ALBAWABA - Toyota is in a race to achieve its goal of deploying 400,000 factory robots, still, a Toyota executive says that the robots are not meant to replace human workers.
To achieve their goal of automation, Toyota Motor Group is planning to invest $6.42 billion every year in upgrading their factories with a new whole robotic workforce, according to Nikkei Asia.
The plan’s end goal is 400,000 robots split between 150,000 in automotive plants and 250,000 at group company facilities that produce various components and materials.
The rapid rate of automation has raised questions about whether it’s leading to an eventuality where human workers – numbering 18,000 across 60 factories worldwide – are phased out of the workforce.
Asya'nın otomobil fabrikaları ve humanoid robotlar...Toyota, uzun yıllardır geliştirdiği insansı (humanoid) robotları üretim süreçlerine dâhil etmeye hazırlanıyor. Toyota, fabrikalarını modernize ederken 2028'den itibaren 400.000 yeni robot kullanmayı planladığını açıkladı.Bu… pic.twitter.com/zLe37hJDPG
To allay these fears, Toyota executive vice president Hiroki Nakajima told Nikkei Asia that the company aims for “a world where robots coexist with humans, rather than replacing them.”
The fast adoption of robots is part of a larger global trend with China deploying 2 million industrial robots in 2024, with Japan coming in second at 450,500 robots, according to the International Federation of Robotics.
Part of the driving force behind the robotics push are skilled labor shortages and an aging human workforce, while the push itself has been raising labor unions concerns regarding layoffs and worker compensation.
Pshemaf Choiaqo is a digital marketer with a passion for media, style, and presentation.
He enjoys researching unorthodox and nonconventional subjects almost as much as he enjoys writing about them.
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