How Does Automation Improve Productivity?

December 2022

In a recent survey, 7 out of 10 businesses believed that the use of automation could help to build more productive teams. However, when asked how easy they thought it was to implement automation, only 1 in 10 had a solid grasp of how to do it.

You might be asking yourself, how does automation improve productivity? The ability to do things faster and better through the use of machines or automation really expanded during the Industrial Revolution. It hasn’t stopped, which has led us into the 4^th industrial revolution.

Every business wants high productivity and high quality, and as you can guess, there’s a correlation between success and profits. Thankfully, in the digital world, there are more ways than ever to improve productivity in the workplace.

Read on to find out how automated systems can help and what tools you can start to implement to boost productivity today.

How Does Automation Improve Productivity

We can all accept that automation helps to increase productivity, but in some cases, it may be used not to increase productivity but to improve quality or health and safety concerns.

Although there is a multitude of ways it has a positive effect on employees and production, these are some of the main reasons why automation helps.

• Eliminate mundane tasks and free up employee time
• Upskilling workers
• Increase worker efficiency
• Enhance and simplify the supply chain, accounting
• Easier to communicate between management and workers
• Streamline efficiencies
• Improve competitiveness advantages
• Improving quality
• Improved production control and monitoring through data software.

Using Automation to Improve Productivity

Thankfully, most automation systems don’t need complex formulas and algorithms to get them up and running. Instead, the best ones should be intuitive, user-friendly, and quick to set up. The focus should be on allowing your team to learn and upskill their talents. They work in collaboration with each new piece of automated tech.

You do have to be a little bit open-minded toward automation. The misconception is that it’s there to take someone’s job. It’s not. The goal is to make tasks easier. It allows the worker to focus on other areas in the company and, in turn, boosts productivity. This helps to reduce turnover of staff through better working conditions and, in many cases, increases in salary due to the worker now being carrying out more valuable jobs.

Automation Makes Jobs Safer for Workers

As an example, warehouse and manufacturing jobs can sometimes have an element of risk involved. Although there are numerous safety rules and protocols that are followed. The nature of the environment means that it’s never going to be 100% safe.

For example, there are risks when it comes to the manual handling and transporting of large packages and freight. There are also injuries from falling items and heavy machinery.

Other incidents can include chronic conditions such as repetitive stress and repository issues from breathing toxins in certain environments. Serious injuries frequently involve substantial time off to recover, which can impact productivity within a company.

The use of automation can help prevent many of these safety problems. Warehouse automation software helps to simplify the workflow. At the same time, robotic machinery can take over dangerous tasks.

Not all automation is solo production based, and just as important as making the parts is having systems in place to allow you to have good stock control.

Using Automated Systems to Create a More Efficient Warehouse

Automation in a warehouse environment can also help streamline data. A dedicated warehouse management system can:

• Manage and maximise inventory
• Increase the accuracy of orders
• Eliminate errors associated with manual data processing
• Create continuity across all processes
• Monitor and reduce energy use
• Minimise the risk of product damage and errors

Robots can be assigned to carry out demanding and time-consuming tasks. These include things like order fulfilment and picking and packing. By combining robots with AI, they are able to work effectively alongside humans. This speeds up tasks and makes for a much more refined and controlled process.

This makes workers more efficient and boosts employee productivity. It also helps cut costs for businesses throughout the process.

Automation Makes Warehouse More Attractive

Warehouses are fast becoming clean and safe environments to work in. Long gone are the days of dark, labour-intensive work in dusty buildings. Warehouses have now become an attractive place to work.

In a traditional warehouse, the average worker is assigned to repetitive and physical tasks. It’s tedious and often comes with the risk of injury. Automating tasks in the warehouse, not only cleans up the environment but takes the manual labour off of employees. Robots are used for more rigorous tasks and undesirable overnight shifts.

Not only does this create a safer and more productive work environment for staff, but the improved work conditions have also led to better morale amongst workers. It’s improved retention rates, and more desirability to want to work in this sector.

The use of robots and automated software isn’t taking jobs away from workers. They are just shuffling these jobs about. This gives employees more time and resources to focus on things like strategy, innovation, and tech. This also leads to a much higher employee productivity rate.

There has been an influx in tech-driven jobs. In recent years, jobs have become more sophisticated and advanced, and many jobs that are carried out now may not have existed a few years ago.

Automation Improves Job Satisfaction

Humans are still essential for a successful business. However, it’s only natural that there may be anxiety with the idea that people will lose their jobs as a result of automation. In fact, automation has the opposite effect.

• Reducing physical labour
• Reduces associated risk of injuries
• Enhancing productivity throughout the supply chain
• Creating a more efficient and effective warehouse
• Enabling more sophisticated roles for workers

Essentially, the purpose of implementing robotics and automation is to free up time and resources. This allows humans to then focus on tasks that a machine can not do. Workers can focus on tasks such as networking, strategy, and planning (more value added job functions) which all help to take the company forwards.

Is Your Business Being Productive?

If you are still asking how does automation improve productivity, then find out more at SP Automation & Robotics. As industry leaders since 1984, they have been providing bespoke automation machines to a wide range of industries.

We can offer automation solutions for any niche, including medical devices and pharmaceuticals, food and drink, electronics, and automotive. Speak to one of our knowledgeable staff today to find out how you can boost your productivity.

At SP Automation and Robotics, we help industries adopt automated manufacturing processes. To get started, give us a call and see how we can help your business advance into the future of technology.

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