Logistics and Supply Chain Professional Discussion

Callixtus said:
I work for a manufacturing machinery dealer, primarily CNC mills and lathes, but lately we've been selling more robots.

I was initially somewhat conflicted about pushing robotics and automation on customers, what for having got my start as an operator, a "button monkey" as it's colloquially known, i.e. the guys that load raw material, press the green go button, reload, repeat.

What I've seen in the last few years is impressive and I've grown very optimistic. Initially robotics got popular during the labor shortage post-corona, since then it's grown into a really great thing, particularly for smaller, family-run operations. No one's lost their jobs over it, in fact it's spurred a lot of growth. Shops are able to automate menial tasks of loading/unloading, thus freeing up the button monkeys to learn programming, setup, etc. Many shops are now running 24 hour operations that previously couldn't afford to pay for night shift. A lot of places that used to be forced to outsource to larger domestic companies or overseas are now able to bring things in house, grow their business, promote employees and buy more equipment.

In my experience, automation is the only way to save domestic manufacturing.
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In your professional opinion, how long would it take to realistically turn the ports on the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico into fully automated? 6 months? 12 months? 24 months?

Is it realistic to hire scab workers/strike breakers in the meantime until the robots are ready ?
 
eradicator said:
What I cannot figure out is how long would it take to make these ports fully automated? I tried checking last night and today and cannot get a real answer

Caving to their demands shouldn’t be an option and truly no one should be in a position cause an economic crash so their union can get more money
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I would assume they have to review the available automation suppliers and request quotes. The buyers will have some process to down select and approve the automation contract.

The suppliers will have to design specific solutions to put cranes in the right places, figure out where to mount cameras, control boxes, etc., design the control stations for the space where they will be setup, order custom equipment, install everything, do acceptance testing, and training.

Probably 6-18 months. I imagine with the right budget, they can make everything happen more quickly, but there's no way that some of those steps can be done immediately. The bigger the project, the more likely that it's not something that can be immediately installed using existing components already in inventory.

Most likely they would install the automation capability in phases, so at least part of the system would be running within 3-5 months, with the rest to follow over time. I'd bet it's a $100-400 million project to upgrade a major port to use the latest cargo handling automation, but it might be 10 times that.
 
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eradicator said:
In your professional opinion, how long would it take to realistically turn the ports on the eastern seaboard and Gulf of Mexico into fully automated? 6 months? 12 months? 24 months?

Is it realistic to hire scab workers/strike breakers in the meantime until the robots are ready ?
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The machinery I work with now, although similar in concept, is not nearly of the scale or specific to the application that would be required to automate shipping ports. And as far as I know, no domestic manufacturers build such equipment. But assuming some manufacturer steps up to build such machinery, I believe the largest hurdle would be regulatory. Under ideal conditions with a motivated government, motivated port owner and motivated manufacturer of machinery it could probably happen in under a year, but I doubt the government will be motivated. It would probably take 10 years and $10 billion to approve the permits for one port alone before any construction could begin.
 
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