An article in Bloombergbusinessweek (December 17,2012) describes a future where robots coexist with humans to deliver productivity gains. The 64 robots working with 330 humans at Quiet Logistics shows humans doing complex tasks and robots moving material. Given the increased spend on capital equipment by manufacturers and warehousing companies, will the future of automated manufacturing be bereft of humans ? Will a hybrid environment of humans assisted by robots reinstate the competitiveness of US manufacturing ?