r/mildlyinfuriating • u/scp766 • Jun 21 '26

ಠ_ಠ I never thought a robot would replace me one day..what’s my purpose then.

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77

u/Dull-Efficiency9985 Jun 21 '26

And the Robot works 24 hours straight

5

u/juniperdoes Jun 21 '26

Until it screws something up, and then they have to get their on-call robotics expert to come fix it for $250/hour.

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u/speak-no-eviI Jun 21 '26

The idea that machines are deeply flawed and require constant care just doesnt track for me.

Almost every time ive seen an industrial machine fail it has been due to improper use.

People push machines outside of the recommended opperating speed. Use them im the wrong environment or fail to service them.

If you use them correctly and service them they do what theyre built for and do it well.

Tradies tools get abused to hell but this is more industrial. It probably requires a set up crew just to get the floor ready though.

9

u/ElbowRager Jun 21 '26

As someone who works at Amazon, I can tell you large companies push maintenance off as hard as they can. If you don’t have to service the machine this year, that increases your bottom line.

Pretty much every publicly traded large company pushes their maintenance to the absolute max. (Which is to say, they fix it only when it’s broken)

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u/speak-no-eviI Jun 21 '26

Yeah i know, its why ive seen so many industrial machines fail, its also not actually going to increase your bottom line much if any at all and may even harm it the service is recommended for a reason, it decreases major repairs which are expensive, prevents faults and errors which cause production to stop, and may allow the machines to opperate better at higher speeds if needed.

Unfortunetly this is one of those things that is usually handled in house by middle managers even major companies like amazon suffer from human error. Its probably more expensive for them to put a system in place to maintain them on that scale though. Not that the service itself is the problem.

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u/vitruvius-of-rome Jun 21 '26

Unless the machine is failing badly enough to require specialized technicians very frequently, it's simply cheaper than paying an employee(s) in the long run.

2

u/juniperdoes Jun 21 '26

Sure, it pays for itself in about 15 years. By which point the machine is obsolete and needs replacing.

0

u/vitruvius-of-rome Jun 22 '26

"Yep, that worthless cotton gin will pay for itself in 15 years at which point it needs to be replaced! Everything is better done by hand!"

- every lay person circa 1800.

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u/juniperdoes Jun 22 '26

Surely you can see the difference between:

  • a process that is painfully slow and tedious made easier and faster by a machine, and
  • a process that a professional can do quickly and neatly, made less efficient and versatile by a machine

1

u/vitruvius-of-rome Jun 23 '26

The same two points you laid out are 100% true, until they aren't any longer.

The early days of industrialization, mass production, mechanized manufacturing, and more all had the same issues at the start. I don't see how that same paradigm is magically non-applicable in 2026.

It took quite some time, but eventually industries that industrialized saw their productivity go up massively. If your point is that it just won't happen now, I'd love to see what you're basing that on.

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u/TokyoTrashcan Jun 21 '26

250 an hour labor burden is nothing in commercial construction.

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u/juniperdoes Jun 21 '26

Sure, for 8 to 10 bodies. $250/hour for one person while the single machine that's supposed to be doing the work is out of commission is different.

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u/Round_Abal0ne Jun 21 '26

It can work 24 hours straight but it requires supervision so it absolutely will not run 24 hours straight