Author: Paul Henriques in: Business Solutions
With every passing year, more and more companies are choosing to adopt automated technologies, with most firms looking to automate at least 25% of their tasks over the next five years.
As it is with most technological adoptions, firms tend to start slowly and then expand rapidly after feeling the benefits of automation, like higher productivity, less scrap, lower overhead, or better decisions. Continued automation will usually begin with a simple task and as the benefits are felt, decision-makers will want to add new automated systems wherever possible.
However, as the number of processes that get automated increases, added difficulties can make the whole process seem moot. In many cases, these more complex processes can require that the firm rethink how it is organized to ensure these processes are automated correctly. When this happens, decision-makers have to be proactive.
However, automation is a force that cannot be ignored. All company stakeholders (management, employees, shareholders, and customers) see improved performance and satisfaction with well implemented automated tasks, processes, and systems.
Within the manufacturing sector, automation is imperative and always has been. With your customers, suppliers, and your competitors likely looking for more ways to automate more of their production line, it becomes imperative that you also look at where you can invest time and resources to automate. The issue within manufacturing has often been the cost. However, with decreased costs for automating systems (like new ERP and MES systems) and technology (like optical recognition and nested laser cuts), automating has become a global phenomenon. This means that what was previously a barrier to entry has become a reason to move forward. Other reasons to add automation to a firms’ tasks include improving effectiveness and improving customer and employee experiences.
One of the few reasons to keep from automating is confusion over how to proceed. With few clear options available or a lack of information as to the benefits of automating certain processes, some firms will stick their ground for a while longer and take the chance of missing opportunities to keep the status quo.
Within manufacturing, it can be quite common to focus your automation initiatives on your production floor. While the technology and systems in place on your shop floor are crucial, you should also look to improve your office. A good example of an automation technology that many service firms are adopting, that can affect manufacturing, is the optical character recognition or intelligent document processing. This tech can scan digital documents for specific data and create database records, like scanning a received invoice and creating a record from it. Another common technology is any that can automate a process, like MRP calculations. Finally, implementing smart software can help you manage multiple areas of your business, like case management automation, or hiring campaigns.
There are many effects and issues that arise from adding automation to your firm. One of the most visible negative effects is the need to update your training and skill requirements. However, automation can help you here by adding training modules that can track and/or provide:
This means that even a negative effect of automation comes with its own group of benefits.
Other areas that see an improvement include:
The importance of any benefits received from automation improvements can vary from firm to firm, but any automation provides measurable benefits.
With so many benefits so clearly visible, the question becomes why don’t we automate? The reasons to keep from automating can vary based on the size of the firm, but they can be summed up into the following categories:
While your firm may have more than one issue that is keeping you from automating, there are solutions to every one of these problems. Most of these can be answered by engaging with the automation vendor. Most automation firms are specialized and can provide you with ideas on where to start automating, why the automation will help, how to get it done, and where you can get help.
Adding automated systems to your firm can greatly improve your processes, quality, employee satisfaction, and customer experience.
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Our efforts began as an internal project of Mancor Industries when we identified the need for a more cohesive ERP system to manage the complexity of multiple plants, multiple products, multiple customers and multiple functions.
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