All we’ve been hearing is that the fast food workers DESERVE $15/hour. Not that they earn it – they DESERVE it. Not that they are economicially worth it for the skill level they have – they DESERVE it. And the back story is that it’s all about the SEIU union coffers, looking to cash in. We’ve previously talked about the robot hamburger maker and order taking kiosks. Well, here’s the robo-stock-the-shelves monkey (I was one in high school and college vacations) job killer. Oh, grocery store unions? (emphasis mine, reformatted):
A shelf-scanning bot called Tally will help make sure everything is in its place in supermarkets and other retail outlets.
When customers can’t find a product on a shelf it’s an inconvenience. But by some estimates, it adds up to billions of dollars of lost revenue each year for retailers around the world.
A new shelf-scanning robot called Tally could help ensure that customers never leave a store empty-handed. It roams the aisles and automatically records which shelves need to be restocked.
The robot, developed by a startup called Simbe Robotics, is the latest effort to automate some of the more routine work done in millions of warehouses and retail stores. It is also an example of the way robots and AI will increasingly take over parts of people’s jobs rather than replacing them. Restocking shelves is simple but hugely important for retailers. Billions of dollars may be lost each year because products are missing, misplaced, or poorly arranged, according to a report from the analyst firm IHL Services. In a large store it can take hundreds of hours to inspect shelves manually each week.
Brad Bogolea, CEO and cofounder of Simbe Robotics, says his company’s robot can scan the shelves of a small store, like a modest CVS or Walgreens, in about an hour. A very large retailer might need several robots to patrol its premises. He says the robot will be offered on a subscription basis but did not provide the pricing. Bogolea adds that one large retailer is already testing the machine.
Tally automatically roams a store, checking whether a shelf needs restocking; whether a product has been misplaced or poorly arranged; and whether the prices shown on shelves are correct. The robot consists of a wheeled platform with four cameras that scan the shelves on either side from the floor up to a height of eight feet. Tally takes advantage of the fact that big stores already put together data showing the layout of shelves and the arrangement of products on those shelves…
So, we’re back to that old maxim – if Government artificially increases the price of labor, owners and managers are going to find a way to offset that. As people like these misguided labor “advocates” keep yelling and stomping about a “living wage”, more and more of these ever increasingly expensive positions will be replaced. And then where will these low skilled workers go now that the union operatives have priced them out of the jobs they need? Where will our young’uns get those starter jobs – how many teenagers are worth that kind of money? So where are the opportunities for them to learn to show up on time (no matter what else is going in their lives), dress neatly with a good appearance, and talk nice with customers? To learn that hard work is good for them, gives them a REAL reason for a good dash of self-esteem via a sense of accomplishment instead just being handed a “I showed up, too!” trophy…
…and expect that a job is to be handed to them.
I will “age” myself – a lot of my buddies growing up had those lower rung jobs – delivering papers, shoveling snow and the like when in elementary school and Jr High, and gas pumpers who would check tire pressures, oil levels, windshield wiper levels, movie theater ushers. Now where are those jobs?
They no longer exist. They’ve been priced out of the markets.
Certainly, I am not a proponent for minimum wage – and certainly NOT at $15/hr. I am the reverse – get government OUT of my way and the employer I wish to work for. Let me manage my own deliberations over wages and benefits for I may want something other than what government diktats mandate that better fit my situation. This robot is the “unknown unknown” unforseen consequence of people too big for their elected or bureaucratic britches believing that they can set the rules and no one would outthink them and do the same things differently. That people would not just “obey” the economic strictures they believe is best; the hubris of knowledge (F.A. Hayek).
Robots – more and more will be coming. Why? Because people with smarts, skills, and a pizzahs of bellicosity with good ideas and a yearning to not only serve people but make a buck will keep outmanoevering those Smart People who believe they know what’s best for everyone.
Morons…..
