Overcoming Production Bottlenecks: The Role of Automation

August 2024

Labour Shortages and Skill Gaps

The UK manufacturing sector is currently facing a shortage of skilled labour, exacerbated by an ageing workforce and challenges in attracting younger talent. This shortage is a significant bottleneck that can hinder production efficiency and growth.

How Automation Resolves This:

Rather than replacing workers, automation helps bridge the skill gap by taking over routine and repetitive tasks, allowing existing employees to focus on more complex and value-added activities. Automated systems can handle mundane processes, freeing up workers to engage in higher-level problem-solving, creativity, and decision-making roles. This shift not only up-skills the workforce but also creates more fulfilling job opportunities, making the manufacturing sector more attractive to new talent by creating new roles in programming, maintenance, and data analysis. These roles are also shared across multiple industries.

Production Downtime

Downtime, often caused by equipment failures or inefficient processes, is a common bottleneck that can disrupt the smooth production flow and lead to costly delays.

How Automation Resolves This:

Automated systems equipped with predictive maintenance tools can monitor machinery in real time, identifying potential issues before they lead to downtime. This proactive approach reduces delays and requires skilled workers to oversee and manage these advanced systems, thereby creating new roles focused on maintaining and optimising automated production lines. As a result, employees are up-skilled to manage sophisticated technology, leading to more stable and rewarding employment.

Inconsistent Product Quality

Variability in product quality is a frequent bottleneck in manual production processes, where human error can lead to inconsistencies that affect customer satisfaction and result in waste.

How Automation Resolves This:

Automation ensures precision and consistency in production, significantly reducing the risk of errors. However, the role of workers remains crucial. Automation allows employees to shift from repetitive tasks to roles in quality control, process optimisation, and continuous improvement. By working alongside automated systems, employees can focus on enhancing overall production quality, increasing job satisfaction and developing new skills in advanced manufacturing techniques. Another advantage of automating is the ability to retrieve and act upon live data, allowing companies to monitor production within the system. This can quickly highlight trends or issues within the process.

Supply Chain Disruptions

Supply chain disruptions can halt production, leading to significant delays and inefficiencies. Traditional methods of managing these disruptions are often reactive, resulting in a bottleneck that can be difficult to resolve.

How Automation Resolves This:

Automated supply chain management systems enable real-time tracking and forecasting, allowing companies to anticipate and mitigate potential disruptions. These systems create new roles for workers in data analysis, logistics planning, and supply chain management, requiring advanced skills and offering more strategic and rewarding career paths. Automation, in this context, supports the workforce in taking on more challenging and impactful roles that go beyond the capabilities of manual processes.

Inefficient Production Processes

Outdated or overly complex production processes can slow operations, leading to inefficiencies and bottlenecks hindering productivity.

How Automation Resolves This:

By automating inefficient processes, companies can streamline operations, reducing waste and improving throughput. Importantly, automation doesn’t remove workers from the equation; it enhances their roles. Employees are increasingly involved in managing, programming, and improving automated systems, leading to new opportunities for career advancement and professional growth. This shift makes jobs more engaging and attracts individuals interested in technology and innovation to the manufacturing sector.

To ensure that an automated solution leads to process improvements, it’s essential for companies transitioning to automation to have a thorough understanding of their current processes. This step is critical, as it not only defines the final automated process but also identifies initial bottlenecks and issues that must be addressed. This approach also offers the advantage of introducing automation incrementally, allowing companies to tackle high-priority issues first. The automation can then be expanded as additional funding becomes available.

Conclusion