Automation and its impact on the contemporary world
Today's world is the era of technology and the use of more and more handy and equipped machinery makes humans techno-savvy. In this context, this article deals with the effects of automation in the contemporary world including areas ranging from social to economic spheres in both developing and developed nations.
Overview
With the development of technology, man produced things which helped them at every stage and make them more techno-friendly. Computerization and automation are some of the major developments in the field of technology. Automation is said to be a revolution in technology. It has a widespread impact all over the world. Automation means the automatic control of the manufacture of products through successive stages and use of automatic equipment to save mental and manual labor. It is complementary to the industrialization and urbanization and it grows slowly with the passage of time. In industries the growth of automation is most remarkable, as it fosters the growth of goods' production at cheaper and less capital outlay. Even the development in the military can be traced due to the high level of automation. The perfect application of automation always results in maximizing profit. Automation concept and uses were first propagated by engineers of the Ford motor company in United States to explain their method of working work pieces between successive machines. But with the passage of time automation spread all over the world, taking over both physical and mental labor by operating through self-actual devices.The development of automatic control
Automation's initial development can be traced back in the year 1080 with the invention of the pressure cooker based on the principle of a pressure control mechanism. During the 18th-century various automatic regulators were applied, from household stuff to large industrial factories, James watt in 1788 helped in controlling the speed of the steam engine. Further in 20th and 21st-century automation was at peak affecting each economy and each country. It regulated the most advanced phase of industrialization, presented the transition of the world economy from industrial jobs to service jobs, for example-Automated letter machine has made the cash transaction more effective and faster.Features of automation
The various features of automation prevalent in both developing and developed countries are as follows-Automation tools
Automated manufacturing emerged from the intimate relationship of such economic forces and technical innovations such as the division of labor, power transfer, mechanization of the factory and the development of transfer machines and feedback system. There are some automation tools that have been used by any organization in one or the other ways. The various automation tools are as follows-Advantages of automation
Automation is known as the revolution in technology and has an enormous positive impact all over the world. The various advantages of automation are as follows-Disadvantages of automation
Automation has many advantages but it is not been isolated from being associated with many disadvantages. The various disadvantages of automation are as follows-Automation in industry
Many industries are automated and highly specialized using an automatic system. Growth of automation in industries is enormous and of wider scope. But automation levels vary from industry to industry. Agriculture, sales and some service industries are difficult to automate whereas an industry like communication especially telephone industry its highly automated raging from dialing, transmission and billing all done automatically. In the agricultural industry, automation is applicable in the processing and packing of foods but there are some service areas which cannot be automated. For example, a supermarket counter check may be automated but the shelves and supply bin have to be looked at by employees. Similarly, in the medical industry doctors may refer to automated technology and enhance their knowledge but the final decision and process is done by doctors themselves. In the steel, beverage and canned food industry, some products are produced in batches. The automobile and other consumer product industries use the mass-production technique to produce the product step by step and assemble them properly. So automation in the industry has grown at a wider scope; it touches each and every industry with a variation of its usage having little or more influence.Automation and society
Automation has affected societal concepts at large. It provided man with handy and luxurious things which make working easy and convenient. With the emerging phases of industrialization, many new devices emerged which make a living of people more easy and comfortable. Regarding the household stuffs the coming of television, radio, refrigerator, telephones, and other automobiles product mechanized the living of people. Here and there, directly or indirectly all individuals in society are completely relying on the automated device from industry to household stuff. With the prevalence of automation man growth towards industrialization can be traced and explained very well. The automatic lock, automatic washing machine, dishwasher, and many other household and industrial products helping a man in one or the other way to be more comfortable and to live life with luxuries in the era of this fast life. But like everything automation too has some bad effect on the society it has affected man very drastically. Today man is more rational and practical, he is moving toward being more materialist and self-oriented. Social life is now more limited to party and gets together. And the greed towards more luxuries product is growing day by day. Further, the impact of automation varies from developing countries and that of developed countries. It has a more progressive impact on developed countries than in developing countries. Impact of automation on developed countries
Automation influential development can be traced from the developed nations. The western nation has fewer labor forces and the application of automation in this context lead to increase in production and engagement of human labor forces to other areas of development. Automation in a developed nation always leads to maximization of profit and always praised. The perpetual growth and success of automation can be traced in the developed nation very well ranging from the development of small devices to set up of large industrial automation. At present, there is no such industry or area where the application of automation cannot be found. Even in school, the education system is turning toward the automatic system. Hence in a developed nation, the role of automation and its impact is very fruitful and productive. One can see the usage of automation from birth to death, life in developed nation revolve around automation. Impact of automation on developing countries
Developing nations constitute a large population and so an application of automation leads to unemployment. In India automation is strongly resented by employees in the big offices where automatic devices are being increasingly introduced to expedite the disposal of work to save time, ensure uniformity, the regularity of output in the disposal of routine work. The assurances by the employees such as the Life Insurance Corporation and the Reserve Bank of India and other large establishments that there would be no retrenchment as a result of automation are not readily accepted. Consequently, there have been strikes, vehement protests and other expressions of resentment against such mechanical devices. But as industry advances and more sophisticated technology is introduced, some degree of automation seems inevitable even in India, despite the adverse effect on employment. Hence in the present world, automation is part of every economy whether developing or developed nations. It facilitates dynamics in the field of technology and so automation is an inevitable and necessary part of every country. The clock of progress cannot be put back and it would be best for the country to march with the times and not to revert to obsolete Gandhian thesis about manual operations all around.