SUPPLY CHAIN
ever-shifting geopolitical climate. Indeed, governments around the world are increasingly recognising that investment in manufacturing infrastructure, including smart systems and automation, is imperative in order to drive innovation, promote growth, improve GDP, and to navigate the many and varied disruptions to supply chains.
When it comes to managing the most recent supply chain disruptions, these same solutions can also lend a hand in helping manufacturers flex production up and down, while reducing the reliance on short-term labour. By utilising Industry 4.0 processes, and automating systems to work with limited operator intervention, manufacturers can take care of routine, manual tasks and reduce the number of workers needed on the plant floor.
Printers can be networked together to streamline product changeovers and allow for more production runs in a single shift, increasing productivity and allowing for greater adaptability to varying demand, while new vision inspection systems can ensure all product codes are correct, without relying on manual – and error-prone checks. Integrating plant machinery and utilising the cloud can also provide options for remote visibility and operation allowing managers to work away from the line and yet stay on top of all production activity. Finally, social distancing’s continued impact on the ability for workers to interact on the production floor means that connectivity can be a powerful tool for manufacturers to keep production moving, ensure the continued safety of their staff, and minimise the amount of time existing staff need to spend training temporary workers.
CONTINUOUS IMPROVEMENT
Talk of automated solutions, and Industry 4.0 inevitably brings about questions of worker replacement – but if we look beyond the current crisis these systems have a very real role to play in the day-to-day running of
Domino Printing
https://www.domino-printing.com factories, alongside production staff.
In the current climate, automated systems will help manufacturers cope with volatile demand and worker shortages. At times when demand is ‘normal’, factory workers will have more time to invest in adding value in other areas of the business. This could be in looking for systems and processes which can be improved or upskilling in certain areas of work.
In this way, embracing automation can allow companies to embrace a culture of continuous improvement – the Kaizen philosophy.
Using the data now available through connected, cloud-based systems also allows for the easy identification of areas where bottlenecks arise. Introducing automated solutions to identify these issues can help to streamline processes, very quickly unlocking additional benefits from automation. The key is to start small – implement these processes on a micro-level and the improvements will help to justify introducing additional automation farther down the line.
CONCLUSION
In the run-up to the COVID-19 pandemic, the idea of Industry 4.0 was gaining traction as a system of ideas and processes which manufacturers could utilise to remain competitive and make the most out of their manufacturing operations. With coding automation, automated code inspection and better visibility of data, manufacturers can overcome issues of worker shortage and volatile demand associated with the pandemic, and can also place themselves in good stead to handle current and future supply chain disruptions.
FACTORY&HANDLINGSOLUTIONS | MARCH 2022 13
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