Most types of manufacturing and production companies have some level of automation in their processes today. In many companies, particularly smaller companies, the automation may be limited, with manual production and system controls as the large majority of the production capacity.
While this may seem like the most effective option for small to mid-sized industry, there is a very strong case for moving to complete manufacturing automation systems throughout production. Understanding how this can impact your business and create advantages that will carry forward with production, consider the following issues.
Increase Production without Added Equipment
While there will be an initial investment to plan, develop, configure and install manufacturing automation systems, once they are in place there will be an increase in production. All systems, machines and production areas on a line will be coordinated and synchronized, eliminating bottlenecks in production that limit the capacity.
Increased Quality Control
The more that automated control is in use in a facility, the greater the consistency of the product and the higher the level of quality control. It will be important to keep equipment, and automation systems maintained and configured, but overall the quality and the consistency of product will be superior to manual types of operations.
Reducing Human Error
Employees strive to do a top job, but as humans, it is easy for mistakes to happen. Changes in shifts, being short staffed or even having new hires on a production line can all lead to significant and costly human error.
With manufacturing automation systems, there is no learning curve and no risk of human error once the system is installed and uniquely configured to your needs. There will still be the need for employees to maintain and manage production, but the risk of human error will diminish significantly.
