Automated supply chains take an inevitable first step

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For those defending labour rights and jobs, scary things are happening far out in the wilds of Australia, where mining company Rio Tinto is introducing driverless trucks to bring iron ore from mines to ports, operated remotely 750 miles away in Perth. We have seen a similar process beginning to take hold in the port industry. This piece from Stratfor argues that ultimately the trend to automation could reverse some aspects of globalisation: “More broadly, however, the developed world is advancing to where technology can prevent the export of jobs in manufacturing to other countries where people still do them. Instead, mechanising manufacturing and using autonomous operations may return manufacturing to the developed world where algorithms take the jobs instead.”