5
AntaTB.ti.on In tha OSSR
Aa In tea Cut tad States, antonation, ar the entomatisatian of the roan-factoring process* hasreat dealMe attention in the USSR, the directives idrleh the Hineteenth Congress of the CPSU gave for the fifth five Tear Plan included at leasto tan references to automation a
In tbe recent reorganisation of the State planning mechanism, there has been established;a'State Ccnr^ttMvfor tbe Introduction of How Technology into tbe hcononyttached to tho USSR Council of Hlnlatoro. One of the principal initial teaks set for this committee, after its formation inas the vorldng out of plans for the meohanixatlon and automation of tbe most Important branches of industry. GOSTFZHNHA las the right to control tbe activities iof ministries and dsparbasnt in tho introduction into the Baaaaasj] Qconomy of advanced1 industrial techno In cr, Tbe Committee also baa inspection rights in order to insure Implementation of its inatntttions,lnilsr Coa-alttoe was in axlatence
pldjcal literature and -USSRbounded vith articles dsscribi: the successes sad tha sbortcoalnga of tbe drive to achieve tho nov. technology.
- several hundred such articles. In substantivo technological and occncmic^ccntcnt, this massive literature isnr- to. trade and popular literature on tho soma subject.
engthy report "On Tanks for the further Cerelopoent of Industry, Technical Progress, and Improving tbo organisation of Production" at tha Plenary Sessions of the Central Committee of tbon Julyolganln once
:
HISTORICAL REVIEW PROGRAM RELEASE AS9
core heavily enpbasitcd toe role that automation must play in theearly half of the report dealt with some aspect of awohaniiatioaautomation) of production.
[in] recentlyloot week, the Minister of Heavy IfachlnoS.Usmissod. The voek before that the Minister of Automobile, Tractor, and Agriculture Machine. Atopov, was oUomtsood. Both had boon severely beratod for their failure to introduce axiom technology, irjcludizbj.automation, in the plants controlled by their
is hard to pickopy of the FBIS Daily Report or any otherof Bpooches in the USSR without encountering ecmo roferencee to autoaa-UonT]
S Automation?
Before progressing further* it Kill bo well to define our terns. Auto-nation, ao tho term is used in tho Aaorican literature, bos three different do^initlono. The first of those came froa the originator of thohe Ford Motor ^cr^^v, djs ;dafinitlcn, automation is the use of automatic ^to^ala handling txpjfmtffiiaijnm machine tools. This definition lid to the use of tho tern to the mechanical processing industries.
A eocond narrow definition limits automation to those processes in which sons characteristic of the product being produced (for example its sire or temperature) is used to control the produotlon process In the language. of the sorvo-machanieca engineer, this ia the application of closed-loop fcodback coatrol systems to production processes.
A third definition, oonewhat broader than either of the other two and including both of then, is in common use. By this definition, automationthe use of any machine, device, or tbe like which replaces an on!rate
- 2
operator as the controlling ceohanlsa roduction procoea. ^Since this definition corresponds to Soriet usago as voll as tha most widely aocepted usage in the United States, it will ho the definition used throughout tain report,
Tfow far has tho USSR progressed?
any attempt to assess the progress of tho USSRield as broad as automation is, at the present state of our knowledge, quite subjective. The growth of the olectronico industry and the instrument Industry are bothto tho growth of automation. But, becnuae of the relation of thosetrlea to the guided missile and other armament control systems, neither ^industry uniquely measures the growth of automation, an attempt to quantifygrowth of autoestion ia In reality an attempt to neasure la the aggregate the rata .of change in the state of Industrial technology. To da to wo hava do viced no method of makingeasurement.
In the research and development stages, it can be said that tha USSR haa afcleactikept.pace with the West, .Insane special'fields, such as non-linear oervo theory, Soviet scientists have surpassed western scientists. It io estimated thatcientists associated with tbe Institute.of Automatics and Telemechanics of tbe Academy of So lances are working on the problems of automatic control. It is probable tbat the greatest efforts of this group are direatod^cw^ militaryh-the industrial appUcatlons taking Eoccndtfplace,' roupout/the sara site in the Institute of Kacbine Sciences,'is also working on similar problems. Regardless of the present allocation of effortbetween military and industrial applications within the of the Academy of Science, however, the long run advances in industrial
- 3
use are moot nearly related to the total offort. This Is true because the technology of control and tbe facilities for the production of controlmay be ln large measure interchangeable between military andapplication. Any effort going into either will, therefore, ultimately benefit both. In tho short runhat io,eriodear or twoIndustrial and military applications are competitive.
A survey of the industrial applications of automation to date deconstrates that Soviets have placed high priority on heavy industry applications. The body of literature referred to above indicates that they are not satisfied with the progress to date. riof reference to twohemicals andhich highlight two different aspects of automation growth In both the USA and the USSR follows! The Chenical Industry and Automation
The chemical processing indue try has been the leader in applanations of automatic control of production. In tbe chemical processing Industry the Soviets uro l'.'liLnd-;thevUnited.StaU^jip_the extent of -automation now in being. On. the other hand, tho range of applications indicates that the lag isnot qualitative. rfhen circumstances have required that they advance beyond American technology, they have demonstrated that they are capable of designing and producing original automatic equipment. In the automatlaof sulphuric ocld from iron pyrites, for example, the Soviets havo developed their own automatic technology. Because of an ample supply of free sulphur, American industry has had no occanion to use this proceae.
The point to be emphasised ln the chemical industry is that automation isew postwar phenomenon but has progressed with the technology of the
" U
Industry end is indintlnguichable from the reminder of the technology of the industry. Thin is the case in tho USSR as in tho United States with tine lags' and quantltatlYe differences that roughly correspond to the relative 3tate8 of Industrlallsatlon. Automation in tho Xutcraotivo Industry
In the automotive industry, on tho other hand, automation ispost-war development. As Indicated above, the term was its elf devisedautomotive industry of. to describe the automatic materialsdevices being installed in mchlning plants of the industry in tha The conditions of largo scale produotlon of standardised partsongines and chassis of American automobiles in the post-war period)in tho USSR in the manufacture of trucks and their cocponsnt partethe production rates and products fall short of these in thostandardisation of ceaponsnteoo cases calls for largo scaleof individual components. Automation has proceeded extensivelycountries, with the USSR lagging ln extent of application for tho
.In/at least one aspecVof 'antomottvo production, however, the Soviets have gone farther than Asorlcan aanufaoturers. 1 they had built and were operating an aatoaatlc plant for the production of pjgfrru. plant was described as automatic from ingot to packagedecond plant, parallel to and with improvements on tho first, was Installed and operating by tho following year. American asxufaoturers of pistons, on Snaadndjag the plans for these plants indicated that the Soviets bad gone further intransport labor than, manufacturer would hove gone under tho circumstances. They further indicated that piston design is so diversified and eo rapidly changing in. that thoy could not afford to invest so much in an automatic plant which would became obsolete so scon. With enforced eUrvlardisation end Op troll aod control of aodal changes,SR could economically carry automation further than could. nanuf.icturer0
A recent photograph taken in the piston plant, however,orkera machine at ono station that was supposed to be fed by an ingenious magazine device. It appears froa this photograph that the actualof the oatonatio line did not eliminate all tha workers Indicated in the technical description and that, in fact, the piston factory while still more advanced than American planta, did not so far outstrip American Technology as was at first believed.
The lesson of tho autoaottvo industry is that tho Soviets are technically capable of catching the automatic machine line applications of American industry. Where local conditions warrant, they'appear to have the ability to carry Eeohanisation further than fife bavg) done. Tbey have gone further in producing standardized machine components for assembly into automatic lines. Tbelimitation is tbe ability to produce as much equipment as they would like io produce0 That io, tbe limitations are economic not technological.
What Problems So the Sovjeta Brpect to 5plya_ Through Autoratlont
For tbot the Soviets, view automation as we doj tbat is, asBat tbore are sobo
dii'fcroncea in tho intensity, of ihoirecause of certainin the-two dconoOtaS and iriOtltations. Facedecrease in the rate of growth in some Indus trios in the last five years, many attempts have been Bade to increase productivity. It appears that additional manpower cart, no longer be drained froa the agricultural sector. Tbore is, thereforo, en approaching absolute shortage of Indus trial manpower. Increases In output must come from increased productivity hencefortho Reports of failure
t
to meet the plan for Increased productivity have been frequent while plane for in creases in the industrial labor force have been overfulfilled. auto-nation Is now viewed, therefore,actor that must take over the job previously done by an Qxpeadlng Industrial vcrk force.
it least ono other problem intensifies the Soviet interest in automation. The elimination of the distinction between mental and rrsnnal labor is on ia* portant ideological tenet. Automation can have the effect of eliminating tho unskilled laborer and elevating all workers to the level of skilledmen or engineers. Tberrt is evidence that this is one concern of the USSR, . Shaamyanook entitled Avtoaaty dealing with the theory and practice of automatic irachines and automatic lines. 0 there was convened an extended eeeaicn of the Scientific-Technical Soviet of the Experimental Scientific Rssearch Ins tl tote of Ketal Cutting; tools. Professor Shaamyan'a book wait, discussed at soma length byepresentatives ofrganisations present. The book was criticized for advocating ths design of machines to lyduce the needs for skilled andworkers and tbe eliminationhea addition, Shauayra was criticised for designing machines fordalsing output rather than designing
machines to produce the quantities calli id for by plan. The earlier book was
unsuitable and was replaced in
ext which In believed to
the approach advocated in t'lose meetings.
ether growth of automation. It is it of heavy Industry by whatever means
In the OSSR, in other words, antomi tioo has anall as an economic appeal* It la not known ha ole tbe Ideological aspect ploys In tho growth and exhortation tolear that the pressure to increase out;
possible is very great and that the lead orehlp views automation as only
- 7
wans of achieving this goal,
Vhii; position is mda quite clear by Bulganin'e re coot report clOed above* Za addition to pointing out tho ebortcoainga in the extension of automation, he points out that plant specialisation will yield larger scale output and increase the efficiency of industrial production) that moro offoctlvo utilisation ofeady in place offers tremendousfor irtcroaaoa in outpntj that better planning and or^aalcation of Industry to roducs bottleneoks and to stabilise the tempo of work flows can contribute greatly to tho increase of output with cods ting capacities; and thatendardl cation of products' and production equipment offer opportunities for add!tl<mol
As tiie adoption of aatcmtion progresses In thoeveral additional problems should be watched, (l) As indicated above, automation may increase tho moods for highly skilled production workers afalxB decreasing the need for nn-iMiiaf* and aerd-skilled worker a. TM* change Irpllffw the need for intensifiod teeining of eloctronio nfllnteravicg sHll* and other technicalho Sovietsiwiro of thin problem end nay bo;ehJo to prevent itaerious bottleneck,
Auto,-ation is conceived as one means of increasing output per man-hour* Particular notice should be paid to those industries which are moot rapidly converting their technology to automation in order to determine if, in fact, the expected changes ln productivity are fcn-thcdBaug,
There is no clear notion of whether automation will require mora or loao capital investment per unit of output than la required by lasstechnology. Present knowledge of capital-output ratios andignificance is relatively slight. Studies ofS. economy socrn to point
r
'ttOT
to decreased capital reeds par unit of output in moat Irjduatriee since. To date wo have not been able to noasure similar trends in the USSR, It ulll be Important for us to know whether automation nay be expected to bo capital-'saving as wall as labor-earing,
(Ii)inal problem, the introduction of ad&ttocel rigidities into the cooaomy, asrits careful study. This problem is common to all highlyocbnoBdoa. hach produotion machinery being installed in autccatio lines or automatic plants is highly epocialicod with but limited flexibility in the volume of output it ia capable of handling or In tbe variation In product it can produce. Accordingly,ecision is raids to build thin type of automatic plantiven slao toiven product, it will bo mnch-Qore difficult to step up the rate of output in the future or to change to oomo other product*
peech last January to the Industrial College of the Ariaedeneral Manager, Defense Operationa Division, Chrysler Corporation, stated that "with automationot of thetools
ecause an autccated cylinder block Uae is such that it tains oylirxler blocks onlya*
To the extant that thisenarol conditian in loins try (which is not presently the case) there may be set up sn indnstrial system for defensequite independent of the leaainder of industry. ertain extent, tho assignment of plants to the Minis try of Defense Industryartial step in this dlreoUon.
On the otherontrary possibility exists. Some design andeork has been completed, at least inn the programingomputer to operate and control general purpose machinery. Ooneral Electric Co, ana tbo Sbrvomechanlama laboratory. hava each developed practical
Mi-T
application of thin idea and some prodnotlra of thin oqcdpaant la In procesa. This arenao pointa to reduced rj^iditg in indnartrlal ar^snltatlon and ootport, Va neod to vateh tlie trend* of both type* of derolopoentigid epeelal purpose automaton lines and flexible, general purpose automatiade-tarirlno tbe ljplloaticcs,
JnvCu; again that sutooatlon ia not atitpfeabo'ircu tra.hroad'adrantx)ijno, flSSH/ippcera to; beb1 "e ofr'jFnS^tfSyWfi ffippgh nott:Ptj can be iexrjQ.ctod: ia-
ame,i'i toto^SSaa'- 0bere dsj ho^ror, iixl,:
S tf
Original document.
Comment about this article, ask questions, or add new information about this topic: