Radio 4 – In Business – The March of Robots
02-09-2020
Fashion-Enter CEO Jenny Holloway opened an informative Radio 4 programme with David Baker titled: ‘The March of Robots’. Aired on the 30th August, the programme questioned the rise of automation at work and will robots take more jobs?
Jenny opened the programme by giving journalist David Baker a virtual tour of the Factory, she then talked about the technology the company has invested in, such as Optitex, and how such technology reduces time, cost and waste. She confirmed that manufacturing today needs to combine people skills with the latest technology to ensure optimum outputs and growth.
Jenny also discussed Sewbots, and while robot machinists, or Sewbots, have been developed they won’t be replacing human machinists anytime soon. “There’s not a machine that I have seen that can even be 10% efficient to what our machinists are.”
David mentioned that an economic downturn will often lead to further automation, and now in the midst of a pandemic the time is ripe for investment. However, businesses in the UK have been criticized for being slow on the uptake and the advice is to invest over the next decade.
Tap here to listen to Jenny, her segment is at the very beginning of the 28-minute programme and she is followed by other interviewees sharing their views.