Investment in automation is by far the most effective way to improve productivity. Typical productivity
values for manufacturers with low automation are around 25-35 for non-luxury cars. Long-term continuous
investment in new technology can push this up to 80-120 cars/worker/year.
Automation can be introduced and purchased in units of £0.5m (rising annually with inflation), the minimum
investment in is for one unit. Each unit is as productive as eight workers, e.g. 4,000 workers + 1 unit of
automation will give the equivalent of 4,008 workers.
The automation purchased must be allocated between models by percentage, the total entered must be
100%. This allows, for example, for mass-market cars to be highly automated, whilst leaving luxury cars to
be predominantly hand built.
The investment, as with all fixed assets, depreciates with time (10% p.a.) and needs an annual investment
of approximately 10% to maintain a constant output and ensure productivity benefits. Any investment over
and above this will purchase new units and contribute to the effective workforce. Lack of investment in
maintenance of automation will see a reduction in production as the effective workforce (workers + working
units of automation) is reduced.
It is not possible to replace the entire workforce as the infrastructural staffing levels remain and the
automation equipment requires manning. The minimum number of employees needed to produce each
model is 100.
The downside of introducing high levels of automation is that the increased output achieved can force
redundancies, risking an unhappy workforce.