With rising material and energy costs, skills shortages and general inflation, there are a number of challenges facing manufacturers currently. At the same time, many companies are also looking at bringing manufacturing back to the UK due to supply chain issues. So is this the right time to look at increased automation?
WHERE IS AUTOMATION MOST RELEVANT?
Automation is especially relevant to operations which are repetitive, time consuming to perform manually or which involve higher risk to personnel. Any process where machinery can outperform manual labour can be considered for automation.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS?
The key benefit is cost savings driven by increased productivity and consistent quality; this allows organisations to remain competitive even in a market with higher labour costs. By reducing base product cost, automation can reduce the impact of inflation in other areas. A human benefit is the reduction of injury from performing repetitive tasks or manually handling material. Automation may also allow for ‘lights out’ operation without manual intervention.
FIRSTLY, WHAT IS AUTOMATION?
When we think about automation it may conjure up images of robots or advanced production lines however, while this is true, automation is actually anything which reduces or removes the human input in a process. This could be as simple as an automatic machine replacing a manual one. Automation will mean different things to different companies and industries.
HOW WILL THIS IMPACT THE WORKFORCE?
Automation is not intended to reduce the value of the people in an organisation but allows for more efficiency, which in turn relates to cost savings. With labour and skills shortages, staff can be utilised to manage multiple processes and to concentrate on areas where human input is still vital. Additionally a trained operator can manage an automated process without necessarily having the skills to perform it manually, making a larger talent pool available.
WHAT CAN I AUTOMATE IN METAL FABRICATION?
Solutions include automatic sawing lines, drilling lines, punching systems and laser cutting with loading/unloading automation. Why not talk to our team today to find out more? You can get in touch on 01785 336732 or complete our contact form here.
