Factory workers

The manufacturing industry was one of the first to truly embrace automation with its physical production line robots. And that’s not changing as automation technology continues to evolve.

Back-office operations are the next area in which manufacturers are attacking inefficiencies. In order to optimize those processes, companies are turning to automation tools such as robotic process automation (RPA), artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and business process automation (BPA). These technologies can be combined for intelligent automation.

Manufacturing companies are on the cutting edge of automating processes because so many business processes can be easily automated.

What Manufacturing Tasks can be Automated?

Your business can automate both mundane and critical tasks through RPA. Some of the manufacturing tasks that are routinely automated through RPA are:

  • Order processing & fulfillment
  • Inventory management
  • Transportation management & route optimization
  • Customer service operations
  • Accounts payable
  • Invoice processing
  • Supply chain automation
  • Purchase order creation
  • Vendor communication
  • Predictive maintenance
  • Quality control
  • Bank reconciliation process
  • Extraction of bill of markets (BOM) data

According to Manufacturing.net: “…the manufacturing sector is again leading the way as it increasingly adopts RPA to improve both back-office operations and production floor activities.” Manufacturers are looking to RPA for maximizing efficiency, and the benefits are numerous.

Why Automate Manufacturing Tasks with RPA?

  1. Quick implementation. Compared to traditional automation routes, RPA is quick and non-disruptive. Implementations can often be measured in weeks rather than months, which is unheard of in the tech sector.
  2. Maintain an audit trail. Need a record of exactly what has been done when? When using RPA, everything is automatically documented. Not only is this practical for audits, but it lets company leaders look for inefficiencies and possible improvements. RPA data can be paired with data analytics to watch for specific benchmarks.
  3. Energize your workforce. No one likes doing monotonous, boring work. Human minds were meant for problem-solving and creative thinking. Energize your team by letting software bots do the boring work by eliminating lengthy manual processes.
  4. Reduce errors. Humans make mistakes when doing the same repetitive work hour after hour. Reduce human errors by letting software bots do that work. They don’t need breaks and can work 24 hours per day!
  5. Save time. Due to obsolete supply management systems, back-office processes are often time-intensive. RPA can interact with the user interface of even old legacy systems, eliminating mindless work and the frustration of dealing with outdated (and slow) technology.
  6. Keep knowledge in-house. When human resources are the ones running complex processes, they take the knowledge with them when they leave. Keep process knowledge in-house by using RPA bots to do the work instead. 
  7. Manufacturing agility. Setting up and deploying RPA processes is simple and quick, so usually it can be done without or with minimal IT assistance. Making changes to the process is quick and easy too, letting manufacturers pivot as needed.

Contact RoboSource for Solutions to Automate Your Company’s Manufacturing Processes

The manufacturing companies that will lead the next decade in efficiency, profitability, and employee satisfaction will be those that embrace process automation.

Want to talk to someone about how you can automate manufacturing processes? At RoboSource, your first consultation is always free. Sign up here.