INDUSTRIAL ANALYTICAL OPERATIONS - ORGANIZATIONAL IMPLICATIONS OF AUTOMATION

In an age when speed-driven automation is displacing a large proportio n of the workforce, the analytical laboratory will not be spared cutba cks. The greatest potential gains in productivity, however, may be in changing corporate culture to best use the human talent available. Thi s article demonstrates that conditions of high sample variability or l ow throughput are best handled through leveraging the human resources in the industrial analytical laboratory. The analytical laboratory of the future will be even more dynamic than that of the present, requiri ng an environment conducive to learning. Management techniques are dis cussed.