Robots taking over our jobs has been the subject of numerous sci-fi horror flicks.
But reality appears to be a little less scary than the movies, with robots possibly making it safer for workers and affording employers a solution to the labour shortage.
Beverlie Taylor, Cardinal Health’s director of operations for Quebec and the Atlantic, says so.
Cardinal Health’s facility in Dorval, Que., has become the first of multiple locations across Canada to implement a fleet of 27 robots assisting employees.
Bonus? No need to learn 27 different names.
“Their names are R2D…. We had a naming contest and that’s the name that was selected by the employees,” Taylor said. “Great engagement by employees, it just shows how excited they were to be a part of this.”
Cardinal Health supplies medical products to most hospitals across Canada.
It implemented its fleet about two months ago.
“Their main task right now is moving product from point A to point B,” Taylor explained.
Employees no longer have to push heavy carts around while collecting items to fulfill several orders at the same time.
The robots have artificial intelligence technology, which allows them to find the shortest routes between products.
R2D functions in both French and English.
Taylor says they have improved efficiency, order accuracy and even health and safety.
“It’s a pretty cool technology to be a part of,” Taylor said.
Robots carry iPads with orders that need to be fulfilled. Employees read them and put the different items in bins carried by the robots. Once completed, the robot drives itself to a conveyer belt where employees seal the bins and send them over to the next step, which is dispatching the order.
“When they get tired, they will just go and charge themselves, so they’re pretty low-maintenance,” said Taylor.
Pretty low maintenance and pretty high tech, as these robots can work in many industries. They can even “sing” Happy Birthday while delivering an order at a restaurant.
Robotics expert Gregory Dudek, a Distinguished James McGill Professor at McGill University, says we can expect to see more and more robots.
In fact, robotics are already in things many of us don’t even suspect.
“The thing that lets you use Google Maps, that is a robotics technology originally that came into our telephones and likewise into our cars and into our microwaves,” Dudek said.
While the technology is quickly entering many aspects of our lives, Dudek says workers should not fear for their jobs, at least in the next five to 10 years.
“People are really needed. It’s not going to be taking away jobs not for quite a long time or maybe never,” Dudek said.
According to a study by Statistics Canada conducted between 1996 and 2017, robots have so far had a generally positive impact in the labour market.
Companies that have implemented robotic technology have actually “expanded both their high- and low-skilled workforce, although not their middle-skilled workforce after investing in robots.”
At Cardinal Health, expanding is the plan.
“Because of the expedited training working with these robots we are able to onboard employees faster,” said Russell Schuster, Cardinal Health Canada president.
That, in turn, also helps with labour shortages.
Taylor says they are excited about adding more colleagues on wheels, to give the business wings.
“I’d say right now, sky is the limit,” Taylor said.
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