The manufacturing sector is a vital sector in the economy of all countries, whether developing or first world. This sector is known to be the most significant difference between a developing and developed country.
With technology taking over and transforming different other sectors, the manufacturing industry has experienced tremendous changes over the past century.
The biggest of these transformations is the incorporation of robotics in the industry, to automate some of the tasks. This change has revolutionized manufacturing and is known to be one of the most significant factors that result in competitive advantage.
But why should you invest in automation? Is it that important?
In this article, I will share with you the advantages of manufacturing automation.
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Enhanced Productivity
In manufacturing industries, tasks such as placing and packaging, welding or sealing and even screwing can be quickly done by automating the tasks using robots.
Robots can withstand time and operate 24 hours each day with the need for minimal maintenance and supervision, unlike human workers. This means that the robots will produce more goods while saving you on time and money.
For an end to end industry, automation might result in doubling or even tripling of their profits from the number of goods they produce.
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Better Quality
The proverb, ‘Man is to error’, explains clearly that despite human workers doing their best, it is possible to find flaws in the quality of their work.
Robots, however, have been programmed with minimal index margins for errors and thus, will produce high-quality goods with minimal mistakes.
Also, by automating your processes, you relieve your workers from some of the repetitive jobs available and thus allow them to spend their time and skills in the more complex tasks. As a result, the quality of your goods will significantly increase.
You will also notice that despite increasing your processing speeds, the robots ensure that the quality of your goods does not decrease. This consistency will woo you more customers.
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Improved Safety
Manufacturing industries are without say, one of the most dangerous places to work in. The heavy machinery, sharp tools and risky tasks all make it hazardous for human workers.
However, by automating most of your processes, you can delegate the dangerous tasks to robots and Cobots and allow your workers to focus on more challenging tasks to improve product quality.
You should, however, ensure that the robots are not left unattended since they may lead to more accidents in the factory.
Alternatively, the use of collaborative robots will prevent major accidents and also facilitate a more friendly and productive work environment.
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Save on costs
Despite manufacturing automation seeming like an expensive investment, its return on investment is very high and will take you less than a year to start enjoying the profits.
Automation will also reduce the costs incurred in waste products. Since the robots are very accurate at their work, they reduce the rate of faulty products or waste materials since they are programmed never to miss any production stage.
The robots also complete tasks much faster and more consistently compared to human workers and thus will save you on costs of hiring extra workers during the high season.
Since robots can easily multi-task, they can complete tasks to would require two or more people to achieve and thus save you on the costs that would have been incurred for that process.
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More Flexibility and Creativity.
With robots doing most of the repetitive tasks, workers have the opportunity to utilize their skills and time to come up with better ways of completing tasks.
Since robots can be reprogrammed to complete different activities, they will enable the industry to produce various products while making their creative ideas a reality.
This flexibility will also enable them to incorporate new technologies and trends in the market and thus meet the demands of their customers.
Conclusion
Automating your manufacturing industry can be one hectic decision. However, the benefits reaped from automation may as well be the strategy you need to beat your competitors.
Automation provides more than just the benefits above, as such; you would do your industry a huge favor if you were to invest in it. Remember, the greater the risk, the greater the reward.
