INTERVIEWER: Good evening, and welcome again to 'Industry Today'. And in this, the fourth in the series, we're going to look at something which many think, and some fear, will be the picture of a great deal of our industry in the future: The One-Man Factory. With me in the studio I have Barry King the technology correspondent for one of our national weekly newspapers. Barry, welcome to the programme. BARRY KING: Thank you for inviting me. INTERVIEWER: Now I gather that Britain's first fully-automated factory, in which robots and computers do virtually everything, was opened in Colchester in 1982. Can you tell us something about that? BARRY KING: Yes, that's quite right. It was the first factory in Britain to introduce a flexible manufacturing system. FMS for short. That's the latest jargon for the fully-automated factory you mentioned. The important thing is that most of the work is done by robots, with just a few white-collar operators to, you know, switch things on and check everything's running smoothly. INTERVIEWER: And how efficient is the factory? BARRY KING: Well, the factory makes various engine parts, and it means that a finished component can be produced in three days and with only three men running the production line... INTERVIEWER: Whereas before, it took how long? BARRY KING: Um, before, it took three months to produce finished components, with thirty men. So you can see there is a vast improvement in productivity. INTERVIEWER: I presume this is not the first factory of its kind in the world. BARRY KING: No. Not surprisingly, the most famous system is the Fanuc plant in Japan, where robots controlled by computers make other robots. INTERVIEWER: That really does sound like science fiction. BARRY KING: Yes, it does. The plant actually makes 100 robots a month with the very minimum intervention by humans. During the night shift, for example, just one man does in effect the jobs of 200. INTERVIEWER: That's quite staggering, but also alarming, I think, because it must make one look at the increasing problems of unemployment, which I want to return to in this programme. But for the moment, what about cost? How expensive is it to set up a factory of this kind? BARRY KING: It's fantastically expensive, but the British government is helping out. The Colchester factory, for example, received a government grant of £3 million. But I should add that, not only will it produce its own goods, but it will also act as a showpiece for other companies interested in FMS... INTERVIEWER: A flexible manufacturing system. BARRY KING: Yes. So they'll be able to go and inspect it. I must say here that the Department of Industry has set aside something like £60 million towards development and capital costs, and a large number of firms are applying for grants already. INTERVIEWER: Well, that sounds very promising. But what about other firms? Are there any other examples you can give us? BARRY KING: Yes. Rolls-Royce has opened an automated plant at Derby which is doing very well. They've already improved their productivity by 28 per cent, with which they're naturally very pleased. INTERVIEWER: Yes, that really is the kind of figure no doubt...