What you describe is pretty much exactly parallel to the automation of physical work. Having a steam engine gets you a long way, then the first few robots a bit

What you describe is pretty much exactly parallel to the automation of physical work. Having a steam engine gets you a long way, then the first few robots a bit further... there's no particular reason to want a factory with zero employees (except the watchman and his dog...) unless you want it to work on Mars or something.