How to modify your processes for an automation project
Robotizing and automating should not be about mechanically reproducing, with a machine, a task that used to be done by a human. It’s quite the opposite—adopting such an approach would be an expensive mistake.
To make the most of your automation project, you need to be willing to review and improve your manufacturing processes.
“If you only reproduce your current processes using machines, without optimizing them, you risk automating waste. That’s why it’s important to rethink your operations,” explains Vincent Bombardier, Senior Business Advisor, BDC Advisory Services, who specializes in coaching businesses to help them in their automation and robotics projects.
Here’s how you can transform your manufacturing processes to prepare for an automation project in your company.
Avoiding waste in three steps
A process is a sequence of related activities or tasks with the ultimate goal of providing products or services to your clients. It transforms physical, digital and human resources into value for your clients. For example, think of the process of assembling a car, which involves putting together parts like the engine, wheels and vehicle body.
One of the most important reasons to review your processes before launching an automation project is to prevent waste. This can take different forms, but in all cases, it diminishes the efficiency of your operations and hurts your productivity.
To eliminate waste, follow these three steps to prepare your project, which will transform your processes.
1. Analyze
Before automating a task, analyze your processes and needs. Identify waste, recurring problems, deficiencies, and tasks that have low and high added value. Your goal is to identify tasks that create value for your clients—these are the ones you will want to automate.
2. Standardize
Make sure that all your teams are working in the same way. Organize tasks in the best sequence. Standardization helps identify and eliminate needless workflow variations and complexities. It also establishes the expected effort and cycle times.
3. Optimize
The last important step is to optimize your processes. This reduces the following three types of waste:
I. Muda (waste)
This includes activities without added value, like transporting products, poor inventory management, waiting and delays, extra processing, or manufacturing defects. Installing a conveyor between two machines instead of bringing them closer would be a form of Muda.
II. Mura (variability)
This type of waste is the cause of Muda. Think, for example, of an assembly line where products go through a number of workstations. If these stations don’t all have the same capacity, waste will show up as waiting and overproduction.
III. Muri (overload)
This waste results from overloading a resource, whether a machine or a person. It can lead to absenteeism, illness, product imperfections and machine breakdowns. For instance, asking someone to manually handle heavy parts all day would be considered Muri.
Review product design
Robots and humans don’t work in the same way. Humans are flexible and can quickly adapt to minor task variations. Conversely, robots perform repetitive tasks precisely and efficiently, but need controlled conditions to work properly. For example, a welding robot requires parts to be perfectly aligned in order to weld. A minor misalignment of just a few millimetres could prevent the robot from producing a good weld.
Of course, adding sensors and cameras can increase robot flexibility and allow them to detect and correct misalignments. However, this is likely to increase your cycle time—a form of waste, especially if variations can be prevented upstream.
Automating your operations will therefore lead to rethinking your product design to better adapt it to your machine capacity. Vincent Bombardier illustrates this using the example of manufacturing wood furniture.
“Imagine if teams were manually assembling furniture parts,” he says. “If the company wants to automate its manufacturing, it will perhaps need to review its design, since certain manual assembly tasks are too complex for a robot.”
The solution could take various forms. For instance, the parts could be designed with interlocking joints. This is a method that is better suited to automation, allowing the robots to assemble the parts quickly and precisely.
Optimize maintenance and procurement
Industrial automation opens the door to predictive maintenance and better inventory control, which will lead to in-depth changes in your processes.
On the one hand, using sensors on your equipment will allow you to monitor their status in real time. According to Vincent Bombardier, the data gathered can be analyzed to predict breakdowns before they happen.
“This limits unscheduled shutdowns and also extends the lifespan of your machines,” he says. Conversely, your maintenance teams will have to adopt a new, more proactive way of working, based on data analysis. Such analysis anticipates breakdowns so as to do maintenance at the best time, a more effective method than following a rigid maintenance program.
In addition, using connected machines will allow you to better manage your inventory. As they can communicate directly with your warehouse management system (WMS) and even your enterprise resource planning software, you will optimize your restocking and flow of goods.
Next step
Learn how to plan and successfully execute industrial automation projects in your company by downloading our guide, Harnessing the Power of Industrial Automation and Robotics.