Back in the days the production process was mainly led by man power, however, with the huge developments in the world of technology, today things are quite different. Nowadays, the technology and computers have deeply penetrated the industry which makes the automation control one of the most competitive benefits in the world of production. For that reason, more and more companies are switching to this system since it allows them to produce a lot of products at an outstanding speed with an amazing repeatability and quality.
Nevertheless, before deciding whether you need to invest in an automation control system or not, there are some factors that you need to consider. The truth is, it all comes down to the type of operations you perform during your production process. For example, if you run a small operation with low production, then investing in automated machine may not be the most economical decision you can make. Otherwise, if you operate a large facility with a lot of workers, an automation control system might be just the right investment for your business that will help you prosper. There are a lot of reasons why so many manufacturers choose to automate their production processes, here are the top five.
Improve quality
Automation will improve the quality of your products in a number of ways, the most common one being the inspection and the testing of the parts before they are sent to the next operation. Another way of quality improvement is the elimination of piece part rejects. Parts that have defects will not pass through the tooling which will greatly improve the quality of the end workpiece. Also, automation is often used to match parts in order to achieve a more precise fit which eliminates the potential for an operator error that often happens when products are tested manually.
Improve response time
This is the time from the very beginning of the production process to the shipping part. When products need to pass through a number of manual operations most of the time until they are completely finished, they need to stay in ”buckets” waiting for their next operation to be performed. This time can be significantly reduced by using an automation control that comes with programmable changeovers.
Reduce cost
The most obvious way to reduce costs is by reducing direct labour. But there is one thing you should have in mind – this way of cost reduction has results only when the actual headcount is much lower than when the same volume is produced manually. Reduction of indirect labour is another important cost saver that happens when batch operations are replaced with automation control machines. Also, the cost for training your workers can also be significantly reduced since you will have an automated line instead of individual workstations.
Improve ergonomics
The usage and the importance of ergonomics is constantly increasing. More and more people are becoming aware of the health issues that are associated with fatigue, trauma disorders, vibration syndrome and more. This leads to people wanting to mechanize all the production operations that can lead to such health problems. Therefore, protecting yourself in advance from the carpal tunnel and investing in automated machines to also make your facility a better place for your employees is something that your future self will thank you for. The productivity gained by cancelling some of the production operations that are repetitive and difficult will certainly justify the cost of automation. Invest wisely.
