7 Methods Revealed: How to Determine Which Manufacturing Processes to Automate

Manufacturing and automation go hand in hand. If it’s possible to automate any aspect of mass manufacturing, it behooves the company or entity running that manufacturing process to do it. It’s not just frequently more cost-effective. It also makes it less likely that workers will be injured.

Something like a portable laser engraver is often suitable for small alterations to products that are mass manufactured. However, useful as it is, it’s not typically the right tool for manufacturing processes that produce hundreds or thousands of products per day. How can you tell which manufacturing processes to automate on a larger scale?

That is what we’ll discuss in detail right now. What follows are several methods you can use to figure out what manufacturing processes to automate in a factory environment.

Regulatory Requirements and Compliance Must Come First

Let’s say that you’re a factory owner. You run a company that makes physical products of some kind. You are always open to the possibility of automation because you know it can save you money.

You might want to automate as many of your processes as possible. However, you also understand that there are regulatory agencies in place that you must satisfy to make and sell your products. You must always adhere to such an entity’s rigorous standards.

This is often the first place you should look when thinking about what processes to automate. If you have the ability to automate something, can you still be sure that when you implement it, you will adhere to the standards that regulatory bodies in your industry have set in place?

If the answer is yes, then that process should likely be automated.

Look at the Complexity of Each Phase of the Manufacturing Process

Let’s continue using that same scenario. Your company manufactures a physical product, or maybe several of them.

You probably know as the company’s owner that some aspects of the manufacturing process are relatively simple. By contrast, some others are quite complex.

The most complex ones are those that are always ripe for automation, should that become possible. If you can automate your most complex processes, that often means you can manufacture large numbers of your products much quicker.

Employee Feedback Can Help

Next, it’s helpful to use your employees as a potential resource as you continue to determine what parts of your manufacturing process might be automated. You can talk to the workers to see what parts of the process they consider to be the most complex, dangerous, or difficult.

You can use that information when deciding what parts of the process you might attempt to automate next. If your workers are reluctant to tell you what parts of the product creation process should be automated, you can always ask for that information via an anonymous survey.

That way, you can still get the same data, but your workers can feel free to speak without you knowing what each individual is saying.

Look at ROI

ROI is shorthand for a company’s return on its investment. That is something all business entities must be focused on.

If you are trying to get back as much return on your investment as you can, that is a business model that’s proven to work. It means cutting costs wherever you might do so.

When determining what processes to automate, this is another factor that should get careful consideration. Are there any parts of the manufacturing process that you know are more costly than others? If so, then targeting them for automation, which should make things cheaper, must always be a goal.

What Are Your Processes with the Highest Frequency or Volume?

When looking at your company’s manufacturing processes, you may notice that there are certain ones that must be accomplished millions of times every day in order to produce the finished products you’re selling. By contrast, there may be others that must only take place thousands of times per day.

The ones that happen the most frequently are always great targets for potential automation. If you can automate your most common processes, that’s often a viable way to produce your finished products as quickly as possible.

Are There Any Inefficient or Error-Prone Processes?

If you look carefully at the manufacturing process that goes into the creation of your company’s physical products, you will probably notice something. There are often parts of this process that are more prone to errors or inefficiency. For instance, maybe a certain part of the assembly line often breaks down, costing you hours or days to fix it.

That is certainly an area that you would like to automate if that ever becomes possible. Automation of areas that are inefficient or error prone does two things simultaneously.

It means there are fewer slowdowns, but it also yields fewer headaches. That is definitely something you’re always looking for as a business owner or operator.

Conclude By Looking at the Simplest Processes

Earlier, we mentioned how the most complex processes are always ripe for automation. However, so are the simplest ones.

If you have a very simple process that still consumes valuable time, and you have not found a way to automate it yet, doing so can provide a huge boost for your company. The sheer number of times per day that this particular process needs to take place means that automating it will free up your workers to focus on other tasks. It also means they will not have to spend as much time doing something that numbs their minds.

If you look at all of these possibilities, and you also consider what you prioritize most as a company owner or operator, the aspects of your product creation process that most urgently need automation should materialize relatively quickly. Often, your pain points as a business owner correspond to what you would like to automate.

As soon as technological advances allow you to do so, you can move quickly to implement that automation. Once you do, you may see a matching spike in sales.