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5 manufacturing processes you should automate in 2020
Why should automation be limited to only factory environments? It is necessary to implement automatic and AI-compatible systems to increase the efficiency of work with production knowledge.
The manufacturing industry realizes the benefits of automation the most. But why should automation be limited to manufacturing facilities? With the help of artificial intelligence, it is also possible to automate all administrative processes.
These are the six manufacturing areas in which process automation should be used to improve performance and customer service in 2020 and beyond:
Research and development
Procurement
Sales and order processing
Customer service
Operations
Research and Development
Innovation, implementation and improvement of products require a large amount of paperwork and communication between departments such as engineering and production. Project sheets, research results, CAD/CAE drawings, standards and specifications, manuals, regulatory applications, inspection checks and dozens of other documents and electronic tracking tables need to be obtained at every stage from concept to product.
Automation tools can normalize and simplify many parts of this process.
From project management and data tracking to document processing, converting and completing patterns, it all leads to faster orders for technical changes, shorter time for product introduction to market, fewer errors and overall efficiency increases.
Procurement
Vendor and material management typically includes manual, special processes on many vendor portals, internal accounting systems, vendor management systems (VMS), documents and email.
Procurement automation tools can simplify these processes, including vendor requirements, vendor relations and ordering goods and services.
Organizing repetitive, large-scale processes can lead to faster execution and higher revenues through increased production.
Sale and order processing
Delivering the right product to the right person at the right price has always been a difficult process in production. With an increasing number of consumers wishing to have more individual products, these requirements are even higher and include more unique data, documents and digital systems than ever before.
Automation tools can combine multiple integrated systems and not only provide complete documentation and real-time overview of sales and order status, but can also manage price calculations, payment processing, address analysis, task allocation, tracking and adapt to any changes in orders throughout the process.
Automating this process increases sales efficiency, profitability and turnaround time.
Customer service
There are many people, departments, suppliers, and vendors involved in producing and delivering a product to a customer. Your teams deal with many channels, but your customer expects to be informed during the entire process, through a single channel. And today, they expect answers and deliveries faster than ever before.
Automation can take many data into account and integrate them into one system. This data can be used to provide automatic responses with the right information or send accurate information to the right representatives who can adjust incoming messages and respond quickly to reduce cycle times and increase customer satisfaction.
Operations
In the industrial sector, especially in the areas of personnel, finance and production management, process automation can be beneficial.
Having well-organized operations, personnel management and finance departments is key to maintaining a properly trained workforce, improving performance and ensuring a safe working environment.
Process automation allows you to manage document flow and work processes, supported by quality recruitment, integration of human capital management tools, compensation payments, performance evaluation, benefits management, labor relations and compliance management.