Question

explain the advantages and disadvantages of mechanisation in office

Answer 1

Read this article to learn about the advantages and disadvantages of office mechanisation.

Advantages of Office Mechanisation:

The advantages of mechanisation are:

1. It Relieves Monotony:

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A job which is repetitive in nature brings about boredom and a feeling of being monotonous amongst the employees. Hence if the same work is repeated in the machine then the worker will not feel the pinch of the same, hence a machine reduces boredom and monotony.

2. Maintains Standardization:

If facilitates standard of the work in terms of qualitative output. In turn, this enhances a working spirit and better coordination amongst the employees.

3. Accuracy:

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Machines ensure better accuracy. Chances of error are eliminated. Thus the work goes on smoothly and the delays and bottle-necks are eliminated which may prove very costly.

4. Better Control:

Using a proper set of machines facilitates a better control of work as it helps the subordinates to use them and complete the work, not only within the stipulated time but within the economy—with precision and accuracy.

5. Greater Efficiency:

Machine brings about a speed and efficiency to all types of office work. The work that may take hours to finish may be finished in motion with their help. Improved efficiency leads to greater profitability and, at the same time, it creates a good image in the mind of the people who deal with the organisation.

6. Lower Cost of Operation:

The operating cost per hour of work declines with the use of machines. Of course, there is no doubt that they require a large amount of initial capital investment. However, in the long run, they prove beneficial.

7. Better Quality of Work:

Mechanisation and machine helps in improving the quality of the work done in the office. Not only the work will be neat but it will be more systematic.

Disadvantages of Office Mechanisation:







Although the use of mechanical devise offers many advantages, it suffers from a number of drawbacks:

1. Surplus of Staff:

It has been observed that there are machines for which a skilled hand is needed for operation. Sometimes, if this skill hand is not available for a very long time, then either somebody is trained to operate it, or on immediate basis a recruitment is done to get a person to operate the machine. In both the cases, it involves cost, and it adds up to the expense be-side swelling the strength of the staff.

2. High cost of Installation:

Most of the office machines, like the Xerox machine, Electronic Scanning Machine and the computers are expensive, and a large amount is spend not only to procure them, but on their maintenance. Hence the installing and the maintenance charger are very high.

3. Under-Utilisation of Machines:

Machine purchased spending a very high price, if not utilised to its maxi­mum, or not very frequently used, not only blocks the money which is spent to buy it, but it reduces the interest of the bank, on the money that is blocked while purchasing it. Hence it is essential to make proper use of machines’ full utilisa­tion potentiality.

4. Cost of Operation:

Sometimes the costs of operation of certain machines are very high. For example Xerox machine, one should find out the number of pages that a bottle of toner might copy before buying it. Similarly, one should also find out whether the selenium drum of the copier needs an air-conditioned room for its maintenance.

5. Cost of Break-down:

Sometimes the break-downs etc. prove very costly. A huge amount of money has to be spent for repairing the same. Also, during the time of break-down, the work gets held up. This adds to the cost of the working system of the office.

6. Monotony:

In some cases, certain installation of the office machine relieves a worker of his job in the office. This example holds true in production department of any company where the machines replace the workers and monotony becomes an important problem in the office. The induction of the machine may reduce the interest of the worker as well as it can kill the enthusiasm and the creativity of the worker.

7. Workers’ Hostility:

Sometimes the attitude of the worker becomes very hostile when a new ma­chine is installed in the office. Some think that because of the advent of the ma­chine in the office,