The historical realities of the manufacturing industry paint a vivid picture of assembly line workers moving products in rote cadence. Many of us conjure images of nondescript factory employees in identical hard hats and protective gear manually turning the metaphorical cogs that keep a giant production wheel in continuous motion.
Over the last several decades, however, the evolution of manufacturing automation has transformed once difficult, slow, and hazardous production tasks into remarkably safer and more productive ones. Even so, many organizations still cling to traditional (and often outdated) methods throughout their daily operations.