VOA标准英语2013--Robots Help US Manufacturers Compete With China

 

Robots Help US Manufacturers Compete With China

In what may be the beginning of a new trend in American manufacturing, Sunit Saxena recently moved his production operation from China to the United States.

“Just like everyone else we started in China because the cost of labor¹ was low but then by the time we started and as we went further down this path they started raising the rates on us in China,” Saxena said.

Saxena is the CEO of Altierre Digital Retail² in San Jose, California. The company makes digital price displays and signs for retail stores that can be updated from a computer.

Altierre now employs between 50 and 60 workers, fewer than it used to in China, and pays them about $10.00 an hour. Using new electronic testing stations, Saxena says the company has doubled productivity -- making it cost-competitive with China. The company is planning to increase automation -- not to replace all workers but to make labor an insignificant³ part of overall production costs.

“We can now increase our capacity and therefore we can get a lot more business, a lot more processing capability⁴ and small square footage with less number of people and make the people that we have way more productive than we could in the Far East,” Saxena said.

Earthbound Farm, one of the largest U.S. producers of organic foods, is also using technology to increase productivity. It recently deployed⁵ automated⁶ robots to pack its products. Each robot does the job that four workers used to do. But company Vice⁷ President Will Daniels says no one here has lost a job to technology.

“Instead of replacing those workers we’re actually providing them with a higher skill set. Those folks who were working on the line packing that product, where our robots are for example, are now actually operating the machines,” Daniels said.

Up to now, automation technology has been used mostly on tasks that require identical and repetitive motion. But technology developers like Troy Straszheim are building robots with new capabilities⁸. 

“The kinds of problems that are well solved in the industry today are ones that don’t involve a whole lot of thinking on the part of the robot or a whole lot of seeing. Therefore we are working on the eyes and brains for these robots,” Straszheim said.

Using cameras and sensors⁹, Straszheim is developing machines that can recognize and select specific shapes -- creating robots that, in this case, could be used at loading docks and shipyards.

These technological¹⁰ innovations are helping¹¹ U.S. manufacturing expand for the first time in a decade. And industry officials say automation will lead to more high skilled jobs and higher pay for workers over time as companies expand their operations in America. 

1 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

2 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

3 insignificant   

adj.无关紧要的，可忽略的，无意义的

参考例句：

• In winter the effect was found to be insignificant.在冬季，这种作用是不明显的。
• This problem was insignificant compared to others she faced.这一问题与她面临的其他问题比较起来算不得什么。

4 capability   

n.能力；才能；(pl)可发展的能力或特性等

参考例句：

• She has the capability to become a very fine actress.她有潜力成为杰出演员。
• Organizing a whole department is beyond his capability.组织整个部门是他能力以外的事。

5 deployed   

（尤指军事行动）使展开( deploy的过去式和过去分词 )； 施展； 部署； 有效地利用

参考例句：

• Tanks have been deployed all along the front line. 沿整个前线已部署了坦克。
• The artillery was deployed to bear on the fort. 火炮是对着那个碉堡部署的。

6 automated   

a.自动化的

参考例句：

• The entire manufacturing process has been automated. 整个生产过程已自动化。
• Automated Highway System (AHS) is recently regarded as one subsystem of Intelligent Transport System (ITS). 近年来自动公路系统(Automated Highway System,AHS)，作为智能运输系统的子系统之一越来越受到重视。

7 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

8 capabilities   

n.能力( capability的名词复数 )；可能；容量；[复数]潜在能力

参考例句：

• He was somewhat pompous and had a high opinion of his own capabilities. 他有点自大，自视甚高。 来自辞典例句
• Some programmers use tabs to break complex product capabilities into smaller chunks. 一些程序员认为，标签可以将复杂的功能分为每个窗格一组简单的功能。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

9 sensors   

n.传感器，灵敏元件( sensor的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There were more than 2000 sensors here. 这里装有两千多个灵敏元件。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Significant changes have been noted where sensors were exposed to trichloride. 当传感器暴露在三氯化物中时，有很大变化。 来自辞典例句

10 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。