Boosting automation productivity enables top-functioning employees and processes

Mar. 7, 2018 – In the factory automation space, productivity is much more than an imperative management concept — it is a scalable tool that drives employees and processes to function at their best. In order to keep employees on track and enable goals to be met in the workplace, fine-tuning processes and running a ‘tight ship’ as far as time management is concerned is considered the best practice.

As far as work is concerned, understanding where to start is the first and often the most difficult step. Understand what may set your company back — whether it be a worn down motor that is not performing up-to-par, or a poorly maintained Servo Amp. Missing expectations due to a faulty machine is avoidable, so keep that in mind.

To ensure your teams’ insights aren’t hindered, consider documenting priority-oriented processes such as customer service, client retention, and cutting operation costs, that way, more focus can be put toward improving workflow, coaching employees and pinpointing other areas that could be improved on. Take industry benchmarks into consideration — they can be used as a point of reference to determine if an area can be improved in, or if it’s already up-to-par. Along with documenting the aforementioned processes, keeping track of progress and growth can also aid in fine-tuning.

In order to remain on the same page with employees, ask for their buy-in and try to understand where they’re coming from. They may help shed light on problematic areas such as why certain departments aren’t working as closely together as they could be, or if downtime could be minimized by having two departments working together more effectively. By making employees feel valued and trusted, a company is less likely to run into honesty issues, communication issues and/or issues with collaboration. The foundation for productive operations starts with an honest, well-communicating team.

Teams need to have an in-depth understanding of where they’re expected to add value and, of course, what the company is working toward as a whole. Eliminating clutter in order to have a well-focused and productive team is an achievement that most of those in the factory machine automation space don’t lose sight of.

These days, there are shortcuts and tools for essentially any and every niche. Many of those in the machine and factory automation space are focusing on robotics to explore ways to automate processes in hope of enhancing productivity. Be sure to stay in the loop when it comes to tools that could enhance one’s productivity through collaboration.

Joseph Zulick is a writer for MRO Electric and Supply.