'Dark factories' still aren't a reality

Islands of automation were retained where needed, but synchronized conveyors, automated buffer storage and pick-and-place machines were replaced by hand carts, trays and belt lines. Wireless factory automation is replacing the rat's nest of network cables from the dark factories of the 1980s and the latest incarnation of robotics have graphical user interfaces for setup and training instead of C programming at the line prompt. Coupled with progressive methods of organization such as lean Six Sigma, factory workers continue to best automated systems of integration - by adjusting to changes in demand and product configuration rapidly, by responding to system or tooling breakdowns that would cripple a fully automated factory and by utilizing factory workers and engineers to solve technical and logistical hurdles in creative and unorthodox ways.