THE CLOSED/OPEN SYSTEM LOGIC AND ENTERPRISE MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS
The organization within these automated spaces operates on what can be called Factory Time, as defined by Merve Bedir—a temporal construct devoid of natural reference points, embodying supposedly entirely autonomous mechanics, as far as the system overseeing the inner workings is concerned.[3] These spaces frequently employ Enterprise Management Systems (EMS) or parallel software suites that oversee not only the automation itself but also maintenance schedules, resource allocation, material requirements, planning and product life cycle management.
The perception of landscapes of automated organization reveals a deep-seated paradox. These spaces, often enigmatic to most of society, operate generally outside the realm of critical scrutiny, as universes with their own transactional set of rules. Society, in general, seems inherently satisfied with the rapid delivery of online purchases, often within 24 hours, and the infrastructure required to make this possible. [4] Regarding distribution centers, there is rarely any major critical inquiry into the networks and external elements that support these systems.
Historically, there are precedents that, in their working, do not follow the usual machine/nature delineation. As pointed out by Bedir, Su Song’s 11th-century mechanism encapsulated the interpretation of automation as present in Daoist, Confucian and Shintoist philosophies, illustrating a vision of automation as an extension of the natural world.[5] The clock was an element within a larger landscape, interconnected with the earth, water and sun, as it was powered by a stream, putting its clockwork into motion, and displaying the relation and movement of various celestial bodies. This relational awareness emphasized the inseparability of the mechanism from its environment. Modern automated landscapes, by contrast, are designed to operate in seemingly isolated groups or networks. Although they host multiple flows, such as data, waste and energy, these flows are only acknowledged once subsumed into the system’s operational framework. The origins and external impacts of the flows are disregarded, reinforcing the notion of self-contained, hermetic spaces.
Since the connection to the outer networks is obscured or obfuscated, this perception further propagates Modernist ideologies prioritizing relentless resource extraction while reducing the perception of the true extent of energy consumption and human labor required to sustain such systems.[6]
