What Can Smash Your Plans to Get Your Automation System
What Can Smash Your Plans to Get Your Automation System
Even before you start to evaluate the automation system that you think you want to try to implement for your manufacturing operation, there are obstacles to getting this task done. It is good to know before you get started what you will have to overcome to actually get an automation system in place that will create savings and increase profits. The list can appear daunting, but you need to remember that perseverance is going to be needed to get to the end result of making your business function much more efficiently. Moving from a manual operation to an automation system is a very large step for any company, but actually this kind of movement toward technology will give you the greatest benefit in your business operation.
One of the most obvious obstacles is the lack of skills in your business to set up an automation system for production. Once the track toward automation for the business has been decided and before the general employee population is aware of the decision, it is important for management to sell the idea to the employees. If the company has a high percentage of younger aged persons this "sale" may be done by approaching the issue of career development. Employees early in their career can be introduced to the idea of development of new skills by training in company-sponsored programs for technologies that will become part of the company operations when automation is implemented. Any individual that is mid-career could be influenced to become a manager of an automation system by being involved in training for that position. In the influence by management to get employees to "buy" the idea of automation, it is very important for this to be developed as a positive, new environment for the company that will make every employee's job easier with better returns for the efforts expended. It can be beneficial to the education of employees if there is an individual that is the "champion" of the automation cause. This management person would have significant authority and take on the task of making the entire company aware of the need for automation, once it has been decided to attain it. Later this person would be the assurance that phases of automation are completed as required.
Other skills that are required for the implementation of the system are those that involve setting up computer systems as controllers for the system. The requirements for performing this task include interfacing the main controller system with other systems in the business. This task can become very complex in that there are many ways that the system can be set up to interface with other systems. Just being aware of the multitude of possible interfaces is only the beginning of the complexity. There can be a multitude of methods for implementing the automated system to get it up and running. As an example, your company may wish to phase in automation by setting up the automated guided vehicles initially that would be used to move materials in the warehousing operation. After a period of time of training and use of the material handlers, automated packaging robotics could be added to the system. The point is that there needs to be detailed planning in place to accomplish each step of the implementation process for automation. This will eliminate or greatly reduce those surprise barriers that could hinder the implementation.
Planning to avoid automation barriers can keep the flow of automation start up on the right track. Each phase of the building of the system must be reviewed in advance. This review will identify any phases of the development of the system that will be dependent on other parts of the system being in place beforehand. Your automation does not need a surprise situation where one part of the system to be in place before another part can be installed. Planning is crucial.
Sometimes it is best to implement an automated system in phases so that employees can become comfortable with beginning phases before subsequent phases are installed. This is helpful to get the employees through a learning curve with automation before the full system is operational. This kind of automation start up can be compared in the planning phase to the possibility of putting all the automation online in one phase. The former suggestion will make it easier for your company to develop some in-house support for the automation devices as the systems is coming online. This will be a decision that needs to be addressed in early planning.
To make automation happen and be the benefit to your company that you need, make sure you know what you are getting into before you start the process of automating you business.