Learn how to take advantage of automation implementation benefits and overcome or bypass automation challenges, according to advice from Wauseon Machine and Manufacturing, at Automate 2025, by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).
How to apply automation insights
- Understand where and why to apply automation as noted by Joseph Gemma, CEO, Wauseon Machine and Manufacturing at Automate 2025, by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3).
- Identify and overcome automation challenges.
- Get help for automation implementation success.
Gain automation benefits and avoid implementation challenges, with the following advice from Joseph Gemma, CEO, Wauseon Machine and Manufacturing at Automate 2025, by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). The show and conference are in Detroit, May 12-16, with more than 800 exhibitors and more than 140 conference sessions on robotics, machine vision, artificial intelligence and other industrial automation topics.
Where and how to apply automation
Gemma asked for a show of hands from the audience to see attendees were roughly equally divided among end users, original equipment manufacturers and system integrators. He encouraged the end users to seek out OEMs and system integrators for help, especially on the Automate 2025 show floor.
Figure 2: When implementing automation, consider frequency and volume of production, product design variability and return on investment, said Joseph Gemma, CEO, Wauseon Machine and Manufacturing at Automate 2025, by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Courtesy: Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering, WTWH Media
Automation adds productivity and has challenges, and Gemma’s presentation discussed those along with enhancing success through product design, adding benefits from automation implementation and maximizing automation return on investment (ROI) by looking at the true cost of ownership.
Identifying opportunities includes looking at efficiency of existing workflows and redesigning and workflows and integrating automation as needed, including considering standard operating procedures (SOPs). For example, an SOP didn’t show how a worker tilted a product slightly to get it into a box. Without that knowledge, automating that process couldn’t work.
To evaluate processes for automation, find bottlenecks in production, consider labor and skills availability and repetitive tasks being used. Look for areas prone to errors as potential candidates for automation, he suggested.
Criteria for selecting right processes to automate include the frequency and volume of production, variability in product design, ROI expectations and justifications and technical feasibility. If the team has little or no automation experience, start with a simple automation implementation. Give them an opportunity to adapt to automation technologies and build on initial successes.
Gemma showed a video at six-times speed of a robot plugging in a cable that still took a painfully long time. Ask if something should be automated; perhaps not, if a human can do it easier and faster.
Identify and overcome automation challenges
Common challenges and potential failures of automation implementations include underestimating integration complexity, inadequate training and change management. Keep people involved in the process, upskill them and involve operators and others in the installation and factory acceptance test. Another challenge is the failure to align automation with business goals. (Look at the potential growth of a workcell or line, not just the existing problem). Don’t overlook maintenance and support requirements. (One factory near Detroit went 14 years with only one outage, he noted.)
Help for automation implementation success
Success factors for automation implementation include strong cross-functional collaboration, pilot testing and iterative deployment, leveraging data-driven decisions, working with experience automation partners, upskilling workforce for automation support and preventive maintenance strategies. Do your homework, he said: Does automation company and system integrator company have experience needed for the automation being implemented? Doing an automation proof of concept can add costs up front, but can save a lot more money later; simulations help. Commit to collaboration if you’re working with a system integrator. They will have experiences, but you likely know your processes better and provide needed background for successful automation implementation.
Figure 3: Challenges in automation implementation include cross-functional collaboration, testing and iterative deployment and data-driven decisions, said Joseph Gemma, CEO, Wauseon Machine and Manufacturing at Automate 2025, by the Association for Advancing Automation (A3). Courtesy: Mark T. Hoske, Control Engineering, WTWH Media
To move past initial automation hesitation, start by automating simple tasks to make employees more comfortable. Bring them to see automation successes someplace else. Show them successes and case studies. Simulations and digital twins can provide familiarity and comfort, improve training and help people understand process integration and challenges of automation being implemented.
Enhance automation implementation
Engage in product design that supports automation principles: Simplify component complexity, standardize parts for ease of handling, Gemma said. (Often, the last 15% of process can be very challenging to automate.) Reduce assembly steps and manual intervention and implement modular designs for scalability.
Collaborate with automation engineers in early in product design phases for the best results, Gemma said. Identify automation-friendly materials and tolerances. (Environmental conditions make a difference for automation implementation and product differentiation.) Design products for robotic manipulation and inspection and incorporate feedback loops for process improvements. Generative artificial intelligence (AI) can help throughout the workflow.
Improve benefits of automation implementation by enhancing key performance metrics (before and during) by looking at key performance indicators (KPIs), along with throughput and production speed. Improving product quality and consistency, reducing scrap rates, and enhancing worker safety and satisfaction can be additional benefits to quantify. (Safety risk assessment can lower risk and, an A3 program can help with that.) If you make changes to what integrator did, you are responsible; do another risk assessment after changes.
Personnel development for automation
Automation doesn’t reduce the number of manufacturing jobs. A consistent trend over the past 50 years, has been that as more robots are implemented, more jobs are created, Gemma said. Some jobs will change, but automation helps shift the workforce to higher-value roles. Leverage automation for skills development and create a roadmap for your automation-adoptive workforce. Engage continuous learning to help the workforce adapt. Help them embrace AI tools. Help employees with change management.
When measuring ROI, look at the full cost of ownership, Gemma said. Customer satisfaction, less inventory and better workflows may be additional benefits to quantify to help with automation justification. Ways to measure success and continuously improve include to establishing key KPIs, using data-driven optimization and predictive analytics to scaled automation based on proven results.
For instance, in the early 1980s, Gemma said, software couldn’t deliver on initial promises. Now those who saw how 1980s software over-promised and under-delivered are in leadership and can be hesitant about automation. Software, hardware and system integration are better now.
“You may have to overcome bad memories of early automation when considering an automation implementation,” Gemma said.
Maximizing ROI and cost of ownership for automation
Aligning the organization for future trends requires asking questions about future roles AI and machine learning in automation, advancement in flexible and adaptive automation, emerging trends in collaborative human-robot interaction and using automated mobile robot (AMR) technology. AMRs can be disruptive because automation can go to where it’s needed, which differs from traditional plant-floor flows. Improve connectivity across technologies to attain real-time collaboration and collect good and useful data.
A factory may always have people under the roof for many good reasons, Gemma said.
Automation implementation: Consider the customer, understand why
Gemma shared two non-automation stories that can help with automation quality and confronting change when implementing automation.
1. Consider customer needs when implementing automation: A taxi driver presented a passenger with a mission statement including safety, quality and cost statements. Services included offering beverages, reading material, asking about temperature and asking if the passenger preferred quiet or wanted to chat or hear site seeing. Rather than complaining, like most drivers, the driver claimed to double his income in the first year by helping customers, who now call for appointments.
2. Ask questions to overcome hesitation to changes from workflow redesign and automation implementations. “Change isn’t easy and asking questions may help,” Gemma said. “I asked my wife why she always cut off the ends of the roast before cooking it. She asked her mom why, and she said that’s the way grandma did it. We asked grandma why.” It was because grandma had a small roasting pan. Ensure you don’t continue doing something without understanding why, especially when implementing automation.
Mark T. Hoske is editor-in-chief, Control Engineering, WTWH Media, [email protected].
KEYWORDS
Automation, workforce development
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