There are right ways and wrong ways to automate your plant, and it all comes back to forming strong relationships, writes local consultant and coach Greg Sale.
Most manufacturers in Australia are very aware of the need for automation, and my observations are that many have been automating their process for some time and know the benefits.
Others start on the journey but don’t follow the plan for a number of reasons.
At this point, some companies abandon it, or worse, think automation is for large multinational companies, and they are too small and can’t afford it.
The key to success is implementing the right sort of automation for your plant and this depends on what you are making, your current and projected future output, your long term goals, and your location.
A few important steps will ensure that you don’t get the wrong type of automation for your plant, and the first is to align with the right automation integrator.
It's highly unlikely that a Google search for 'Automation Integrators' will get you a provider you can trust with this investment in the future of your manufacturing, and that’s possibly one of the reasons manufacturers have had a poor experience with automation.
In food and beverage manufacturing this can be even more risky, because of the highly specialised knowledge required in this industry, compared with the rest of the manufacturing sector.
After an online search, many companies go down the traditional ‘three quotes’ path, and from there try to work out who to choose, as price is the item they best understand, but this approach can lead to the wrong type of automation or poorly executed automation.
