug robots; use a bottom-up approach to identifying what tasks should be automated; and choose the right metrics for measuring success.

Idea in Brief

The Problem

Despite advances in automation technology, the promise of productive and flexible automation, with minimal involvement of human workers, is far from reality.

The Cause

The adoption of automation technology has been limited. And when firms do automate, what they gain in productivity they tend to lose in process flexibility, a zero-sum outcome.

The Solution

Positive-sum automation measures success across three levels: the machine, the system, and the team. You’ll know you’ve succeeded when the automation makes your human teams happier and better at their jobs.

In 1982, General Motors announced it was building a “factory of the future.” The Saginaw, Michigan, facility would automate production, revitalizing GM’s business at a time of intense competition from Japanese automakers Toyota and Nissan. GM had posted a loss of $763 million two years earlier—only the second losing year in its 72-year history. When CEO Roger Smith returned from visiting a Toyota factory, he resolved that GM must automate to compete.

A version of this article appeared in the March–April 2023 issue of Harvard Business Review.

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Ben Armstrong is the executive director and a research scientist at MIT’s Industrial Performance Center, where he coleads the Work of the Future initiative.
Julie Shah is the H.N. Slater Professor of Aeronautics and Astronautics at MIT. She leads the Interactive Robotics group and coleads the Work of the Future initiative.

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