Automation’s Next Frontier
The next “robot” you install might be in your front office; not on your shop floor.
According to Merriam-Webster, automation, by definition, is “the use of machines, computers or technology to run systems and perform tasks with little or no human help.” In the context of plastics processing, automation — in the form of discrete robots or connected systems like a boxing conveyor — has been most prevalent in the realm of production. Going forward, there will obviously still be advances in production automation. However, alongside those more tangible robotic displays on the factory floor will come automation of all the things that keep a plastic processor running that don’t involve melting and forming pellets.
Revisiting the Three D’s
The Three D’s — dull, dirty and dangerous — is the mnemonic device used to describe the types of tasks that traditional automation has targeted in manufacturing. As AI, and in particular agentic AI, takes on a greater role in office work, it won’t necessarily be helping humans automate “dirty” or “dangerous” work, but some of it would certainly fall under “dull”.
In my conversation with Arzana’s Mason Vander Pol (article on pag...