Overcoming Automation Challenges in Manufacturing

April 2020

Overcoming Automation Challenges in Manufacturing

In general, it is fair to point out that most manufacturers, regardless of their industry, are finding it more and more difficult to remove costs from their process to allow them to remain competitive. The word Automation has only really been used since around 1947, when Ford opened its Automation department to develop systems to streamline their car production processes. From the input of raw materials to the finished goods, and in Ford’s case, cars coming off the end of line automation. The driver behind this was to make cars affordable by reducing production costs.

Unless you have found a niche market with little or no competition, then your product costs are always going to be under scrutiny to ensure your bottom line remains positive. Even if your product is one of a kind, the chances are that someone, somewhere, will be looking to make their version cheaper and with added value to the consumer.

The challenges faced by manufacturers in this modern world to allow them to remain competitive are increasing, and the only way for them to survive is to embrace new technology and invest in automation. Costs are one driver to automate, but another challenge across UK manufacturing is finding and retaining the correct people to help support this paradigm shift in manufacturing.

So, how do we overcome these problems?

Defining and solving all the problems associated with overcoming automation challenges in one article is an impossible task, but there are simple common sense approaches to help in this.

When considering automation, firstly, you have to fully define the objectives of your project to allow the correct outcome to be achieved. Is it to improve quality, reduce costs, eliminate health and safety risks or is it because of labour shortages? It is more than likely that all of these objectives will form part of your aspirations. Until you define your vision and fully understand your objectives, there is no point in trying to drive this forward. Doing so will only waste potentially a lot of money and have no real gains.

Once the objectives are set, and in order to make this succeed, the automation journey has to be sold to all stakeholders. We are not just talking about senior management; we are talking about everyone whom this project will affect. Senior management require to understand the payback strategy, but what is just as important is the people at the coal face. These people are living and breathing your processes and understand how your products are being produced, and their knowledge is invaluable. These workers may initially feel threatened by the thought of a machine taking away their jobs and replacing humans.

This stage has to be handled sensitively so your team can be sold the benefits. Retraining and upskilling to allow them to work with the new technology is a starting point, which in turn should lead to better pay and, therefore, a better quality of lifestyle. Improved health and safety is also a major player in this. Telling someone that their respective job that is causing aches and pains will no longer be required them to do this, but instead, they will now be working alongside automation, technology, and robots and be part of a team that will be making better products, more of them and helping to grow the business that they work for. This is not an easy task, and there may be struggles along the way. Transparency and consistency are key ingredients for this communication to work. The bottom line is that the change is being implemented to help keep your business competitive and your production lines are now less likely to have humans on them, but instead a series of automation processes or modules carrying out the tasks.

Employing new people in manufacturing is becoming more difficult, and the lack of UK engineers is going to get worse in years to come, so upskilling is a must. In general, the younger generation in today’s society has grown up in a digital age, so adapting what skills they already have is a practical way forward. You have to look at what employees you will need to help you achieve your goal to ensure they are employed for the correct value-added tasks. A planned training program needs to be implemented to ensure your upskilled workforce has all the “tools” they need to help them bring as much value to your business as possible.

As previously mentioned, understanding the areas makes the journey a lot simpler, from selling the idea to stakeholders to also allowing you to fully define the requirements of the automation that you will require. Being able to supply a well-defined User Requirement Specification (URS) will ensure you can take control of your project. Selecting your automation partner is also an important step with consideration on how they respond to your request for a quotation (RFQ), to the level of detail they put into your proposal is also a good indication on how they will work with you on projects in the future.

It is easy to be blown away by technology and a salesman baffling you with what is new. The important part here is to question yourself and ask, “Do I need all of this”? Partnering with technology companies to understand what’s out there is important to bring you up to a knowledgeable level to allow you to question what is being offered by potential partners.

With a huge hype on the term Industry 4.0, it is often the case that technology that is being “invented” may not suit you or you don’t require it. Artificial intelligence (AI), Virtual Reality (VR), etc. are all great advancements, and they all have their place, but not necessarily all at the same time.  Big Data and cloud-based analytics again can bring lots of advantages to your organisation, but we have to be clear on what data you require. Data is there to be used, but only use what you need, and again, this comes down to creating a clear strategy.

Industry 4.0 is simply a pick and mix of technology that can save you £1000’s but can also cost you £1000s if you get it wrong. Like any project, whether it’s for automation, industry 4.0 or both, a clear, well-defined strategy needs to be realised to ensure its success. Considering small steps, such as proof of concept (POC) can be a cost-effective approach, mitigating identified risks as early on as possible.

In summary, a good understanding of your manufacturing process is a good starting point for understanding automation challenges. Large-scale production processes can look overwhelming at the beginning of any business improvement project, but breaking this down into smaller steps, will make your problem identification simpler. The steps are quite simple: define, engage, test, implement and finally review.  Following this methodology will help you in the journey to help you overcome automation challenges.

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