Automation will never replace me

[CPM2014]

I heard a saying long ago.

What is a tool and die maker?

A machinist with delusions of grandeur

I heard a saying too….. those that repeat that joke have never worked as a tool and die maker. ��

 

[Orange Vise]

Robots don't replace machinists. Machinists replace other machinists.

Specifically, machinists who can leverage the power of automation reduce the number of jobs required to staff a given operation.

 

[plastikdreams]

I heard a saying too….. those that repeat that joke have never worked as a tool and die maker. ��

Someone needs to get otrit in here

 

[DDoug]

Digger Doug. I need to change my bio. I am no longer a tool and die apprentice. That was 2.5 years ago. I’m a Cnc lathe machinist that just hopped on a Cnc mill for the first time a month ago and have been one offing and small batching ever since. I’ve worked at a lot shops and manufacturing facilities OEMS. Etc. full scale Automation might be possible for 1/3 of these shops. The other 2/3 don’t know what the f$ck is going on either

So you washed out of the T&D program.....Excellent.

You have seen Fanuc robots loading CNC lathes ?
Been around for many, many years.

Oh looky, here's another owner looking to automate, a CNC lathe no less:
First robot suggestions?

 

[plastikdreams]

So you washed out of the T&D program.....Excellent.

You have seen Fanuc robots loading CNC lathes ?
Been around for many, many years.

My thought of a cnc machinist...if I was making a job description is

Can fully inspect first article per print before running more parts. Does the same at required intervals.

Can debur and inspect parts while keeping machine running.

Can program parts, set up, and run without outside assistance. This includes making fixturing for new parts or part of continuous improvement, including program optimization.

Can make adjustments on the fly to correct tool paths.

Can operate manual mills and lathes to assist in product finishing (2nd ops etc) and or fixture building.

Performs maintenance on machine such as cleaning, lubing, and inspecting wear parts.

There's probably more but you get the gist.

 

[gustafson]

My thought of a cnc machinist...if I was making a job description is

Can fully inspect first article per print before running more parts. Does the same at required intervals.

Can debur and inspect parts while keeping machine running.

Can program parts, set up, and run without outside assistance. This includes making fixturing for new parts or part of continuous improvement, including program optimization.

Can make adjustments on the fly to correct tool paths.

Can operate manual mills and lathes to assist in product finishing (2nd ops etc) and or fixture building.

Performs maintenance on machine such as cleaning, lubing, and inspecting wear parts.

There's probably more but you get the gist.

'
Uhh, yeah, so they can program parts without knowing what a speed or a feed is because they are just a 'button pusher'


They can tell when something is wrong by the sound the machine makes because they are just a 'button pusher'

While there is a certain tactile pleasure in feeling the edge of the cutter make contact with the part as you turn the handle, there is more pleasure from eating and living indoors that comes from actually making enough money at ones vocation to take advantage of those things

 

[AJ H]

What Gustafson said is dead nuts. It takes twenty years to make a machinist with two decades experience, no shortcuts.

What I see is that there are fewer entry level jobs, and they pay worse. You need people to go through those to get experience and become the highly skilled automated manufacturing expert that's needed to setup and run the bar-fed, robot tended, and pallet-pool systems that put many of the entry level guys out of work. That means if you can make it through, over that hill, and become that expert, you can basically write your own check. I was able to skip some of that by coming out of tech school as a programmer rather than an operator, but it still took me 20 years before I felt I could call myself financially successful.

Perhaps when we can upload and download experiences that path can be shortened.

"Tank, I need an operator program for a Matsuura LS 160."

can you fly that helicopter - YouTube

There's no replacement for experience but an ambitious person can pack a lot more of it into a year than their peers. Up until I started my own side shop last year I never turned down an ounce of overtime, took night classes, read machine manuals and watched instructional videos off the clock. Now I work all day then drive to my shop and work all night and all weekend. I figure that at 31yo if 2000hrs=1yrs experience I've been doing this for 30+ years.

 

[CarbideBob]

"I can not be replaced by automation, robots or computers".
Are there any more famous last words than these?

 

[mhajicek]

"I can not be replaced by automation, robots or computers".
Are there any more famous last words than these?

It's a matter of when, not if. Might take a few hundred years, in which case you won't have to worry about it unless you're young, seriously invest in life extension technologies, and get really lucky.

Might take 20 years, in which case, better be saving for retirement.

Some have already been replaced.

White Castle Set to Roll Out 100 Flippy Robots - Food On Demand

As well as the aforementioned bar feeders, robot tenders, and pallet pools.

You remember John Henry?
Legend of John Henry's Hammer~Johnny Cash - YouTube

 

[plastikdreams]

It's a matter of when, not if. Might take a few hundred years, in which case you won't have to worry about it unless you're young, seriously invest in life extension technologies, and get really lucky.

Might take 20 years, in which case, better be saving for retirement.

Some have already been replaced.

White Castle Set to Roll Out 100 Flippy Robots - Food On Demand

As well as the aforementioned bar feeders, robot tenders, and pallet pools.

You remember John Henry?
Legend of John Henry's Hammer~Johnny Cash - YouTube

I can hoist a jack, I can lay a track, I can pick and shovel too

Can you swing a hammer boy?!

 

[TeachMePlease]

Didn't John Henry's heart explode?

Pyrrhic victories and such...

 

[Kingbob]

From my perspective the way to rank machinist(or any human with a job)from one to another is by asking how complex of a problem can that person solve.
This is the way operational management sees it.
Some jobs just have to go to your best people or teams.
As long as people are making decisions and making demands there will be complexity that must be sorted out by the capable.
I see all these societal "problems" as simply raising the value of my personal stock. Supply and demand baby!
I as well as many others on this site are already making 6 figures a year because that's what our skill sets are worth.
My customers demand same and next day deliveries, until some one comes up with a teleporter you aren't going to get that from the third world.
Suck it up boys the only way to ensure your job is to do your damndest every day to be the best guy on the crew you work with.
They've been calling this thing a rat race since grandpa's grandpa's time, nothings changed.

 

[mhajicek]

Didn't John Henry's heart explode?

Pyrrhic victories and such...

Yup. And you too can outcompete automation, for a while, if you put in 110% 80 hours a week.

I'd rather put in 90% 40 hours a week, and tell the machines what to do.