The average car lasts about 12 years. Much of how its components were made has changed in that time period. Today’s cars, and other manufactured objects, are as likely to have been assembled by robots as people. But in a world of constant changes and endless options for manufacturing automation, what’s the right next step for the future of your plant?
Here, we share three key steps for kicking off any manufacturing automation project, along with real-life examples from ISD and others and commentary from automation experts.
1) Answer the question “What are you planning for?”
2) Complete a thorough needs assessment.
3) Identify your metrics for success.
1) Answer the question “What are you planning for?”
Take this goal statement, shared by an industrial sourcing specialist at international manufacturer Philips, on how they approached a factory automation project.
The goal they came up with: “To implement a future-oriented assembly concept.”
They needed a factory that could run 60 different product lines and produce 600 current products — while also being prepared for the 100s of products that could be developed at any point in the next decade.
They expanded on what “future-oriented” meant to them: “We wanted to feel certain that the equipment would still be able to economically produce [our product] in ten years without knowing how the [product] of the future will look at all.”
In this example, the solution they chose included a feeder conveyor system that could feed in parts as bulk goods, no matter what those parts were shaped like, and robotic assembling tools equipped with cameras and other sensors that could pick parts up and put them together, following designs that could change at any time.
Tom Pawlowicz, senior account executive at ISD, explains the merit behind knowing your goals. “You need to understand what you’re looking to gain. Is someone saying ‘Hey, let’s do automation’? Or is this what will help with your work and increase your profitability?”
To get a better sense of what you’re planning for, consider the following questions:
- What do you want your operation to be able to do in 6 months? 1 year? 5 years? 10 years? Beyond?
- What do your customers expect from you?
- Where would you like to be more competitive?
- What are the most important factors for your facility’s success?
2) Complete a thorough needs assessment.
It can be a challenge to get above the day-to-day of running a factory. There is no shortage of pressing concerns that cross your desk, or fire drills that require you to jump in and solve what’s at hand.
Having an operational expert lead you through a thorough needs assessment helps you get above the fray.
The outcome is a custom automation strategy that will enable you to lead your plant into the future. Data-driven, custom plans show your leadership that you’ve found the right path.
ISD sits down with every prospective customer, to do a thorough needs assessment before starting an automation project. As Tom explains, “We’re never going to sell you something that doesn’t work.”
A needs assessment’s goal is to identify the most pressing concerns at a facility, and whether automation can help.
During a needs assessment, an ISD expert will sit down with a factory manager to look at every stage of their production process. They will review:
- Workflows for current processes
- Production metrics, including jobs per hour
- Error rates
- Uptime
- Known pain points
- Facility square footage
- Storage space
- Labor costs
- Injury rates
- Cost of workers’ comp
At the end of a thorough needs assessment, you’ll know:
- Which processes should be automated now
- Which processes could benefit from automation in the future
- Where automation can make the biggest impact, considering restraints of space and budget
- How long it will take to complete, and whether installation can be completed without any downtime (which ISD regularly achieves for customers)
For instance, when a production plant supplying a major automaker came to ISD for an automation project, we started by partnering with them to understand what they needed.
Collaboratively, the customer and ISD identified opportunities to:
- Redesign how empty pallets returning from automotive assembly plants were sorted, loaded, stored, repacked, and shipped
- Create more flexibility in the shipping process to accommodate last-minute changes in demand
- Minimize overtime expenses by reducing idle time for staff
For more details on the manufacturing automation solution that ISD presented and installed — and exactly how it accommodates a transfer rate of 150 pallets per hour — check out this case study.
3) Identify your metrics for success.
Determining ahead of time what you’d consider success to be means you’ll know exactly what it means for a project to be successful — and so will your partners and vendors.
It’s your business and your job is on the line, and you want a partner who considers it to be theirs, too. These success metrics should be the basis of a clear vision that you can rely on your partner to accomplish.
Tom suggests 3 key metrics to start with:
Production
“How much do you have to move through your facility?” he asks. “Does that volume need to go up?” Identify what your current, real-time production rate is and whether you need to maintain or improve it.
This number should be measured per hour. For example, your production success metric could be:
- 1,000 parts/hour
- 20 crates/hour
- 150 pallets/hour
- 100 jobs/hour
Whatever your needed production rate, you’ll want to make sure that your chosen automation plan achieves it.
Timing
How much time do you have to get in an automation installation? Depending on the size of the project (is it a greenfield site or updating an existing plant?) and the production needs of the plant, your answer could be:
- One week
- One month
- Six months
Whatever timeline you and your partners agree to, you need to make sure they stick to it. Unplanned downtime is catastrophic for a busy plant.
“In manufacturing automation, you may have a week of shutdown where you have to get in, get equipment installed, and get it up and running. A successful partner can do that with a system that’s reliable and user-friendly so you don’t have hiccups,” says Tom.
As an example, ISD kicked off a project at the end of October. We had until the first week of January (2.5 months) to complete it.
Full completion and operation was achieved 3 weeks ahead of schedule, in mid-December.
What timeline are you working with? Even a week can be enough for long-term impact.
Budget
Each plant, no matter how big or small, has its own unique needs that could be helped by automation.
You might be planning for a multi-million dollar new build or complete redesign. Or perhaps what’s on the agenda is a five-figure adjustment to a single manufacturing process. Either way, you’ll only reap the benefits of manufacturing automation if you can successfully install and run the technology — which means it needs to come in not just on time but on budget.
There are a few ways you can set and track the budget for an automation project in your plant:
- Consider the cost of an employee. Let’s say a full-time employee working the production line, with benefits and salary, runs $75k/year. If the automation means you only need one full-time employee to do the work previously done by three, you’ve just saved $150k/year. Many plants use employee costs as a benchmark for calculating their return on investment.
- Look at the cost of a shift. If you use temporary labor, or pay your full-time employees overtime when they work extra shifts, crunch the numbers on what your full labor cost is. For example, a plant that currently works three 8-hour shifts to match the demand and production schedule of their automotive plant customer may be able to shift to two 8-hour shifts with smart automation that increases production and makes storing and shipping products faster and more efficient. Then the third shift can run “dark” or “lights out” — just the automatic shipping system working to send out what’s already been produced and stored.
- Calculate savings in safety improvements. How many injuries happen at your plant each year? How much in workers’ comp payments did the company make last year? Calculating these numbers will help you set safety (and profit) targets for your post-automation plant.
A trusted partner in automation should be able to set and stick to a budget that makes sense for you. At ISD, each of our projects is customized to your needs. We never fit our system into your operation — we build the operation that will maximize your success. Our team makes choices as if we’re the ones in the driver’s seat, because we’ve been there.
Getting started in manufacturing automation with the right partner
There are 3 key things you should do before starting any automation project:
- Understand your goals and what you’re planning for
- Conduct a needs assessment
- Determine what success looks like, including production rate, timeline, and budget
Is automation right for you? We’re here to help you navigate your options, solve your most complex problems, and create cost-effective solutions that unlock your plant’s future.
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