{"id":331841,"date":"2021-08-26T19:07:44","date_gmt":"2021-08-26T16:07:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/silicon-valleys-answer-to-the-labor-shortage-in-us-factories\/"},"modified":"2021-08-26T19:07:44","modified_gmt":"2021-08-26T16:07:44","slug":"silicon-valleys-answer-to-the-labor-shortage-in-us-factories","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/silicon-valleys-answer-to-the-labor-shortage-in-us-factories\/","title":{"rendered":"#Silicon Valley\u2019s answer to the labor shortage in US factories"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;<strong>#Silicon Valley\u2019s answer to the labor shortage in US factories<\/strong>&#8221;<\/p>\n<div>\n<aside class=\"single__inline-module alignleft\">\n        <\/aside>\n<p>LIVERMORE, Calif., Aug 26 \u2013\u00a0Silicon\u00a0Valley has a\u00a0new\u00a0pitch to persuade small companies to automate: rent-a-robot.<\/p>\n<p>Better <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/technology\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"4\" title=\"Technology\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">technology<\/a> and the need to pay higher wages to humans have produced a surge in sales of robots to big companies all across America. But few of these automatons are making it into\u00a0smaller\u00a0factories, which are wary of big upfront costs and lacking robot engineering talent.<\/p>\n<p>So venture capitalists are backing a\u00a0new\u00a0financial model: lease robots, install and maintain them, charge\u00a0factories\u00a0by the hour or month, cut the risk and initial costs.<\/p>\n<p>Saman Farid, a former venture capitalist who invested in robots for over a decade and saw the challenges of getting robots into\u00a0factories, set up rent-a-robot Formic Technologies with backing from Lux Capital and Initialized Capital, an early investor in self-driving tech startup Cruise.<\/p>\n<p>Initialized Capital partner Garry Tan sees a confluence of cheaper and better robot computer vision and artificial intelligence technology, low interest rates and the threat of\u00a0US-China tensions on supply chains stoking interest in robot sub<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">script<\/a>ions.<\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Tammy Barras, president of Westec Plastics Corp, is seen during an interview with Reuters in Livermore, California, U.S. on August 19, 2021\" class=\"wp-image-19253415\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-2.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Tammy Barras, president of Westec Plastics Corp, is seen during an interview with Reuters in Livermore, California, US on August 19, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">Reuters<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s at the center of three of the largest mega trends that are driving all of society now,\u201d said Tan.<\/p>\n<p>Techies and small business owners do not always understand each other, a dilemma that led an industry group, the Association for Manufacturing Technology, to set up a San Francisco office a couple of years ago, to bring the two together.<\/p>\n<p>The lease model puts\u00a0much of the financial burden on robot startups\u00a0which carry the risk of a manufacturer losing a contract or changing a product.\u00a0Smaller\u00a0factories\u00a0often have small runs\u00a0of more tailored products that are not worth a robot. And\u00a0Silicon\u00a0Valley Robotics, an industry group supporting robot startups, says that in the past, funding has been a challenge.<\/p>\n<p>Still, some high-profile investors are on board.<\/p>\n<p>Tiger Global, the biggest funder of tech startups\u00a0this year, has backed three robot firms offering subscription in seven months.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Melvin the robot<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" width=\"1024\" height=\"682\" src=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1024\" alt=\"Worker Martha Escobar sorts products after they've been labeled with the help of a Rapid Robotics system at Westec Plastics Corp warehouse in Livermore, California, U.S. on August 19, 2021.\" class=\"wp-image-19253416\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1535 1536w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all 1024w, https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-3.jpg?quality=90&amp;strip=all&amp;w=512 512w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\"\/><figcaption>Worker Martha Escobar sorts products after they\u2019ve been labeled with the help of a Rapid Robotics system at Westec Plastics Corp warehouse in Livermore, California, US on August 19, 2021.<\/figcaption><figcaption><span class=\"credit\">REUTERS<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Bob Albert, whose family owns Polar Hardware Manufacturing, a 105-year-old metal stamping factory in Chicago, bought Formic\u2019s pitch to pay less than $10 an hour for a robot, compared with over $20 an hour for his average human worker. He watched this month as a robot arm picked up a metal bar from a bin, spun around and placed it in an older machine that bent it into a 42-inch door handle.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIf the robot works really well, we\u2019ll use it a lot,\u201d said Albert, who was pleased with the initial results. \u201cAnd if it doesn\u2019t work out, neither one of us comes out very well. We have less skin in the <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/game\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"7\" title=\"Game\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">game<\/a> and they have some skin in the game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Westec Plastics Corp, a family-owned plastic molding factory in Livermore, California, got its first robot in January 2020 and now has three \u2013 named Melvin, Nancy and Kim \u2013 from Rapid Robotics which charges $3,750 a month per robot in the first year and $2,100 from year two.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMelvin runs\u00a024 hours\u00a0a day, all three shifts and that replaced three full operators,\u201d said President Tammy Barras, adding that she is saving about $60,000 in\u00a0labor\u00a0costs a year with the one robot alone. \u201cWe\u2019ve had to increase our wages quite significantly this year because of what is going on in the world. And luckily, Melvin has not increased his pay rate. He doesn\u2019t ask for a raise.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barras, who has 102 employees, says robots cannot replace humans today as they can perform only repetitive, simple tasks like picking up a round plastic cylinder and stamping a company logo on the correct side.<\/p>\n<p>Jordan Kretchmer, cofounder and CEO of Rapid Robotics, said he encounters some skepticism. \u201cA lot of times we\u2019ve walked in and there\u2019s a graveyard of robots that they bought in the past,\u201d he said. But he added, \u201crobots can be easy and they do work when they\u2019re in the hands of the right people.\u201d\n                        <\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/nypost.com\/2021\/08\/26\/silicon-valleys-answer-to-the-labor-shortage-in-us-factories\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8220;#Silicon Valley\u2019s answer to the labor shortage in US factories&#8221; LIVERMORE, Calif., Aug 26 \u2013\u00a0Silicon\u00a0Valley has a\u00a0new\u00a0pitch to persuade small companies to automate: rent-a-robot. Better technology and the need to pay higher wages to humans have produced a surge in sales of robots to big companies all across America. But few of these automatons are&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":331842,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/nypost.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2021\/08\/Robotics-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=1024","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[70897],"tags":[114879,11154,5070,5049,33355,4965],"class_list":["post-331841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-8-26-21","tag-ceos","tag-jobs","tag-robots","tag-silicon-valley","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=331841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/331841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/331842"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=331841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=331841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=331841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}