Business Services Industry

Computer Anxiety Wanes for Aberdeen, S.D., Industry.(Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News)

Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News, November, 2000 by Keen, Russ

Nov. 11--Once upon a time factory workers sat along assembly lines fastening this gizmo to that one.

Today at 3M in Aberdeen, a long, narrow computerized machine about the length of a railroad car and maybe half as wide, fastens this whatchamacallit to that. For the most part, operators stationed around the glass-enclosed machine make sure its computer brains keep thinking smoothly and productively, turning raw materials into small respirators -- masks worn on the face to keep impurities out of lungs.

"The operators are more than just operators," said 3M employee Ron Finwall of Aberdeen, who has worked alongside the glass-covered "employee" since it arrived about four years ago. "They have to be problem solvers as well, and able to make adjustments to...

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