Busting the Myths of Automation in Manufacturing

Let’s address the main elephant in the room first.

Whichever way you look at it, manual processes are a huge cause of errors and, by extension, unnecessary waste and cost to manufacturers.

As a rule of thumb, the average error rate in manual data entry is about 1%. If you have workers on a production line manually entering data as part of a coding and marking process, it won’t take long before one of these data entry errors gets onto your products. If you rely on manual processes for quality control, there’s a good chance that error will only be spotted once it has caused thousands of items to become waste or rework.

If a product labelling error enters the supply chain, the cost and waste involved are even more significant. The average cost of a product recall is $10 million – and that’s before taking into consideration the financial implications of long-term brand damage.

We often hear contract packers argue that their business’s unpredictability stands in the way of automation.

Contract packers manage 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 cannot easily be managed using automation; in fact, the opposite is true.

Simple automated solutions can replace the need for manual data entry. For example, 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.

While specific tasks – for example, code creation and data entry – are more suited to automation than manual workers, these are typically menial, unfulfilling jobs that are increasingly difficult for manufacturers to fill.

The truth is that the manufacturing industry is suffering from a labour shortage. A recent Deloitte and the Manufacturing Institute report suggests that the US manufacturing industry could require as many as 3.8 million new roles by 2033, and as many as 1.9 million of these could go unfilled.

The true role of robotics and automation in manufacturing is not to replace manual workers but to complement them. By taking on routine, boring, or dangerous tasks, automation allows our already stretched labour force the time and space to focus on value-added tasks, including strategic planning and project implementation.

It’s a common misconception that automation is only accessible to large organisations that can invest significantly in capital and skills.

Automation can be hugely beneficial for small and medium-sized enterprises. SMEs can automate routine, low-skilled tasks such as manual data entry to use their limited workforce more effectively. If this still sounds unconvincing, consider that for small companies, the risk involved in failure is significantly higher than for larger corporations, and a $10 million product recall is likely to spell financial ruin.

Of course, the cost is also a significant concern for smaller corporations, bringing us to Myth #5.

According to Automate UK’s recent Industry Insights Survey 2024, 81% of industry workers identified automation as a key concern in 2023, with cost being the most significant barrier to adoption.

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.

Using data from Domino’s Waste Calculator, we found that for an average manufacturer, waste from manual label creation could amount to over $100k per year – a significant loss easily mitigated through simple coding automation.

In addition, the cost of automated solutions, including robotics and automation software, is decreasing. 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 is still an issue, many providers, including Domino, will now offer options for upgrading lines and implementing new technology with no capital expenditure. Flexible finance plans and contracts can help spread the cost as part of operational expenditure, making it more affordable for smaller businesses.

Of course, it’s not necessary to make all changes at once: small incremental developments can not only help spread the cost but also provide justification for further investment, as we will discuss in Myth #6.

There is only one way to eat an elephant: a bite at a time.

A manufacturer attempting to move directly from manual processing to complete lights-out manufacturing will incur some disruption, but automation is not an ‘all or nothing’ commitment. Businesses can start small by identifying a single area where automation could overcome production issues.

A quick win where we have often seen huge benefits 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 coming to an end, allowing them to prepare ahead of time.

This is a simple change, but it allowed one Domino customer to reduce their changeover time from 30 minutes to just 15, allowing for two extra runs per day. The performance improvement and return on investment from automating a single process will soon justify making additional investments further down the line.

A common myth about automation is the need for in-house skills to manage the transition. While this once may have been a valid concern, the reality today is quite different. Today, many companies offering automated solutions will provide services to handle retrofits and implementations, so the weight of implementation doesn’t have to rest on your shoulders.

Once implemented, you will find that automated systems require fewer in-house skills to keep running efficiently; this will help you to address any concerns you may have with the allocation of manual labour and allow your workforce to spend more time on value-added tasks – which will, in turn, make your company more attractive to future employees.