DETROIT – All organizations believe that embracing accounting automation and the automation’s initial goals will deliver predictable results. Automation should be a means to the end and not the main factor in decisions to launch levels of automation. However, companies should not move to account automation without collaborating with stakeholders, including technical, sales, marketing, operations, manufacturing, and other appropriate functions, to define the internal strategic master plan. The master plan varies but should explain or be the focus of how the enterprise plans to bring in quality revenue year after year.

There are several actions that are critical to investigate when transitioning to automation:

Define The What – Position (1-3 Year Strategic Master Plan)

  • Decide the connection between the business forecast and manufacturing gaps
  • Define if short or long term solutions are required
  • Determine the costs for manufacturing, labor and operations
  • Assess existing system capabilities and opportunities gap

Define The Why – Business Opportunities or Problems

  • KPIs, Data
  • Compliance
  • Safety
  • Growth in sales (innovation/renovation of brands)
  • Flexibility to pivot quickly to market demands
  • Untapped capacity and efficiency – Operational Excellence (OpEx)

Define the How – Levels of Automation and the Correct Technology

  • Level 1 – TCO reduction and labor savings through automation
  • Level 2 – TCO reduction, labor savings, flexibility through automation

The above listed items are not inclusive of all that is required to build an excellent gateway to selecting the proper automation plan but are critical starting points. Assuming the correct decisions of what, why, and how have been completed during the selection of automation, the next hurdle to overcome is how to sustain the automation. Surprising statistic –  more than 50% of automation projects fail or do not meet the target goals from the CapEx Phase to the OpEx Phase. Industry data highlights a few essential misses in operational systems, proper sequence and modes of operations, as well as critical mistakes when creating standards and procedures. These areas cause manufacturing system abnormalities, inefficiencies, low morale, and unfavorable cost variances.

There are a few best practices to improve sustainability results of automation. These can be achieved whether automation is added to existing hybrid systems or integrated into newly installed production lines.

Control of Standards and Procedures

  1. Robust startup and checkoff procedures
  2. Control of variability of all inputs in the system that make the final product (material, product, labor, e.g.)
  3. Technology and routine preventative maintenance plans
  4. Real-time device monitoring (AI and digital feedback)
  5. Document the manufacturing and operational Modes of Operation
  6. Record the line flow balance ‘V’-graph

Operations – Systems Baselining and Centerlining

  1. Validate the operational Modes of Operation regularly, at least quarterly.
  2. Machine learning – capture the routines, variability, and behaviors of operators
  3. Employ technology that provides a pulse on the system efficiency
  4. Benchmark the maintenance cost to the industry baseline. For example, in Food &Beverage: if more than 5% of the purchase price is maintenance costs, re-evaluate that supplier

Ensure Operational Excellence

  1. Done through Modes of Operation
  2. Watch out for innovations and brand renovation to the line (conduct a line mass flow balance)
  3. Faster is not always better – sustained rates based on all the inputs under their standards and tolerances will net greater throughput per/hour, per/shift.
  4. Training based on the production line feedback (line faults, operator feedback) and Modes of Operation

Moving from manual operations to automation and sustaining those automation efforts can be achieved by opting for the proper, and sometimes longer, route instead of shortcuts. These tips are only the start of how excellence can be achieved with automation. By reviewing and following these tips, manufacturers can alleviate the potential of making the investment and regretting the decision after production startup. That level of buyers remorse is never something a manufacturing organization should ever experience, and with the proper planning, never has to be.

Byline: Robert Champion is technical visionary leader with nearly three decades of manufacturing engineering and management experience, including technical business development. As founder and president of InnoFlex Solutions, he and his team guide manufacturing plants in how to gain operational efficiencies on the production floor.