Robots Get D+ at Tesla : Automation Gone too Far?

Elon Musk: “Humans are underrated.” Future of human workers looking up for now

In Quartz (May 1st), Helen and Dave Edwards report on the downside of automation on the production ramp of Tesla’s Model 3.  “Over-automation” is the culprit in weekly production approximating 2,000 vehicles per week in contrast with the target of 5,000 per week. Such was the conclusion of a report written by Toni Sacconaghi and Max Warburton. Telsa’s robotic underperformance echoes results from automation at Fiat, Volkswagen, and GM.

Tesla owner, founder, and prime mover Elon Musk tweeted that “humans are underrated.”  Musk is taking time off from planning an invasion of Mars to get the factory back on track (presumably with the help of humans).

Check it out at Robots underperform at Tesla, and why

and Musk admits complacency to CBS News

How robots screw up . . . but won’t continue to do so

Sacconaghi and Warburton observed that In final assembly, robots can apply torque consistently—but they don’t detect and account for threads that aren’t straight, bolts that don’t quite fit. . . .” (See more in the block quote in the Quartz article, where the authors get in a jibe at Tesla’s quality deficiencies.)

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