Saddle Tramp
Moderator
The future is AI or so says Jim Farley. Ford’s CEO announced this at the 2025 Aspen Ideas Festival in 2025. Mr. Farley’s prediction isn’t just pulled from thin air as Ford Motor Corporation already uses AI to catch quality issues earlier than before in its production and development processes. Mr. Farley also sees a heavy downsize in the white-collar workforce with AI replacing nearly half of them globally. Let me repeat that. Not just at Ford, but around the world. Millions of people will be displaced in the workforce because of AI. But fear not because Mr Farley has thrown out a lifeline to these people. He points out that there is a shortage of manufacturing and mechanic workers. A large one, roughly 600,00 manufacturing workers are needed while 400,000 automotive mechanics are needed. He calls these jobs, “The Essential Economy”. Not just line workers and mechanics, but deliveries from the mines to the factories to the stores to your house. These are the jobs that won’t be replaced by automation and AI.
But they will and are.
Mercedes-Benz AG has already made a deal with Texas based Apptronik to help modernize its production network through AI and humanoid robots. Right now, Apptronik’s Apollo robots can transport components or modules to the production line, but the automaker has said that the next step is for the robots to perform autonomously. To get to that next step, Mercedes-Benz AG is testing new platforms in their Digital Factory Campus in Berlin.
BMW is also following this new path as they use humanoid robots in a trial run in their Spartanburg factory with their humanoid robot Figure.02 or F.02 for short. Supplied by the Californian company Figure, these robots successfully inserted sheet metal parts that were assembled as part of a chassis. BMW stated that these robots will be able to replace the ergonomically awkward and tiring tasks that line workers do.
Mr. Farley says AI will replace half of the white-collar workforce while Mercedes and BMW are working to replace “The Essential Economy” with humanoid robots. Who's left to buy the cars?
Source Link
Mercedes Inks Deal for Apptronik Humanoid Robots | Manufacturing Engineering | advancedmanufacturing.org
But they will and are.
Mercedes-Benz AG has already made a deal with Texas based Apptronik to help modernize its production network through AI and humanoid robots. Right now, Apptronik’s Apollo robots can transport components or modules to the production line, but the automaker has said that the next step is for the robots to perform autonomously. To get to that next step, Mercedes-Benz AG is testing new platforms in their Digital Factory Campus in Berlin.
BMW is also following this new path as they use humanoid robots in a trial run in their Spartanburg factory with their humanoid robot Figure.02 or F.02 for short. Supplied by the Californian company Figure, these robots successfully inserted sheet metal parts that were assembled as part of a chassis. BMW stated that these robots will be able to replace the ergonomically awkward and tiring tasks that line workers do.
Mr. Farley says AI will replace half of the white-collar workforce while Mercedes and BMW are working to replace “The Essential Economy” with humanoid robots. Who's left to buy the cars?
Source Link
Mercedes Inks Deal for Apptronik Humanoid Robots | Manufacturing Engineering | advancedmanufacturing.org
