How do you describe what you do for a living?

Peter Nachtwey said:

I don't see how you kill people's jobs. I can't see what you automate being done manually.

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You are thinking about this from the perspective that already knows.

My phrasing "Automate industrial machinery" is not accurate I suppose. "Machinery" suggests that there was already a machine doing the job. The vast majority of people that ask what I do, that phrasing works well enough. Give the machine a brain, I guess. Maybe that is a better way to say it.

Most of the people that ask then associate "automation" with taking jobs. We actually do make machines that automate what people once did manually. Many plants welcome it, "we hated doing that job". Some that did the manual labor now become the operators. Some liked the manual labor and hate operating.

I say that I care that machines do what they are supposed to do and do not hurt people and that people cannot hurt machines.

I usually say im an electrical engineer. That usually steers people off asking any follow up questions.
If i want to be humorous i say im a bit counter.


If someone asks my partner what i do i "do something with computers".

dmroeder said:

I say: I automate industrial machinery. Like JaxGTO, How it's made often comes up. Some people will say, oh, you kill peoples jobs. Basically

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I had a lot of this when I first started the automation of a leaf spring facility.

The place was almost entirely staffed by minimal English work visa immigrants. I'm not sure who told them that I was trying to replace them with robots and conveyors but most of them were sure of it. I had at length conversations in Spanish and Portuguese with these guys and they refused to believe that in 6 months they would still have a job. The 50% who stuck it out all get to work in nice air conditioned work cells and monitor the fanuc robots that do most of the work. The guys who left I found out went to a competing spring shop that still runs manually and they are still working 5ft away from 1800f furnaces all day.

I always found it odd that people think the automation runs an entire building by itself and no humans are ever involved. I have created more jobs than I have removed. Efficiency of the equipment skyrockets but maintenance can as well. A facility that I fully automated to where no human hands touch product until it's already in package went from 35 employees to over 500 because of the growth of the brand.

It's the old "self checkouts are stealing our jobs" line. Really? Aren't there always at least one attendant at those checkouts? They only had 5 open before now they have 4 regular and 10 self check outs. Where did we lose a job?

Also the ego in me always wants to say: If I can replace you with a six axis robot, I really don't care about your job. Learn to be worth more than picking up a box and moving it.

JaxGTO was the poster I was trying to remember earlier!

All western countries are going to have a huge deficit in available workers in healthcare and care for the elderly due to the falling birth rates.
There will be enough jobs.

Peter Nachtwey said:

I don't see how you kill people's jobs. I can't see what you automate being done manually.


I know that what I do does. Sometimes we are so efficient we kill our own jobs.
There have been multiple times where we sold the controls for a machine and we were suppose to sell 2 or 3 more and it didn't happen because the first machine performed so well.


Our french fry machines replace 8 to 20 people.

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People have said that to me many times. I explain that back in the day there was a LOT of manual labor. Look at old videos of assembly plants, stamping, casting. Lots of moving heavy stuff with 2 people. All day long.
I say I automate things to keep people from being injured by 8 hours of repetitive motion a day for 20 some years.
I've met many old folks in Northern Michigan who are injured, stove up, disabled, hurting constantly from years in those plants. So automation removes jobs that are hazardous to humans in many ways and hopefully the people that have been automated out of a job will be reassigned and/or the company will expand production to make use of those people and the automation.

"I design build & program control panels for industrial machinery"

Formerly: "I program the computers that run assembly lines."

Now: "I teach people how to program industrial computers."

I tried all the usual others have posted, then settled on systems engineer for most people you could see their brain cogs moving but did not want to look like they did not know what that was, it seemed to work, now that I'm retired, I just tell them I sit on my A&$E & try to answer on this site

My latest hat(again)is gathering fact/documents for lawyers.

Not sure how to categorize that, but the owner of the OEM is a pathological gambler and liar. Blows everyone's money he owes in one night at the casino, hoping to strike it rich, SO HE CAN PAY THEM!

I help automate the world

NetNathan said:

I help automate the world

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I've been asked to grow some of my bad *** tomatoes and peppers again this year. Oh, they will be good, providing nature cooperates and the Mexican's don't clean them out.

Nothing against anyone, but do you really need to strip the plants during the night just to make some salsa?

Yeah, so my neighbors are watching out this year, and have... leave that for the local news. LOL

android and sql programmer ... but in 3 months I will retire!

RVaughan said:

Now: "I teach people how to program industrial computers."

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Oh cool, I should get into teaching, then I could say "I teach people to watch progress bars"