Automation technology in manufacturing was once a new horizon, but it’s quickly plateauing into the new norm. The reason is the tangible improvements to KPIs it can provide across multiple industries, as evidenced by a 2022 survey by McKinsey & Company.
Of the business leaders surveyed, two-thirds of those who had introduced automation into their manufacturing programs reported improvements in quality control, employee retention, customer satisfaction, and operating expenses.
These improvements were the result of streamlined production processes, enhanced efficiency, greater precision, and higher productivity as a result of an efficient automation system. For a modern business, the applications of automation are as numerous as the benefits. In this article, we journey into the wide-reaching topic of using automation technology in manufacturing to help businesses elevate their workflows with state-of-the-art solutions to their industry’s biggest pain points.
In manufacturing, automation involves using programmable systems or tools to do certain tasks that would normally require human labor. The benefits to safety and efficiency are immediately apparent in manufacturing workflows that involve dangerous or repetitive jobs since automating them allows you to reallocate skilled labor to tasks that warrant it.
However, there are benefits beyond safety that automation can provide, even to workflows in manufacturing sectors that aren’t as hazardous. To explore them, businesses need to understand that there are three broad types of automation technology relevant to manufacturers: fixed, programmable, and flexible.
Though many businesses will ultimately combine the automation types into a new custom workflow, understanding the differences allows for more informed decision-making during the transition.
Fixed automation
Also known as “hard automation,” fixed automation uses machinery to take over tasks assigned to human workers. This is all “automation” used to mean, as it referred to the mechanization of assembly lines and other repetitive manufacturing situations. Robotic packing systems are a modern example of fixed automation, though advanced computer systems have enabled two other types.
Programmable automation
Programmable automation uses dedicated software systems to control machine-driven tasks to produce products in batches. The quantities can be a few to a few thousand depending on the scope of the operation. The PLC or Programmable Logic Controllers are reprogrammed between batches to match the new project.
Flexible automation
Flexible automation is the most recent advancement, whereby computer systems can be easily reassigned to different manufacturing styles. It’s the most refinable automated manufacturing type, combining human-operated systems management with machine-operated labor.
Each type of automation has different implications for the manufacturing process, though they are not mutually exclusive. In other words, you can combine the methods to customize your solutions to modern manufacturing problems, so long as you have a centralized system that can be easily adapted to new parameters and goals.
Automated manufacturing tasks benefit businesses in numerous ways, including:
Increased efficiency: Automated tasks can be completed more efficiently and at greater levels of precision. Manufacturing lines can be programmed in batches and reliably executed without the need for intervention. This also means that skilled labor can devote production time to completing tasks that still require human skills.
Lower costs: In manufacturing, efficiency leads to savings. Automating tasks saves labor costs while reducing production waste generated by human error. Referring back to the respondents of the McKinsey business survey, lower operating costs were the most-cited benefit of automation, regardless of industry.
Increased safety: Many manufacturing tasks are hazardous, leading to high-risk jobs that can result in injured workers, production delays, and workers’ compensation cases. Automating hazardous tasks, such as those involving dangerous machinery, heavy lifting, or hazardous chemicals, allows businesses to keep their employees safe while protecting their profit margins from costly errors.
Increased visibility: Automated manufacturing systems have the benefit of inventory tracking processes, sensors, barcodes, and more to give managers visibility over the workflow, schedule, and inventory. All that data is organized for optimal production planning, replenishment, and workflow strategizing to improve ROI across the board.
To deliver these benefits, automation impacts every stage of manufacturing differently. Consider how systems can be improved through process automation in these sectors:
Supply chain: An automated supply chain reduces delivery times and improves routing manufacturing. This has huge implications for manufacturers with multiple warehouses since the delivery and reordering logistics will now be set and updated in real time.
Production: Software can enhance the production process by giving you more visibility over each task and the workflow as a whole. Deciding how to improve bottlenecks is far easier with software that oversees the production process and centralizes the useful data, including material lists and ordering schedules.
Order processing: When automated, orders can be monitored and tracked in real time, prices can be automatically calculated, and order changes can be implemented immediately. All customer and purchase information is stored automatically on the system, so you never have to go hunting for receipts to solve a discrepancy in your records.
Customer service: Automating customer service responses gives businesses a point of contact with their consumers that reaches outside of normal business hours. Services that potentially solve customer queries or redirect them to other resources, which cost little in terms of additional manpower, improve customer satisfaction by giving consumers another way to communicate with your business.
Operations: Automating operations can reduce manufacturing lead times, make workflows more efficient, and boost your ROI. Different types of automation have diverse effects on different operations, so it’s important to supplement machine automation with a centralized system that can manage your inventory schedule, production times, customer orders, and more.
These examples demonstrate just some of the ways that industrial automation can impact the daily operations of real manufacturing businesses in different industries.
Automotive: In the automotive industry, robotic automation improves the safety and efficiency of the production process by taking over repetitive or dangerous tasks. By reducing human error in precision manufacturing, automotive businesses can increase their quality control. Additionally, automated reporting, analytics, and monitoring allow businesses to assess performance and strategize workflow changes.
Food & beverage: Product consistency can be improved with automation in the food & beverage industry, for which consistency impacts safety as well as quality. In this way, automation can reduce spoilage costs and recall risks by refining the order fulfillment process with automatic inventory updates and better order visibility.
However, the benefits extend beyond safety since automated tracking and inventory tracing allow these businesses greater control over their customer satisfaction rates as well.
Healthcare: In healthcare industries, including pharmaceuticals and medical devices, automation can reduce human error rates. In some cases, this can lead to improved outcomes for procedures as well as more accurate medical documentation.
Refining the manufacturing of medical devices through automation can also lead to better outcomes in their performance. With more accurate reports and data visibility, healthcare professionals can make more informed decisions without wasting valuable manpower on data collection.
Electronics: High-precision electronics can be manufactured more accurately and efficiently with automated manufacturing robots than with skilled human workers. As production speed increases, product defect rates decrease, which would not be the case for a production line reliant on human labor.
Additionally, optimal manufacturing conditions for electronics may not be optimal for human workers. When using automated robotics to construct products, electronics manufacturers can optimize production conditions to make better products while lowering operational costs.
Packaging: The packaging industry is all about consistency and efficiency. With automated machine tools, production cycles stay flexible and efficient, capable of taking on larger or smaller orders just by changing the automated settings. Automation also makes it easier to convert to different product types compared to human labor. For example, it would be easier to switch a production floor to a new biodegradable packaging type that complies with environmental regulations. While human labor requires reskilling the production line, automated systems only require a change in settings.
A majority of businesses, including your competition, are investing in automation to compete for the highest efficiency and lowest defect rates across multiple manufacturing sectors. Therefore, the presence of automation will not be the sole factor determining market dominance moving forward – the type and implementation of the automation will be key.
Newly automated manufacturers should ask these important questions. Do the automated systems work within your workflow or against it? Do they integrate or complicate your management strategies? Have the systems encouraged precision and ease of use for your workforce or hampered them?
Fishbowl is a streamlined solution for automation in manufacturing, providing real-time inventory management that offers unparalleled control and precision over your workflow. Its bespoke manufacturing features help with everything from material handling to production tracking and capacity projections.
In a single platform, Fishbowl provides real-time visibility for all your manufacturing operations, enhancing and streamlining your workflow to match the growth of your industry and the pressures of competing in high-tech manufacturing spaces in 2024 and beyond.