The more we use automated assembly systems, the more maintenance they need.
In a former Pratt & Whitney jet-engine-testing facility, a canary-yellow robotic arm is rotating above a table. An instructor taps on a tablet, and the arm shifts to move in a different direction. The demonstration is part of a tour of a new robotics and automation training center that Goodwin College, in East Hartford, Conn., and engineering consultant Rapid Global Business Solutions Inc. unveiled in March. The new center is part of Goodwin’s 60,000-square-foot manufacturing facility on the banks of the Connecticut River, near the aerospace giant’s global headquarters.
About 25 percent of U.S. workers—representing 36 million jobs—could be replaced by automation in the next few decades, according to a Brookings Institution report released this year. Goodwin is one of a number of U.S. institutions investing in training to prepare blue-collar workers for that shift. While jobs are being eliminated, many positions that are safer, more interesting, and pay better than the typical assembly-line assignment are being created. An advanced degree in engineering or artificial intelligence isn’t required, but some training is.