Manufacturing & Supply Chain

Automation has revolutionised manufacturing businesses’ operations through improved efficiency, productivity gains, and overall business growth. Indeed, since the early 2010s, consultancy giants have been championing the transformative power of automated systems in manufacturing.

Yet, despite widespread acceptance of manufacturing automation, some businesses are lagging behind. A 2023 report by the Manufacturing Technology Centre revealed that UK manufacturers’ hesitance to invest in automation and robotics has notably impacted the country’s recent productivity gains.

In addition, in the US product errors linked to inefficient manual processes continue to prove an issue: in 2023, undeclared allergens due to labelling errors were behind half of all US food and beverage recalls.

So, what’s behind the reluctance to adopt automation in manufacturing? Adem Kulauzovic (pictured), Director of Automation, Domino Printing Sciences, uncovers seven critical – and misplaced – concerns around adopting factory automation and explains why, if you’re still holding back on your automation journey, the time to move is now.

Myth #1: Automation is unnecessary

Let’s address the main elephant in the room: outdated manual processes, including manual data entry, are a massive cause of errors, unnecessary waste, and cost.

The average error rate in manual data entry is about 1%. If you have workers on a production line manually entering data, it won’t take long before a data entry error gets onto your products. Moreover, if you rely on manual processes for quality control, there’s a good chance that error will only be spotted after it has caused a significant amount of waste.

Even worse, if a product labelling error enters the supply chain, the cost and waste involved are even more significant, with the average cost of a product recall amounting to $10 million, before taking into account the detrimental effect that a product recall can have on a brand’s image.

If automation can help avoid this risk, by mitigating even a fraction of those errors, it certainly isn’t unnecessary.

Myth #2: Automation doesn’t apply to me

A common argument against automation is that the unpredictability experienced by some businesses makes implementation impossible.

For example, contract packers, who manage and label products for multiple brands, handle numerous product changeovers per day, and often need to flex production up or down to manage changes in throughput due to seasonality. Many companies believe this level of unpredictability is too challenging to manage using automation. In reality, the opposite is true.

Simple automated solutions can replace the need for manual data entry. A barcode scanner can populate product labels automatically based on existing production orders, or printers can be set up to populate label templates from a central database.

To simplify further, in a facility with multiple production lines, coding automation software will allow production line staff to network printers together and automatically populate product label data from a central location, like a production office, SCADA, MES, or ERP system. This can be combined with automated solutions for machine vision for real-time quality control.

Myth #3: Automation replaces people

Yes, specific tasks – for example, code creation and data entry – are more suited to automation than manual workers. However, these are often menial, entry-level roles that are increasingly difficult to fill.

The manufacturing industry is suffering from a labour shortage. A recent Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute report suggests that the US manufacturing industry alone may need as many as 3.8 million new roles by 2033, with potentially 1.9 million going unfilled.

The true role of robotics and automation in manufacturing is not to replace but to complement. By taking on routine, boring, or dangerous tasks, automation unlocks the time and space for an overextended workforce to focus on value-added tasks, including strategic planning and project implementation.

Myth #4: Automation isn’t for SMEs

It’s a common misconception that automation is only accessible to large organisations with access to capital and skills.

This is simply untrue. SMEs can automate routine, low-skilled tasks such as manual data entry to use their limited workforce more effectively. Not convinced? In that case, it’s worth considering that for small companies, the consequences of failure are significantly higher than for larger corporations, and a $10 million product recall is likely to spell financial ruin.

Myth #5 Automation is too expensive

According to Automate UK’s recent Industry Insights Survey 2024, cost is the most significant barrier to adopting automation.

While the cost of implementation may have been a valid concern in the past, the reality today is quite different. The benefits in terms of cost and risk savings are becoming increasingly evident, and solutions are more affordable than ever.

According to EY, the average price of an industrial robot has halved over the past decade and is expected to continue dropping. Moreover, those investing in automation can expect to save money on operational expenditure: a recent survey by Bain found that companies allocating at least 20% of their IT budget to automation in the past two years achieved average savings of 22%.

If cost remains a concern, many providers will now offer opex rather than capex models, with flexible finance plans and contracts making adoption more affordable for smaller businesses. In addition, making small incremental changes over time can also help to spread the cost, and provide the necessary justification for further investment.

Myth #6: Automation is complicated

Automation is not an ‘all or nothing’ commitment. Businesses can start small by identifying a single area where automation could overcome specific production issues or enhance a single point in the production cycle.

For many businesses, a quick win is streamlining product changeovers. For example, an automated monitoring solution can be implemented to provide a real-time product count and corresponding alerts to inform production staff when a production run is ending, allowing them to prepare ahead of time.

This is a simple change, but the reduction in changeover time is proven to unlock capacity for extra production runs – daily. The performance improvement and return on investment from automating a single process will soon justify making additional investments further down the line.

Myth #7: Automation requires extra skills

A final common misnomer about automation is the need for in-house skills to manage the transition. Many automation providers will offer services to handle retrofits and implementations – and, once implemented, automated systems commonly demand fewer in-house skills to keep running efficiently. This will enable businesses to redistribute manual labour and unlock time and capacity for value-added tasks – a benefit which will also make your company more attractive to future employees.

There is no need to fear automation

Misconceptions and concerns that manufacturers have about adopting automation linger. However, given financial benefits, increasing availability, and the growing willingness of automation partners to help finance and implement new solutions, the real question is: can you afford not to adopt factory automation?