The manufacturing industry is constantly evolving to meet people and society’s changing needs. But change isn’t always easy, and manufacturers of all sizes can face hurdles to their continued growth.
Innovation is often part of the solution. And manufacturing automation in particular holds great promise to help businesses meet new and changing demands, including:
A 2017 study determined that among work activities in the Canadian manufacturing, transportation, and warehousing sectors, 61% have automation potential.
Let’s take a look at a few of the automation technologies that are helping manufacturers innovate and solve some of their toughest problems and support growth in a quickly evolving industry.
For a manufacturer that’s just getting started with automation it can be overwhelming to think about the possibilities (and the potential investment costs) of applying it to production processes. By introducing automation, you can increase production efficiencies, reduce waste and costs, improve standardization of practices and workflows, and glean insights to incorporate into your continuous improvement process.
Automated solutions can include software, connected devices and tools, and even autonomous equipment like robots, to perform manufacturing tasks. Physical automation might be the first thing that comes to mind, but automating data capture and analysis can be just as vital in a manufacturing business. Automation in action doesn’t always involve robotic arms or assembly lines that function without a human operator. In fact, many technologies were developed with human collaboration in mind.
Let’s take a closer look at those five manufacturing challenges and some of the automation solutions that can help solve them.
Automated data collection is often an ideal place to get started. This typically involves an integrated solution comprising barcode labels, mobile and wearable scanning devices, and software to collect data from production in real time. Software solutions are then key to automating the uploading, cleaning, storing, and analysis of the data to inform decision-making.
But when it comes to data capture, barcode labels are just one option. Radio frequency identification (RFID) tags and labels and IoT-connected equipment can bring even more speed and efficiency by automating the initial data capture. RFID also plays a key role in material and product tracking and tracing, as well as managing reusable transport items like totes, bins, pallets, and other containers.
As a business grows, inventory and asset management become more complex. Managing fixed assets, shared assets, IT assets, and consumable inventory gets more difficult—and more important. Disconnected processes, spreadsheets, and data sources can lead to multiple versions of reality across an enterprise.
First and foremost, an automated asset management system eliminates manual data entry, a common source of misinformation. It also establishes one enterprise source of truth on which stakeholders can base decisions. With automated reporting, stakeholders can create and share custom, real-time data visualizations.
Software solutions can help manufacturers see and understand their supply chain both holistically and in granular detail. Solutions like these help stakeholders make sense of the data collected, identifying issues as wide-ranging as production bottlenecks, problematic vendors, seasonal obstacles, quality concerns, shipping problems, shrinkage, and much more.
And as an organization continues to capture and analyze supply-chain-related information, its dataset grows—so that its business intelligence can, too. Awareness of changes in trends comes quicker, enabling a more agile response.
Along with increased speed and efficiency, the digital transformation of manufacturing has also increased opportunities for malicious actors to gain access. The number and complexity of IoT-connected devices can mean more “back doors” for threats to find a way in, but automated solutions can help keep those points of entry secure.
Automation plays an increasingly important role in risk and vulnerability analysis, threat discovery and mitigation, and IT policy enforcement. By automating processes such as identifying and categorizing network-connected devices, for example, IT departments can identify and remediate threats faster to minimise the damage. This approach can also help IT teams work more proactively to get ahead of potential problems before they happen.
A shortage of labour and skills is affecting manufacturers across virtually all industries, and its impacts can be measured in more than vacancies. Employers are contending with high turnover, especially in lower-wage positions—and unfilled positions can slow or shut down production. Vacancies can create problems for the workers that are on the job, lowering morale and, in turn, impacting everything from product quality and productivity to employee loyalty.
Automating the repetitive, tedious, and menial tasks within a production environment helps manufacturers achieve three essential goals:
Among some of the more exciting developments in industrial automation are automated guided vehicles (AGVs) and autonomous mobile robots (AMRs). Manufacturers, along with warehouse and logistics providers, are eliminating long treks spent carrying items from their employees’ workdays, enabling them to focus their time on tasks that add value.
Whether you’re a legacy manufacturer just beginning to implement automation into your processes or your manufacturing process already incorporates some automation, it’s smart to work with an experienced systems integrator.
Be sure your integration expert takes time to understand your processes and the needs of your people before recommending solutions. Look for an integrator that partners closely with a full roster of hardware OEMs, software providers, and supplies manufacturers, so you know you’ll have access to the knowledge and resources it takes to make the most of your automation investments.
Barcoding-Canada is a trusted partner in automation and systems integration. Contact us today to schedule a free consultation and start planning your manufacturing automation journey.
