Robots, automation, and what some would even call “artificial intelligence” are everywhere around us today.  From factories to automobiles; our smart phones to our refrigerators; digital life today has had a profound impact over recent decades.  This doesn’t appear to be slowing down anytime soon either.

Automation and robots in factories have replaced many of the assembly line jobs, and this has also lead to a great improvement in quality and efficiency.  Instead of assembly line workers, we now have robot technicians and programmers.

The big question is “Why?”.  And the answer is generally along the lines of improved efficiency due the need to stay competitive.

It could be argued that we are seeing the same thing in the engineering environment with design automation and the associated engineering intelligence built into repeatable design types… or automated workflows that are electronically managed to ensure process repeatability, quality and efficiency.

This begs the question:  Can companies survive in today’s market without investing in their business and engineering processes like they also have or must do in manufacturing?