It’s amazing how many things you can define
as an algorithm.
So, to the extent your work is something that
you do in a routine way, it is subject to
being automated.
The idea that we have financial advisors that
make lots of money, but they are doing things
that are pretty routine.
Excuse me financial advisors.
It’s a matter of analyzing data, looking
at the results, and then coming up with a
conclusion.
It’s subject to automation.
We’re seeing more and more of that every
day.
So, how do we then, actualize ourselves as
people with a changing nature of work.
I think it’s an interesting question.
I don’t think we have an answer for it,
but it’s something that we have to start
dealing with as a society.
It’s a fascinating, we’ll call it a debate
right now and I’ll comment on our workforce
and I think there are some realities there.
We’re seeing a massive transformation and
shift of our needs as you can imagine.
However, we’re unique that in our end customer,
we’ll use the orthopedic surgeon as the
example here, is really somebody that has
some of the highest levels of education, is
extremely specialized.
Almost any particular total joint reconstructive
surgeon is fellowship trained.
So, they go through all their medical school,
and they obviously advance to their residency
and then they also do a fellowship to specialize
in the certain pathology and care treatment.
And now we’re coming in with a robot and
sort of augmenting and at some point, potentially
replacing them, actually doing the important
parts of the procedure.
The cuts, the placement, the gluing of the
implant back into the body.
All things that we believe the robot can do
more accurately and predictably.
Which you can imagine the message that sends
to somebody who just went to school for 13
years, a one-year fellowship, and goes “well
hold on a minute, I’m the doctor.”
And depending on your belief system sometimes
they think they’re the only thing between
up there wherever that is and that particular
patient.
And so now you’ve got to come in and go
well this robot is going to potentially do
what you’re doing.
So, it’s a delicate dilemma right now, but
our belief is over time as the technology
advance and more of this technology is utilized
that we’ll see the next generation of these
skilled and trained physicians become more
comfortable with utilizing that technology
to perform their procedures.
And we imagine a day, and it’s probably
a couple decades from now that it will be
commonplace for how their trained and educated
to understand utilizing some sort of technology
to do the intervention and the procedure.
You still need the human to diagnose, you
still the human to interact, you still need
the human to have compassion and trust.
A robot we don’t think right now can do
that.
However, the mechanical, the carpentry, we’ll
use orthopedics again, can probably be done
by a computer system.
We recognize we have two problems.
Number one we have a bi-modal distribution
of our workforce.
We have a group of people that are maybe average
age of 50, and that’s where our skills workers
are at.
And then we have an extremely young workforce
in our Kentwood facility because we’ve done
most of the hiring in the last 4 or 5 years.
But we have 170 total people and the average
age is a little bit less than 30.
And so, the bi-modal distribution is a very
strong hump at the young end of the workforce.
Generally speaking people that we have into
some kind of training program or etc., 29
of our 170 employees are in some type of apprenticeship,
internship or etc. in order to learn the skills
that they need for our work.
We have students over here so rapid fire,
what bit of advice are you going to leave
these students with as a result of your presence
here today.
Fred you can start real quick.
Be flexible and open to the changes that are
coming and be willing to think ahead of where
your employers are today.
Ok, Spencer.
Be comfortable being uncomfortable, make sure
you force yourself to be uncomfortable.
Go into new situations, new adventures and
hopefully aspire for leadership and help us
make the world a better place.
Thank you.
John?
This should be only the beginning of your
education.
You need to become a lifelong learner.
I do a week a year at another educational
institution, just to keep my game sharp, and
you know to get me thinking differently than
I would if I was sitting at home.
Good, thank you.
