Automation On The Rise: One Robot For Every 4 Workers At Maruti Suzuki's Plants

Rising automation in manufacturing, IT sectors is a matter of concern for job-seekers worldwide and India is not untouched by the development.

According to a report in The Mint, Maruti suzuki's manufacturing units in Manesar and Gurgaon has witnessed a rapid increase in use of robots the weld shops. It now has one robot for every four workers.

Robots are deployed largely in the weld shop, the paint shop and the press shop, where automobile car bodies are shaped. The three are fully automated. Manual work is now done mostly in car assembly, said the report.

While addressing the media to announce the company earnings, the spokesperson stated that there are around 160 robots in the body paint shop and 65 in the bumper paint shop.

"We have around 2,500 robots at the Manesar facility. In total, including the Gurgaon plant, there must be around 5,000 robots," said Rajiv Gandhi, executive director (production), Maruti Suzuki to the paper.

More than 2,000 robots work seamlessly at the weld shop in Maruti’s Manesar facility. On one particular car at a particular time, at least 12 robots could be at work, the company said in a statement.

According to PeopleStrong CEO and Founder Pankaj Bansal, there will be a visible change in the next 3-4 years, first major effects will be seen in the sectors like manufacturing, IT and ITeS and security services and agriculture.

"We predict that by 2021, 4 out of every 10 jobs globally would be lost because of automation. And of these, one in every 4 will be from India. That sums up to 23 per cent of job loss in India," Bansal has earlier said to PTI.

India produces 5.5 million jobs (across levels) every year, but this number falls short of jobs needed to employ available talent and automation is further increasing the gap.