Automation Benefits in Manufacturing

Automation in the manufacturing process | Engex Engineering

Technology has enabled companies of all types to do things faster, and with less labour. This is especially true of manufacturing production lines and warehouse environments.

However, is going faster always the goal? (Especially if the rest of your manufacturing systems and processes are not keeping pace.) Are there other benefits that need to be better explored, before commissioning the software and machinery that supports automation?

Automation and site safety

The first robotics used for industrial applications were designed to move things just a few feet. Ironically, they were too dangerous to operate around humans but were built to reduce accidents by moving hazardous materials and chemicals from place to place.

A vast amount of progress lies between the first patent issued in 1961 and the manufacturing technology that’s now emerging. Yet safety is still one of the leading reasons to commission automation projects.

Safety is also a key impetus in reviewing any early robotics you adopted, which needs to be replaced by more compliant, risk-free and efficient versions.

Modern automation in manufacturing is about far more than moving things. For example, you can now use AI-supported tech such as drones and other autonomous survey equipment to gather data from hard-to-reach places or risky environments.

You can use automation to scan, monitor and manage your entire manufacturing operations too. It generates the sort of information that can greatly improve your lean manufacturing principles, and also your Health and Safety management. For instance, automated traffic signals and segregation systems protect pedestrians, off-road vehicles and autonomous machinery.

Error and waste reduction

The latter benefit of automation in the manufacturing process is connected to greater efficiency in the daily activities of your workforce. To reduce accidents as well as incidents that could lead to business interruption. However, expertly sourced and well-configured automation tech can protect your profitability in other ways too.

This includes making many of your processes more consistent, and error-free. A robotic picker reading coded labels in your warehouse is more likely to get the right inventory to the right place, than its human counterpart.

There’s also the potential to commission automated machinery for manufacturing that minimises wasted materials or which offers important energy-saving advantages. Even having lighting and other equipment that switches on and off autonomously can be the ‘smart’ way to run a modern factory!

Of course, automation in the manufacturing process also means reducing wasted time – as your materials or products can be handled faster, as mentioned in the introduction.

Improved management

One of the less obvious advantages of automation in the manufacturing process is the effect it can have on your workforce, especially your supervisors and decision-makers.

Your team will regularly deal with complex and ever-shifting challenges – including supply chain disruption, material and labour shortages, updated or demanding legislation, and fickle customers, to name but a few. Your management team also have to be conscious of your machinery maintenance schedules, and the steps needed to avoid costly downtime.

Post-pandemic, we all know how quickly new problems arise, and even something as fundamental as the weather can throw off logistics or your available workforce.

Introducing streamlined and authentically beneficial automation can relieve a great deal of management pressure. Not least as mundane tasks are done by software, and scheduling is more transparent, leaving your team to focus on major issues.

For instance, you get notifications when machinery is due for checks and upgrades, and you can enjoy far better control over end-to-end logistics, right down your supply chain.

Can you put a price on that kind of stress relief?

Business intelligence

This particular advantage of automation in the manufacturing process runs through much of the above. Investing in technology that streamlines your workplace and systems creates a wealth of data, that you can use for diverse improvements, as well as for problem-solving.

The result is a better way to manage inventory, machinery and labour more intuitively and profitably. However, modern data science enables a high degree of predictive analytics too.

For example, the sensors around your manufacturing site transmit data to control everyday business operations in a more responsive manner. However, could the data also be used as part of your business development? Could it inform your R&D team, and help you make confident decisions about new ways to get products to market too?

It’s all in the design

As manufacturing automation is such a ‘wide-open’ field, with new options emerging constantly, it does involve a great many decisions. You may even want a system that slows down production, rather than speeding it up, to better manage materials, energy and quality!

That means it is vital to focus on the most important principle of automation in the manufacturing process. You must invest in the right advice and engineering support, to find solutions that are relevant now, and for your business future. Go too fast, and you could quickly find out you took a wrong turn!

Engex Engineering is a leading supplier of automation services for the manufacturing sector. We scope and deliver automation solutions to improve production and we also work with our clients to ensure they are capturing the wider sets of business benefits enabled by automation. Contact us to explore the advantages of automation and your business goals, in a timely manner.

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