How to mitigate labor challenges with the right automation investments

Automation workforce productivity insights

• Automation uptime and productivity with automation, efficient processes and unify industrial controls and robot controls.
• Understand digital twins can accelerate time to market for manufacturers.
• Learn about empowering workforce with smarter use of data; transformation begins with integration of smarter technologies in smarter machines.

Manufacturers are grappling with a widespread skilled worker shortage at a time when they need to be more productive and more responsive to changing customer preferences. And while many manufacturers are investing in their workforce to find, attract and retain critically needed talent, they’re also spending more on their automation infrastructure.

Based on the 9th annual State of Smart Manufacturing report, investment in new technology is increasing year-over-year, with spending in this area up 30% since 2023. To drive business outcomes over the next five years, 43% of manufacturers plan to increase automation and 42% plan to adopt smart manufacturing technology. Growing investments like these are expected to result in automation accounting for 25% of capital spending on average in the coming years.

However, the selection and integration of new manufacturing technologies must be carefully considered. Machines that integrate automation are increasingly expected to do more than meet traditional criteria like speed, throughput and consistency. They need to transform how manufacturers compete by helping them to optimize uptime and productivity, empower their workforce and accelerate time to market.

Optimize uptime and productivity with automation, efficient processes

With skilled labor difficult to find, manufacturers need more automated and efficient processes.

This is driving more manufacturers to incorporate robots into their machines and lines. Industrial robot installations surpassed 500,000 in 2021 and 2022 and were expected to near 600,000 in 2023. But robot integration may present challenges. Too often, installing and maintaining disparate industrial robots requires learning a specialized programming language, which can stress already strained engineering teams.

Unified industrial controls and robot controls

Using a modern industrial control system with unified robot control allows robots to be programmed and maintained using the same interface that’s used to program the rest of the machine. This can speed up deployments and simplify maintenance, because engineers don’t need to learn specialized robot programming languages.

In addition to robots, manufacturers are seeking other innovative ways to stay productive as they try to keep up with changing customer preferences. Producing more SKUs in shorter production runs, for instance, requires identifying ways to maximize throughput while minimizing changeover times.

Some producers are using smart motion systems with independent cart technology to improve their flexibility. These systems use independent, programmable carriers that free machines from traditional mechanical constraints and make it simpler to adjust to new production requirements. In some cases, the systems allow changeovers to happen with just the push of a button.

Updated advanced automation expertly integrated into machines and manufacturing applications helps fill skilled labor gaps. Courtesy: Rockwell Automation

Manufacturers can also optimize productivity and reduce staff workloads using modern production-management tools. A digitalized quality management system, for instance, can automate quality processes, measurements and documentation. And a modern computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) can help technicians work more efficiently by automating work-order creation and data collection when faults are recorded.

Digital twins in manufacturing accelerate time to market

Manufacturers are under constant pressure to get to market quickly without delays or disruptions. This is driving them to compress project timelines when changing, expanding or adding new production operations. Digital twin technology can help speed up projects from conception to startup. For example, engineers can use a digital twin of a machine to streamline new builds or line changes in a virtual environment. They can analyze the machine’s operation more deeply and uncover opportunities like overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) improvements. They also can use the machine’s digital twin to discover bugs and inefficiencies in the design phase when such issues are less costly to address compared to after the physical machine is built.

A digital twin also enables virtual commissioning, which involves using the machine’s model to validate and debug the machine. This can help manufacturers avoid costly changes during startup and keep startups on track. Some companies have realized up to a 30% reduction in their typical commissioning time using this process. Then, operators can use the digital twin to be trained on the machine virtually before the physical version arrives in the plant.

But for all the time-saving benefits that a digital twin offers, it’s only one example of how manufacturers can accelerate their time to market with the right technology.

Machines can also use what are known as smart objects, which use a well-defined data model to essentially make a machine information-ready and dramatically simplify its integration with higher-level systems. And by using a modern, integrated design environment, engineers can save time by working collaboratively and using features like libraries of reusable code.

Empower workforce with smarter use of data

With experienced workers retiring and qualified talent difficult to find, manufacturers need to get the most out of the employees they have. One way they can better utilize employees is by better utilizing data. Visualization and analytics software can turn raw production data into actionable information to give operators a real-time view of what’s happening in production. They can use this information to identify when they need to intervene, like when product quality starts to veer off-spec, and to uncover opportunities to improve productivity and increase OEE. A modern MES can also provide a real-time view into the entire production lifecycle while boosting productivity and reducing the risk of manual process errors with paperless production management.

Using AI and machine learning, analytics can become more predictive and prescriptive. Operators can begin to identify issues like component failures well before they happen and plan maintenance to address them before they cause unplanned downtime.

Innovative ways of delivering information can also help employees work better. Augmented reality (AR) tools, for instance, can deliver step-by-step guidance for production processes and maintenance procedures. The tools can validate each step an employee takes and even produce visual overlays on a control panel or machine to help guide employee actions. These tools can be especially useful for less experienced employees, helping them be more productive, efficient and accurate in their work, while reducing safety hazards when they interact with machines.

Transformation begins with integration of smarter technologies in smarter machines

Creating smarter, more capable machines today isn’t just using new technologies. It requires thinking holistically about how those technologies – the hardware and the software – come together and work in concert to optimize all aspects of that machine’s life. By creating truly integrated smart machines, manufacturers can make their operations inherently more productive, agile and resilient to navigate the skills shortage and other disruptions that come their way.

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