OT- suppliers of automation for fast food (ie McDonalds etc)

VAN said:

Why? Engineers get told what to do buy people that aren't STEM.

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You are assuming you are working for a big company. They assume you can't work on your own. The best will leave then contract with their former employer because they can solve problem the others there can't.



I am an engineer and president of Delta Computer Systems, Inc. STILL.Tom Jenkins is an engineer. I am sure he has done alright after selling his company.


Another controls company that was started by people I know is
https://www.lucidyne.com/
The founder of and I worked together at another company. We were both "laid off" at the same time a long time go. We both got a chance to do things our own way. We both were successful.


https://duckduckgo.com/?q=concept+systems+oregon&t=newext&atb=v249-1&ia=web
The founder of this company worked for a customer of ours that went out of business. Concept systems eventually became one of our customers. These guys are made the automation of the film "Master and Commander" happen after a competitor failed.


There have been many offers to buy Delta but we are very independent. I am sure that if any major company bought Delta, they would ruin it.



Some of you have started your own companies. The best of you will do much better than the rest that are working for the man.
Once you have a little success and a few extra dollars you can buy or make your own building and rent it too yourself or your company.

Some one asked in my retirement thread for hints. Be able to solve problems that others can't.

Peter Nachtwey said:

I am an engineer and president of Delta Computer Systems, Inc. STILL.

There have been many offers to buy Delta but we are very independent. I am sure that if any major company bought Delta, they would ruin it.

Some of you have started your own companies. The best of you will do much better than the rest that are working for the man.
Once you have a little success and a few extra dollars you can buy or make your own building and rent it too yourself or your company.

Some one asked in my retirement thread for hints. Be able to solve problems that others can't.

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I know the whole boot straps talk and all that, but with some stats. 75% of engineer students never work as engineers, and 90% of start ups fail.

Sure, a new graduate could come out swinging and solve the unsolvable but I bet my bottom dollar that 99% of those fail or lose their *** on potential profit.

I've actually had a training with you Pete at Delta, you guys have a great product but I wouldn't tell a new graduate or even pre-college person that is the most likely out come of going into STEM.

VAN said:

I know the whole boot straps talk and all that, but with some stats. 75% of engineer students never work as engineers,

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That is because they don't have "The Knack"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvGYIALoKRk
You must really understand the significance of the doctor in this cartoon. He is not just a doctor or garbage man.

I am very nice on this forum because I don't expect anyone to be PhDs or engineers. However on other forums I am brutal. You see, I don't think too much of most engineers and professors either.

Shifts are nothing new in the economy. Any change has winners and losers.


So there may not be people making burgers, but there will be people do basic routine maintenance to machines. Mostly cleaning them. There might be fewer positions, but they would likely pay more. Factories that weren't there before will need to make the machines. You will need janitors in those factories, and a few people (at least) working in assembly, and people verifying that these machines work correctly, and that they are getting shipped correctly, plus these additional jobs along the supply line.

All of those positions are positions that wouldn't be there without the new industry (fast food <insert task here> machines). It is entirely possible that economic shifts like this actually end up creating more jobs aside from the obvious ones.

Peter Nachtwey said:

That is because they don't have "The Knack"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvGYIALoKRk
You must really understand the significance of the doctor in this cartoon. He is not just a doctor or garbage man.

I am very nice on this forum because I don't expect anyone to be PhDs or engineers. However on other forums I am brutal. You see, I don't think too much of most engineers and professors either.

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The video is absolutely hilarious. Thanks for the link.

Are those other forums where you are "not nice" to PhDs and professors open to visitors? I am curious to learn what you mean by being brutal to PhDs and professors. I intend to be a passive reader of some of those posts if they are accessible. have a god day.

I occasionally get into heated arguments with people that believe that automation take away jobs. I usually argue that automation remove the bad jobs i.e. the hard, repetitive, poluted jobs and create better jobs i.e. lets us work with our brains.

In the case of burger chains, I think that even though the jobs are not good, they keep up a very important function of providing jobs for the lesser educated. If these jobs disappear it will be a big social problem in certain countries.
So I would be aprehensive about taking on a job that in the end would cause problems for many people.

parky said:

Let automation do the things that are repetitive, but we all need that human interaction,

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Amen.

parky said:

, and people need jobs.

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I think this is a big concern. I am not for that job tasks should be kept as they are only for the sake of keeping jobs. If this was a policy, we would all be working hard in the fields, the mines, and the fishing boats like they did 300 years ago.
But fast food chains have a function in some countries of being the last possibility for many disadvantaged persons. If these jobs disappear, it will be a big problem.

parky said:

Been an automation engineer for nearly 40 years & embrace it, but.....
Think about the automation of customers service.
Yesterday, I had to call my bank regarding a small problem, the first stage was to give me a list of options for the type of service I required, no problem, then put me through to an automated dunce, "In your own words, tell me what the call is about", my reply was simple (not going to divulge it obviously) but I needed to speak to an advisor, I it replied "recent transactions" and then gave me a list of recent transactions, not what I wanted, after repeated tries on a number different possible avenues, I just stopped answering, eventually the message was "please wait I will put you through to an advisor", Then comes the queue, yes you guessed it, 25 minutes later I was number 1 in the queue, after being number 1 for about 12 minutes (yes I was timing it) I got the "message sorry cannot take your call please try again later".

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That is a case of cutting down the customer service to far below what should be expected. It sounds to me that the bank uses the system to turn away bothersome customers.

I think that automated 1st level customer service can be fine. If you just need to order a standard product, or change an existing order it is faster than having to go through a live person. And if you need more specific support, I find it fair that you are asked to prepare with same basic information before proceeding to a live person. In this way some resources can be saved and be used for better service. But if automation is only used to cut costs, then we get worse service.

Bit_Bucket_07 said:

I'm having a hard time taking the OP seriously, but I have, at times, felt a pang of guilt about all of the jobs that I have eliminated over the years.

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I've thought about that also. And, I've gotten into some pretty serious "discussions" on this topic; my location will tell you why that happened.
And I remember when I was young and living out west and couldn't get a job because of affirmative action and would've gladly worked at Mickies.
I've lived in Michigan now over 10 years, and have met lots of folks with repetitive motion injuries. I think automation ought to concentrate on eliminating jobs that hurt people. I've met folks who've spent 20+ years in these plants down here and then they're up in Alpena or Charlevoix half crippled, stove up, can't keep up with that 10 acres they wanted so badly.
In an ideal world, those jobs I just described would be automated, and the folks re-trained for something else--better. Or, the company could expand and use these people. Realistically, that won't happen, and not every person wants a "green" job or to work with computers or build electric vehicle charging stations. They want to do what they know and like.
+1 for Parky. We will always need a human interaction in customer service and food service.

Peter Nachtwey said:

I am very nice on this forum because I don't expect anyone to be PhDs or engineers. However on other forums I am brutal. You see, I don't think too much of most engineers and professors either.

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We need to start calling you Chef Ramsay of Automation World.... then we can start a new forum "Hell's PLC"

Peter Nachtwey said:

That is because they don't have "The Knack"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TvGYIALoKRk

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"Can he lead a normal life?"


"No, he'll be an engineer."


"Boo hoo hoo hoo hoo. Oh Nooooo!"


LOL.

My stomach rolls when I go to do an automation job and management asks how many people my work can replace.

So today I saw a sign at two fast foods, one was 19 to 24 dollars an hour and the other had a signing bonus... the only way this is possible is through automation, you have half the staff there for you can pay more for the real people you have

Half of the fast food are still only open at the drive through because they dont have the staff to open

Strange times we live in....

I worked for a McD's supplier for a few years. They had robot palletizers that weren't set up to handle all the different new products, so there was a crew of laborers who had to stack boxes of frozen patties on a pallet all day when those items were produced. After some learning, I was able to make corrections to the robot set up and add all the new products which basically eliminated four or five back breaking jobs. At first, the folks who did that work gave me the evil eye in the break room, but soon enough, I was their best friend. None of them were laid off, but all of them moved into much easier roles.

When a new product came along, they were the first to bug me about getting it automated so they didn't have to do that work anymore.

More robot programmers, less human forklifts, less fry flippers.

But all my fast food comes from Braum's.

I would never live more than fifty miles from the nearest Braum's restaurant.

Now I am fortunate enough to get to do some of the controls work for them in their water plants.

I try to patronize local cafe's and small town businesses as much as possible and money is no object when it comes to food.

I am a little bit like Will Rogers in the fact that I never met a meal I didn't like, but I would much rather pay double for a handmade meal prepared by somebody's grandma than one slapped together by a machine with assistance from anonymous teenagers.

parky said:

Yesterday, I had to call my bank regarding a small problem,

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-- Rant Enabled --
Banks only want your money, they hate to see your face. Banks have been itching for decades to get rid of their help, the tellers and the deskers.

If I were a conspiracy theorist, I'd say that bankers were behind Covid-xx, because it got them what they've long wanted: local lockdowns when no one was in the bank, locked doors denying their customers entrance, personal appearance by appointment only, ability to ignore the local phone calls, all to keep themselves more than socially distanced from the customers.
-- Rant Disabled --

In the end it is still survival of the fittest or most adaptable

NetNathan said:

My stomach rolls when I go to do an automation job and management asks how many people my work can replace.

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Mine doesn't. I/we create better jobs with better pay for our employees and our suppliers.
The customer may reduce jobs but increase profits. We have had cases where a customer planned to build 3 machines but only built one since it worked so well. In a way we hurt ourselves in the short term. In the long term everyone that has money benefits because prices are lower.

What must be considered is than in normal times, 50% of the startup companies will fail before 5 years. That is brutal but that is the way it is. The employees that are out of work get unemployment insurance but the owner of the fail business lose their savings and get nothing.

I/we make motion controllers that automate things. It isn't too hard to automate repetitive tasks. To those that aren't high tech people, I refer them to Mike Rowe on how to get by
https://mikerowe.com/

I have a nephew that dropped out of college to become a pip fitter or boiler maker. That is a brutal job but he is doing well and has risen quickly. Hopefully he will find a management position before he is 45.

Most of the people on this forum are the lucky ones that can automate things or keep machines running. It will be difficult to replace you.