500 engineers and scientists from 26 countries came to London. In 150 sessions, they discussed a world-shaking problem: the advance of robots. They agreed that industries such as bakeries, breweries, confectionery, printing, refineries, cement works and chemicals are ripe for automation. In the age of electric bots, they concluded, smaller companies that have only just managed to survive are doomed to die. What reads like one of the digitization stories that are circulating every day usa rcs data today actually happened in 1955. The "Spiegel" newspaper headlined: "The robot revolution". Its conclusion: "The entire transition will probably take twenty years. But full automation can also be achieved in five years." Which once again confirms Karl Popper's thesis about the "fundamental, great and unalterable unpredictability of the future".
Only three years ago, the demise of commercial bakeries was predicted because they were unable to counter the industrial dominance of the baking industry. Today, the saying goes: "Daily bread is regaining ground." In the Bern region alone, there are now a good twenty commercially operated bakeries, which together operate over sixty branches. Bread has acquired a new image. Breads have pithy names like Steinhauerbrot or Kuhpatladenbrot. Artisanal quality is in demand. If this is right, customers are prepared to pay a good price. One of these bakeries was famous for its Sunday plaited bread. Suddenly, customers complained about declining quality. The master baker was puzzled, as the recipe had not been changed. Could it be because a dough machine had recently been used? When the dough was kneaded by hand again, all was right with the world.
Thirty years ago, thirteen of the fifteen old pig breeds in Germany became extinct. At that time, farmer Rolf Bühler took over his parents' farm. He placed an ad looking for remaining stocks of the black and white Hall pig and found a boar and six sows. His breeding became a symbol of agriculture that defies the logic of industrial production. Today, his Schwäbisch Hall Farmers' Producer Association has 1,460 members and has a turnover of 130 million euros. Antibiotics, growth promoters and genetically modified plants in feed are prohibited.