Why use robots on assembly lines and in repair shops?  Unlike humans, these can carry on repetitive tasks all day and night without any failures.  They can lift extremely heavy loads and systematically move them within .006 inches of their target.  All of this, of course, is enabled in large part by clever programming.

There also exist many complex software packages for simulating the behavior of industrial robots and attempting to simplify the task of controlling their many axes.

Wikipedia may not be a very academic source, but it has a great article on industrial robots.  You can also learn more about how they are programmed.