This allows us to be more effective. Our plan is to buy more robots when we can - said senior vice president Matt Kraus, whose successful company brings in about $ 70 million. Annual revenue and employs about 350 people.
Blockquote> Kraus is one of many entrepreneurs who have discovered that robots can be a powerful tool for the development of a small company, even if it is rooted in a conservative business. A recent study by Boston Consulting Group showed that by 2025 robots will make about 25 percent of all industrial applications, and that low-cost robots are becoming more affordable for small businesses. Robotics also makes it possible to start a business in industries where the need for a substantial workforce once became a barrier.
Automation has a great influence, - said Martin Ford, author of "The Rise of the Robots: Technology and the threat of future unemployed." - It can be both positive and negative.
Blockquote> 3D-printing can be one example. Some tiny companies have already used 3D-printers to make prototypes and even produce the products, according to Ford. Other prototypes are sent to China, where it made its own products. So entrepreneurs easier to make, but the flip side is reducing the number of traditional jobs.
Future jobs
Business will no longer need to hire people, - said Ford. - You need just one person to start production.
Blockquote> The reduction of traditional jobs may reduce the market for small businesses, he said, and explained: "We need consumers who will buy what we create».
Automation can also lead to the fact that some small businesses will become obsolete: for example, online booking dealt a mortal blow to many travel agencies. Forty-seven per cent of workers are in the category of "high risk" that will replace their machines over the next 10-20 years, says the study by the University of Oxford Benedict Carl Frey and Michael Osborne, co-director of the Oxford Martin Programme on Technology and Employment .
Among the 702 occupations studied post telemarketeloga had the highest risk of automation, and behind him - an expert on the title and the referent. The work, which probably will not be automatic, according to a study - it is a recreational therapy.
Small businesses, which have a chance of long-term survival, perform tasks requiring social intelligence, creativity, perception and agility to respond to the rapidly changing environment, Osborne said. "To the extent that small businesses are focused on this activity, it probably will not be automatic," - he added.
However, a clear picture of how the automation and robotics will affect small and medium-sized companies and their employees are still there. The Skyline Windows use of robots has led to at least one job, Kraus said. The company had to hire and train personnel so that it can manage the new machine that automated processing of aluminum factory.
The multiplier effect of automation. Even if the company uses a robot to install windows, it still needs a worker in place to run it with a device that looks like a video game console, and other people to help put the window manually. Approximately three employees will no longer need to raise the window and perform other tasks.
If we release these three guys, they will be working on something else - said Kraus. - We are not saying that we need at least three people and are not going to dismiss those three.
Blockquote> Hoovy in the United States (Los Angeles) - is an advertising platform that uses drones to enhance brand awareness. Company founder Eugene Stark said that these drones are like flying billboards. The company of 10 employees makes drones in its headquarters, and put up the price at $ 120 and $ 200 per hour for advertising, depending on whether it is a weekday or weekend. Stark said he used drones to promote things like Glendora Wine Walk (an event during which local merchants serving California wines).
To ensure the safety of the public, Hoovy bespilotkiki designed so that they descended to the ground, if the battery begins to discharge. The company also adheres to the requirements of the Federal Aviation Administration, and recommends that the drones operated by licensed drivers, which means the fee to $ 40 per hour in the presence of such a specialist in place during promotions, said Stark, adding that his company, which already makes a profit, plans campaign on crowdfunding site Kickstarter.
We see good chances for success, - he said.
Blockquote> Another new player - Eight Six Ninety-One Technologies. Avoiding the word "drones" because it causes security problems, the startup of Chicago, founded in the fall of last year Jacky Wu, rtvik Ummalaneni and Florent Desoza, has developed a flying camera in the form of "quadrocopters". The technology can also be used to monitor children and pets, said Wu.
We can send the camera to where the Fido or Fluffy when you're at work, - explained Wu, a former consultant for the pharmaceutical industry. - You can even talk to them on the phone, say "hello", for example.
Blockquote> They plan to sell access to the device via the software as a service, where consumers will pay a monthly fee for use of the technology.
Source: geektimes.ru/company/robohunter/blog/252520/