One skilled engineer and a few mechanics operating and maintaining a network of conveyors can move a boatload of stuff in a day. They use this tech as leverage.

One skilled engineer and a few mechanics operating and maintaining a network of conveyors can move a boatload of stuff in a day. They use this tech as leverage. If they replace, say, five hundred people with carts, we can say that the conveyors replaced 495-ish people. But the carts replace probably another x people. And the gloves the workers wear. And their boots. The factory is probably climate controlled, which helps immensely. Simple clipboards with paper do so much to keep the wheels of industry turning. Even safety goggles contribute to productivity. Which of these technologies have to ge “paid”, and how much? This isn’t a simple approach at all, and very easy to game by production facilities.