Operation Management

Robots as a Solution in US

Since 1920s, the robotic production has tremendously been increasing in United States after automobile factories began automation of process associated with car production (Investopedia). By increasing productivity and reducing total labor hours, the use of robots is reducing costs for consumers. The technology reduces fixed costs that are associated with labor which in turn increases and improves profit margin for a company. Robots can thus be an answer in running a shop especially one in production as it will reduce production time and labor cost which reduces cost in the long run.

Use of Robots in Amazon

Robots in Amazon are not only more efficient but they are taking less space than human would. This can affect the modification of the warehouse to have less wide aisles and more shelf life. The grand vision of Amazon for robots is to find ones which will carry more advanced and diverse tasks. In ten years, the warehouse of Amazon will have few human workers as robotic technology as per the time will understand orders placed by humans, sort and fill the orders on their own and make deliveries of the orders.

Personal Opinion

Personally, I think that robots will have a high blow mostly to the low skilled labors and middle skilled labors too. This will negatively affect their social status as they will lose their job resulting to unemployment. Although the human labor will be jeopardized, many companies in the US will benefit from the automation due to competitive and efficiency. This will in turn improve the economy of the city and the state at large.

Off-Shoring/Out-Sourcing Overseas

Many manufacturing countries operate and seek for cheap labor in other countries. The need of out-sourcing or off-shoring is being replaced by low cost robotic solutions. Many manufacturing companies can operate using robots which are cost effective, efficient and competitive than locating their plants in countries that have cheap labor. Despite the gloom and doom, robotics and associated technology advances are positively impacting the local manufactures positively. They are even assisting in the return of overseas jobs or bot-sourcing by returning production home.

Wal-Mart

The performance of Wal-Mart has been impressive due to its high profits and the number of people it have employed. However, the business model that the business uses is favorable to the consumers and shareholders but unfavorable to employees and its suppliers. On the big part it is unfavorable to the vendors as it exerts pressure on them to obtain favorable terms and conditions. The human resource practices of the business are unfavorable as they are known in paying low wages to their employees. It also denies them essential benefits like health insurance and covers, denies them the freedom of expression, over works them and according to the video (UNIglobaunion,), the employees are paid $15,576 which is below the federal poverty level.

In five years, Wal-Mart will be facing a challenge due to its competitors like Aldi, Family Dollar crowd the space, Costco and Trader’s Joe’s. However, shopping at Wal-Mart for price conscious customers will be less compelling (Brea – Solís, Humberto et al.). Another challenge the store is possible to face is the probability of losing its competitive edge due to purveyors of extreme convenience (hard discounters, dollar clubs) or extreme value (warehouse clubs) due to neutralization of impact selection by e-commerce.

Unionizing Wal-Mart

Unionizing the business will increase the price of the shirt. If the discount retailer unionizes its employee population, it will increase their salary and the way they treat employees which will in turn distort its business strategy. This will increase production cost of the shirt which will in turn increase its cost.

References

4K Ultra HD Trailer,. “Made In China: Factory Of The World Full Documentary”. 2016, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QbRovJx9EyA.

BREA – SOLÍS, HUMBERTO et al. “Business Model Evaluation: Quantifying Walmart’S Sources Of Advantage”. Digital Access To Scholarship At Harvard, pp. 6-10. https://dash.harvard.edu/bitstream/handle/1/13135315/brea-solis,casadesus-masanell,grifell-tatje_business-model-eval_SEJ-12-0963-R3.pdf?sequence=1.

Fox 13 News-Tampa Bay,. “Behind The Scenes Of An Amazon Warehouse”. 2015, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y-lBvI6u_hw.

Investopedia,. “What Impact Has Robotic Production Had On Profitability In The Automotive Sector?”. Investopedeia, 2015, http://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/041515/what-impact-has-robotic-production-had-profitability-automotive-sector.asp.

UNIglobaunion,. “Wal-Mart Supply Chain”. 2013, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZC4neLax5oU.