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14 PalletCentral • September-October 2020 palletcentral.com Although these technologies have the potential to provide enormous social benefit, they also carry with them social, ethical, and legal risks." Pandemic of Workforce Adjustments The pallet industry outlook for progress is in collaborative processes rather than a non-human one. "We've learned that automation is not a 'one size fits all' conversation," says Grinwis. "The automation of processes and production can be accomplished through the addition of many types of equipment and systems like robotics, sortation systems, conveying systems, software, and more." The Robotics Industries Association notes that manufacturing is prime for this kind of work. They define Collaborative Robots (cobots) as process automation that offer a cost-effective solution with a high return on investment. They are designed to operate cooperatively alongside humans, and to alleviate task demands while enhancing production efficiencies. Specially designed end-effectors allow cobots to perform process tasks which are deemed monotonous, strenuous, hazardous, or time consuming for humans. Where Industry 4.0 was focused mainly on ensur- ing consistency of quality, flow, and data collection, Industry 5.0 puts more attention on highly-skilled people and robots working side-by-side to create individualized products for the customer. In Industry 4.0, humans and robots worked independently, with clear delineations between where the robot worked and where the human worked. With Industry 5.0, that delineation gets hazier as humans and robots start to work side-by-side and even together. These types of cobots will accomplish the required tasks of heavy lifting and ensuring consistency while the skilled human provides the cognitive skills of a craftsperson. "The fact that the U.S. economy ground to a standstill during the coronavirus pandemic made it abundantly clear that robots are nowhere near ready to replace humans en masse," says Matt Simon, a science journalist at WIRED in an April 2020 blog. "The machines promise to change virtually every aspect of human life, from health care to transportation to work. Should they help us drive with adaptive cruise control? Absolutely. Should they replace nurses and cops? Maybe not – certain jobs may always require a human touch. "One thing is abundantly clear," he says. "The machines have arrived. Now we have to figure out how to handle the responsibility of having invented a whole new species." Caryn Smith is CEO of Driven By Design LLC, a communications agency specializing in association publications for over 20 years. She is a freelance writer and editor of trade publications and also serves as the art director of PalletCentral for the last 8 years. Rep. Susan Davis, D-Calif. has stated the need to reconfigure training to help people who lose jobs to automation technology is a significant challenge. "As automation and other emerging trends continue to disrupt our economy in new ways, we must reshape workforce programs to help all workers at risk of displacement secure in-demand skills." State and federal laws are outdated and even oblivious to emerging technologies impact on worker's rights. Therefore, employees who are displaced by an automated machine will, no doubt, have protection that will be reflected in coming legislation – likely adding some responsibility by employers to the workers. In fact, in September 2019, Senator Sherrod Brown (D-OH) was praised for starting the conversation with his bill, S.2468 – Workers' Right to Training Act. This legislation garnered the support of unions and others, which required workers to provide advance notice of any technology changes that may affect workers' jobs and provide training to these workers in advance of adopting the new technology. It is still lingering, currently in the Senate Finance committee. A Jan. 30, 2020, New York Times article by David Deming noted, "The Industrial Revolution powered a tremendous increase in prosperity. Yet working conditions in the factories of the 19th century were terrible, much worse than anything we see today. Beginning in the early 20th century, trade unions and new government regulations acted together to raise pay, improve working conditions and increase workplace safety. … We need a similar strengthening of the social contract to manage the changing nature of work in the digital age." Workforce issues prior to COVID-19 focused on increasing efficiency, says a recent Gartner workforce study. Now, well into the COVID-19 disruptor, the key to success has turned to a focus on resiliency, which primes the pump for the advancement non- human reliant automation. Other organizations are also performing studies, such as the National Science Foundation (NSF) who seeks to understand the future of work on the human-technology frontier and develop useful, convergent research on human-technology partnerships. They state, "New technologies offer unrivaled opportunities for making decisions, controlling tasks, and assembling goods. Algorithms will be able to judge worker performance and optimize worker assignments. … Robots will be able to take over some of humans' most dangerous, time consuming, and physically demanding jobs.

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