Process Automation in Manufacturing Industry for Increasing Efficiency and Cost Savings
The advancements led by several newly-introduced technologies – artificial intelligence and cloud storage – coupled with the easy access to engineering talent, the manufacturing industry is witnessing a noticeable improvement.
It won’t be wrong to say that the fourth industrial revolution is powered by digital transformation that brings a great deal of benefits to manufacturers. Think of agile process execution, high-quality manufacturing and cost-efficiency.
This digital transformation, to a large extent, is led by process automation. It is all about the usage of the right tools and technologies to automate the routine tasks to eliminate any errors and drive efficiency. By automating various processes not only streamlines varied industry operations but also brings in significant cost savings, up to €750,000.
Let’s explore an array of advantages that process automation offers to the manufacturing industry:
Increased workplace safety
If you have spent a considerable amount of time in the manufacturing industry, you will likely know that certain tasks are highly dangerous when performed manually. We are talking about rapid prototyping through graphic modeling, integrated fabrication of circuits, using programmable logic controllers to make complex surfaces and the like.
This is when automation helps you by increasing workplace safety by deploying automation in place strategically.
The safety and health of employees have always been the foremost priority for any manufacturing company, especially after the introduction of the Occupational Safety and Health Act, and automation has only made things simpler.
Lowered costs
Although a large number of traditional costs have remained the same over the years – like the costs related to raw material, labor, wastage, and energy consumed – there are new factors that also impact the cost.
All thanks to the highly competitive industry, manufacturers now also need to incur costs related to not reaching the market in time, cost related to regulatory compliance, cost of not meeting the consumer demands, and the cost of not maintaining high-quality consistently.
Undoubtedly, these factors are significant and will determine the cost of a product over its life cycle, the only difference being that the cost will not reflect just per batch or per shift. To be able to minimize your costs and to produce even a small batch of products, automation is necessary.
Better efficiency
Whether the task is related to product inspection or taking care of repetitive mundane tasks, automation can help you in all these aspects, and additionally free up your resources for handling other important issues that require creative and strategic decision making.
There is a range of high-level tasks that need human expertise, and automation allows better allocation of their skills. Undoubtedly, performing routine and mundane tasks is tough, and is more prone to errors due to boredom. This is when automation helps you out, and makes way for increased collaboration and efficiency.
Automation also introduces better machines, the ones that are innovative in various aspects like efficiency, productivity, accuracy, durability and, energy-saving.
All these factors when combined, increase your efficiency and create a growth-centric environment that is essential for any industry to flourish.
Enhanced productivity
As we have already explored, process automation decreases costs and increases revenue. Give a closer look at all these aspects and you will find that the reduced costs will translate to better throughput, improves quality, and reduced labor-related costs.
Additionally, automation also works by introducing improvements in the entire cycle, which is quickly followed by lower rework costs, lower inspection costs, and fewer failures.
Although introducing automation to your overall manufacturing processes could sound like an additional expense, it will prove to be cost-effective in the end. The idea here is to look at automation, not as an isolated expense, but compare the cost of manufacturing an item before and after implementing automation.
As things will turn out, automation is highly beneficial for smaller operations like the ones related to assembling, testing, inspecting, and quality checking an item. Not only automation rules out any requirement of manual testing, but it also eliminates any chances of errors, and this is just one of the few ways in which process automation enhances productivity.
The Next Steps
As you can see, process automation is no more an option, but rather the need of the hour – if you want to stay competitive, and up to date with the changing times. Although the investment related to automatizing processes could be huge upfront, it will streamline your internal processes, boost your productivity, and lead to cost-savings in the long run.
Manual processes are crippling businesses. Have you got manual processes that are drowning your employees, taking way too long for something you feel can be done in 90% less time and systems after systems are built to take care of the same thing? We can help. Lets’ connect with one of Process Automation experts today!