Automation Can Save Time and Money

Manufacturing automation has been a significant topic of discussion floating around the industry, and for a good reason. We are increasingly seeing manufacturers moving toward automated work processes to increase efficiencies, accuracies, and production levels. But just how effective is automation?

Automation can take redundant work off the hands of hard-working employees, allowing them to engage in more impactful work that is fulfilling and drives higher productivity. Data input, communication, and reporting can be done in real-time, creating up-to-date and accurate information to drive strong business decisions. Automation that gives complete data visibility at your fingertips can save your company from spending money on ambiguous problems or reacting to critical situations too late. Plus, the costly risks of manual errors—a misplaced decimal or incorrect number—can be minimized with the right technology.

We talked with some of our internal experts to dive a bit deeper into how automation has resolved some of the challenges that our manufacturing customers have experienced in the past.

Challenge: Redundant Work and Wasted Efforts

We all want to feel valued at work. When employees work on mundane tasks that overload their workday, it leads to frustration, quick burnout, and high turnover rates. In 2020, the manufacturing turnover rate was around 44%, only leading credence to the imperative change manufacturing plants and job shops must undergo to satisfy and retain employees.

Automation helps offload a lot of the manual, repetitive tasks from your team’s responsibilities, leaving room for higher-value work to be completed. Not only is employee satisfaction at risk when it comes to redundant work, but company costs also increase when hiring multiple employees for the work that one could do. Rather than working hard on production or efficiency improvements, employees are filling their days with small, repetitive tasks that could be completed quickly with automation. At the end of the day, employers are paying for inefficient work.

Solution:

Whether you’re a batch and process, discrete, or job shop manufacturer, you need to automate processes for your employees and your business. Upgrading processes from multiple steps between multiple software systems, or done on paper, to a centralized business management system will help employees accelerate their everyday tasks. Software solutions designed with manufacturers in mind will only enhance employee performance and productivity.

Challenge: Inaccuracies in Data Caused by Outdated Technology

By the time an employee lets you know a machine is down, you’ve already wasted hours of production time. Sharing company data after collecting, gathering insights, formatting, and presenting means this data is already old news. Real-time data is the only way to accurately report on the company’s status. Being proactive about potential problems saves companies time and money that may have been lost without the ability to spot a problem before it manifests. Automation solves this by collecting the data and creating dedicated business reports without manual intervention. This approach ensures that this important information is always accessible.

Solution:

Stop being the last to know in morning meetings and become a proactive problem solver. A solution that provides real-time data in a presentable format will be the easiest way to ensure your reported information is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. This data allows you to tailor your processes to specific machines, employees, and resource capacities in real-time. Accuracy, especially regarding data, needs to be a standard, not an option, for companies looking to maximize their production and operational efficiencies.

Challenge: Lack of Data Visibility to Make Important Decisions

How confident are you in your employees’ skill sets? Or your ability to know when inventory for critical materials is running low? When an employee works on multiple jobs, you may notice that some tasks are done quickly while others take more time than they probably should. Quickly identifying what and where employees excel will enable you to allocate resources effectively and apply training where necessary, rather than guessing who gets jobs done most efficiently. Also, the current supply chain challenges have caused many manufacturers to shift to just-in-case strategies, magnifying the importance of inventory visibility. Knowing exactly what materials are needed for a project, if there are any in stock, how many are ordered and in transit, and how many you still need to order will take any guesswork out of inventory management. Having this inventory visible to all departments involved-from sales through production in one location helps eliminate overlap and confusion in purchasing and ordering.

Estimating quotes and orders without being able to see company data causes mistakes, inaccuracies, and leaking revenue. This level of data visibility allows you to make decisions based on facts to save money, time, and resources.

Solution:

You save money and time when you have detailed visibility into several aspects of your company. Behrens, president of Complexus Medical, explains that visibility into machine capacity data “has saved us from a machine purchase in two areas. We’re talking a six-figure sum of money that we didn’t have to spend on another piece of equipment.” Knowing where, when, and how things are getting done on your shop floor helps keep employees accountable, provides an accurate timetable for you and your customers, and eliminates inaccuracies during orders and quotes.

Automation can save businesses time and money within weeks of deployment. It’s no surprise that manufacturers are turning to this technology to help run business processes efficiently. It’s time to invest in your company.