Manufacturing News
November 9, 2026
November 9, 2026 · Statewide · Story 5 of 5
CJS Automation Study: Indiana Ranks Third Nationally for Automation Job Risk
A new study from UK-based CJS Automation finds that 47.57 percent of Indiana jobs, roughly 1.4 million positions, sit in occupations highly susceptible to automation, ranking Indiana third most exposed in the nation behind Nevada and South Dakota, with Evansville at 48.36 percent and Fort Wayne at 47.31 percent. Indiana Manufacturers Association CEO Andrew Berger and Indiana Chamber CEO Vanessa Green Sinders pushed back, pointing to more than 20,000 open Indiana manufacturing jobs, and the study's counter-example is Amazon's $100 million, 300-job robotics manufacturing plant in Greenwood, which we covered in detail when it was first announced. CJS Automation is an industrial automation parts distributor with a commercial interest in automation urgency, and its underlying model dates to 2013 research the Melbourne Institute has found overstates displacement in exactly the physical warehouse and assembly roles Indiana has the most of. The more concrete detail is that Amazon is building its own robots in-house at Greenwood rather than buying from third-party vendors, which pulls demand away from the local automation component suppliers, fabricators and CNC shops that might otherwise have expected to benefit.
- Impact
- CJS Automation is a UK industrial automation parts distributor with a commercial interest in amplifying automation urgency (a conflict the study doesn't disclose) and its underlying Frey-Osborne methodology dates to 2013; the Melbourne Institute has found it overstates displacement for exactly the kind of physical warehouse and assembly roles Indiana has most of. The more concrete signal is Amazon building its own robots in-house at Greenwood rather than buying from third-party vendors, which pulls a demand signal away from local automation component suppliers, fabricators and CNC shops that might otherwise have expected to benefit from regional robotics spending.
- Watch
- Whether Amazon's Greenwood facility, opening by 2028, sources fabrication and components from Indiana suppliers or keeps the robotics supply chain fully in-house.
- For the huddle
Are we reacting to a 2013-vintage risk model sold by a vendor with a stake in automation urgency, or have we actually mapped how Amazon's in-house robotics build-out at Greenwood changes who our automation suppliers and competitors are?
Treat the ranking with caution before acting on it. CJS Automation sells automation components and uses a 2013 risk model that the Melbourne Institute has found overstates displacement in warehouse and assembly roles, the kind Indiana has the most of. The more concrete data point is Amazon building its own robots in-house at Greenwood instead of buying from third-party vendors, which changes who your automation suppliers and competitors actually are.
Sources
- Study shows almost half of Indiana jobs may be replaced by automation · thecentersquare.com
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- DPR Construction: Data Centers and Factories Are Competing for the Same Crews
- CJS Automation Study: Indiana Ranks Third Nationally for Automation Job Risk
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