Drives & Controls April 2022

n NEWS April 2022 www.drivesncontrols.com 8 THE AUTOMATION OF US manufacturing is fuelling a rise in mortality rates among America’s working-age adults, according to a new US study. The study, published in the Demography journal, found evidence of a causal link between automation and increasing mortality, driven largely by an increase in “deaths of despair,” such as suicides and drug overdoses. This is particularly true for males and females aged 45 to 54. But the researchers also found evidence of increased mortality across multiple age and sex groups from causes as varied as cancer and heart disease. “For decades, manufacturers in the US have turned to automation to remain competitive in a global marketplace, but this technological innovation has reduced the number of quality jobs available to adults without a college degree – a group that has faced increased mortality in recent years,” says the study’s lead author, Rourke O’Brien, an assistant professor of sociology at Yale University. “Our analysis shows that automation exacts a toll on the health of individuals both directly – by reducing employment, wages, and access to healthcare – as well as indirectly, by reducing the economic vitality of the broader community.” Since 1980, mortality rates in the US have diverged from those in other high-income countries. Today, Americans die on average three years earlier than their counterparts in other wealthy nations. Automation is a major factor in the decline of US manufacturing jobs, along with other factors including competition from countries with lower labour costs. Adopting industrial robots has resulted in the loss of an estimated 420,000–750,000 jobs during the 1990s and 2000s, most of them in manufacturing. The researchers found that each new robot per 1,000 workers led to about eight additional deaths per 100,000 males aged 45– 54 and nearly four additional deaths per 100,000 females in the same age group. The analysis showed that automation led to a substantial increase in suicides among middle-aged men and drug overdose deaths among men of all ages and women aged 20-29. “Our findings underscore the importance of public policy in supporting the individuals and communities who have lost their jobs or seen their wages cut due to automation,” says one of the study’s co-authors, Atheendar Venkatarmani from the University of Pennsylvania. “A strong social safety net and labour market policies that improve the quality of jobs available to workers without a college degree may help to reduce deaths of despair and strengthen the general health of communities.” Robots blamed for rising death rates among US workers A £20M APPLIED RESEARCH and development facility intended to help the UK’s advanced manufacturing sector to stay at the forefront of global developments, has been inaugurated in Lancashire. The AMRC North West facility will have r&d expertise in areas such as digital manufacturing, 5G, robotics, additive manufacturing, autonomous manufacturing, batteries and low-carbon technologies. The facility was opened by Lee Rowley, Minister for Industry at the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS), who hailed it as a key innovation asset for the region and beyond. “This world-leading hub of research and development is precisely what will keep the UK’s advanced manufacturing sector ahead of the pack,” he said. “Not only will it help businesses unlock key productivity and sustainability gains, it will also drive our ambition to level up across the North West by supporting economic growth and jobs.” The applied research centre, sited in the Samlesbury Aerospace Enterprise Zone in Preston, is part of the University of Sheffield’s Advanced Manufacturing Research Centre (AMRC). It has been built using a £20m grant from the Lancashire Enterprise Partnership Growth Deal and extends the AMRC’s footprint across the north of England. The centre will be the primary site for the 5G Factory of the Future project, funded by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, which is driving the adoption of 5G technologies in manufacturing through a consortium of industrial and academic partners from the manufacturing and telecommunications sectors. There are also plans to develop a Low Carbon Smart Building Demonstrator to show manufacturers how new digital technologies can be installed in existing facilities. It will create the road map for manufacturers of all size to cut their carbon footprints by 2030, and achieve net-zero by 2050. Since 2018, AMRC North West engineers have operated from an interim facility at the University of Central Lancashire. They have already worked with hundreds of businesses across Lancashire, removing barriers to early adoption of Industry 4.0 technologies to drive growth, productivity and innovation, and support the region’s manufacturers to compete nationally and internationally. Speaking at the opening of the new centre, Professor Koen Lamberts, president and vice- chancellor at the University of Sheffield, described it as“a huge achievement”. “By bringing translational research to the doorstep of existing and new industry, we can help to boost productivity and attract more investment to Lancashire,” he said. £20m r&d centre aims to keep UK manufacturers ‘ahead of the pack’ The AMRC North West facility will help the UK’s advanced manufacturing sector to stay ahead