Industry Insight
How Does Automation Keep Manufacturing Resilient? By: Emily Newton
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mproved resiliency is a common goal for most manufacturers. Disruptive events can happen at any time, but the most resilient companies can recover from them faster. There are many ways to strengthen an organization, but manufacturers often rely on automation. Here are some of the benefits they frequently see while doing so.
Facilitating Better Collection and Use of Data Internal data can help company leaders depend on factual information rather than guesswork when making decisions. Although effective data collection can be a daunting task, automation often makes it easier. For example, an automated tool could seamlessly gather data associated with certain machines. It could also automatically put it in the desired format. Then, a plant manager or other person in authority could quickly review it and take appropriate action. Many automated platforms that collect data work in the cloud, allowing authorized users to view it from anywhere. That benefit proved particularly advantageous for an executive at Chobani who previously traveled extensively to oversee operations at two plants in the United States and one in Australia. He now uses an automated platform to see real-time activities at each facility, plus manage projects associated with each one. If a company leader wants to collect and act on data to make their operation more resilient, they must first determine what problems they want to solve. Collecting information without formulating a strategy first could prove overwhelming and largely useless.
Avoiding Costly Downtime Unexpected machine failures can quickly hinder even the most high-performing manufacturing facilities. Costs can run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars, even for relatively short outages. Fortunately, automation can reduce such hassles, making manufacturing facilities more stable and reliable. For example, many company leaders connect their most crucial equipment to connected sensors that automatically monitor a machine’s condition, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can also verify that items adhere to efficiency standards, saving energy and reducing emissions. These sensors cannot prevent every failure, but they’re useful for alerting plant managers to signs of trouble. They might pick up on
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32 IMD FEBRUARY 2021
