Advantages and Disadvantages of Factory Automation
Manufacturing has gone a long way since the Industrial revolution and countless technology breakthroughs have been incorporated in the machines. The race to produce as many products in the best way possible drove factories to acquire state of the art machines. Here, in the United States where more than 2,000 factories and an estimated 10 million worldwide produce different products from undergarments to cars, it is a necessity for businesses to automate their production. For the best automation solutions for your business, visit IntelLiDrives
Factory automation is where factories slowly replace their workers in exchange for higher production and lesser production time. But like any other technology there is, there are advantages and disadvantages an organization can get when automating their factories.
Acquiring automation or robotics can have a number of benefits that a factory can get. First is that automation will affect higher productivity and efficiency. Machines can cut the time it would take to produce a product in half the time which would mean faster process and reduced lead times. Unlike workers who often need to take a break in regular intervals, machines typically need maintenance checks to ensure that it is running in full capacity and no signs of breakdowns, which is why it can produce a high number of output and increases the efficiency of the factory.
Second is that acquiring automation will lead to lesser manufacturing costs due to fewer defects and lower need for workers. It has always been an issue in manufacturing if factories have higher product variation. The higher variation would mean that there is a high number of defects that don’t pass the required product specification which would affect the production output. Low production output would result in low sales volume which would affect the company’s profit. Automation of factories would mean that the scenario above would have a lower possibility of happening and it would also increase the efficiency of raw materials used.
The third is that there will be a higher standard of safety. In statistics released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2018, 43% of workplace death was due to falls or slips, fires, exposure to harmful substances and contact with factory objects. Factory automation would mean that there would be a lesser chance of accidents happening like as ones stated above as most of the “dirty work” would be handled by machines and only machine skilled workers are needed and it would mean that employees will be healthier.
Although machines have many benefits to offer, there would still be drawbacks that a factory can get if they adapt to automation. It would mean that the workers would be the first to be affected as there would be a high rate of employee turnover. Automation means that there will be a lesser need for a high workforce as the machines will do most of the work and employees are only needed mostly for product inspection and testing. In another BLS employment report in 2018, more than 12 million people in the United States were employed in manufacturing firms and the transition of factories into a machine dominated one would lead to employee displacement.
Another drawback of factory automation is that with many employees displaced, it will affect the economy wherein it will reduce the country’s purchasing power. As workers have no source of income to sustain their families, it would increase the number of market inventory because these displaced workers wouldn’t have the capacity to buy their needs. The high scale of people that don’t have the capacity to but can lead to an economic depression which would not only affect a state but the whole country also.
But, most of all, the major drawback an organization can have is because acquiring machinery is expensive and it would put a dent to the organization’s budget. They would need to find a way to buy automation. It would sometimes mean that in order to acquire a piece of high-priced equipment, the organization would cut costs in other departments to make ends meet.
In the end, it will be up to the management’s discretion if they will buy automation or transition the organization into an automated one. In order to arrive at that decision, not only would they review the above pros and cons of automation but they would also need to account if their production is really in need of one as machinery is expensive. But, taking into account the fast-paced market and economy that we have today, it would also drive the organization to acquire automation in order to be on par with worldwide standards.
