Read the case study and answer the following questions.

Do you think that robots can totally replace human meat cutters? Why or Why not? What skills will meat processing employees need to be trained in to work alongside robots?

Case: Robots Make the Choice Cuts at Tyson Foods

Tyson Foods, one of the biggest meat companies in the United States, has about 122,000 employees to process an estimated 20 percent of chicken, beef, and pork produced. But Tyson has found it difficult to recruit and retain workers, many of whom are immigrants. Annual turnover varies from 40 to 70 percent in meat processing plants. Also, meat processing is one of the most dangerous jobs in the U.S. economy due to the repetitive nature of the work and the heavy lifting that is often involved. Without enough workers, Tyson has had difficulty, especially during the pandemic when absentee rates were high, producing some cuts of meat. For example, high demand deboned and skinless chicken require more workers. The use of robots is a potential solution to overcoming the labor shortage and increasing productivity. To try and shift from human meat cutters to robots, Tyson has a new, state-of-the-art facility, The Tyson Manufacturing Automation Center, designed to help the company develop more automation and robotics for its food production plants. The Center includes a machine vision tech lab that simulates the food production environment for extensive testing before machines go to the plant. It also has classrooms for training and learning how to use automation and robotics technology. Tyson is trying to teach machines to recognize and adjust to differences in meat color and shape. Compared to the parts used in making a car, meat comes in an infinite variety of shapes. Also, meat cutting requires fine skills that avoids waste and increases the yield of meat. For example, a loin boner can carve out a filet mignon without leaving too much on the bone. Meat left on the bone has to be turned into lower cost products such as hamburger meat or food. European meat plants use lasers and optical eyes to read cuts of meat as they pass on a conveyor belt and then send them to different departments where they are weighed, packaged, and shipped. Because of the technology in the European plants, one worker performs the work of eight or nine U.S. workers. Tyson has successfully developed an automated deboning system for chicken processing. The water-jet cutting system can carve up chicken breasts more precisely than can be accomplished by manual labor. This system has helped develop new products Tyson could not make using human workers.