4 Signs that You Need to Automate Processes in Your Facility
A lot of business owners are having difficulties when it comes to introducing automation to their operations for a variety of reasons. In most cases, however, the cost is the main issue. Administrators may assume that they are doing well with their current setup when it's crumbling under the surface. The signs of a poorly optimized setup are often very subtle too and only become apparent once things get catastrophic. Let's take a look at some of the clear and more subtle signs that you may need to automate processes in your facility.
You Can’t Compete on Price
If your production costs are becoming too high for you to be able to keep up with your competitors, you may want to take a look at how they do things as they may be automating parts you aren’t. If you're in the food business, for instance, and you’re relying mainly on humans for tray packing and visual inspections when there are machines that can load trays, inspect food, and pack trays in cases for you, then you may be wasting a lot of money.
You could invest in an automated case packer and tray packing machine that can perform the dynamic loading of products into trays for you. This alone will allow you to cut the number of employees affected by this task significantly and drop your costs. This will also reduce human error and the number of items that need to be wasted or returned.
Your Employees are Leaving or Complaining
High turnover rates are another sign that there might be something wrong with your processes and that more automation should be introduced. This is especially true if all the people leaving are from one specific department or were working on one particular station.
You should also listen to your employees carefully and ask them for recommendations. Asking them a question as simple as where you should and could improve can be a great eye-opener. So, consider having a reporting system, and constantly ask your employees and managers where they are spotting inefficiencies.
You See Visible Bottlenecks
This is one of the clearest signs that you should automate a function. If you notice that production is stalling at a specific area, then you will either have to automate that part or allocate more people in that operation. It will be up to you to calculate how much you can expect to spend on machinery vs what you'd have to pay in terms of manpower.
You Are Having Lots of Injuries and Sick Days
Your employees may not want to tell you that they’re exhausted and overworked, but if they constantly take out sick days or you have more injuries than usual, this could be a sign that something is wrong. Working too hard, especially on repetitive tasks, can greatly increase the chances of injury.
Employees who have to perform repetitive tasks can have a tendency to lose focus which can cause accidents. This is why you should consider automating any repetitive tasks in your processes.
Repetitive tasks can also increase the occurrence of stress fractures. If you've had many of those in your organization, you should see what station these employees were assigned to and see if automation could be a solution.
Automation in manufacturing is one of the best ways to streamline processes, improve productivity, and increase your bottom line. This is why you should take the steps necessary to carefully assess your processes, see if there is space for improvement, and see where you could introduce automated solutions starting today.
You Can’t Compete on Price
If your production costs are becoming too high for you to be able to keep up with your competitors, you may want to take a look at how they do things as they may be automating parts you aren’t. If you're in the food business, for instance, and you’re relying mainly on humans for tray packing and visual inspections when there are machines that can load trays, inspect food, and pack trays in cases for you, then you may be wasting a lot of money.
You could invest in an automated case packer and tray packing machine that can perform the dynamic loading of products into trays for you. This alone will allow you to cut the number of employees affected by this task significantly and drop your costs. This will also reduce human error and the number of items that need to be wasted or returned.
Your Employees are Leaving or Complaining
High turnover rates are another sign that there might be something wrong with your processes and that more automation should be introduced. This is especially true if all the people leaving are from one specific department or were working on one particular station.
You should also listen to your employees carefully and ask them for recommendations. Asking them a question as simple as where you should and could improve can be a great eye-opener. So, consider having a reporting system, and constantly ask your employees and managers where they are spotting inefficiencies.
You See Visible Bottlenecks
This is one of the clearest signs that you should automate a function. If you notice that production is stalling at a specific area, then you will either have to automate that part or allocate more people in that operation. It will be up to you to calculate how much you can expect to spend on machinery vs what you'd have to pay in terms of manpower.
You Are Having Lots of Injuries and Sick Days
Your employees may not want to tell you that they’re exhausted and overworked, but if they constantly take out sick days or you have more injuries than usual, this could be a sign that something is wrong. Working too hard, especially on repetitive tasks, can greatly increase the chances of injury.
Employees who have to perform repetitive tasks can have a tendency to lose focus which can cause accidents. This is why you should consider automating any repetitive tasks in your processes.
Repetitive tasks can also increase the occurrence of stress fractures. If you've had many of those in your organization, you should see what station these employees were assigned to and see if automation could be a solution.
Automation in manufacturing is one of the best ways to streamline processes, improve productivity, and increase your bottom line. This is why you should take the steps necessary to carefully assess your processes, see if there is space for improvement, and see where you could introduce automated solutions starting today.