Effective manufacturing process planning is very important to increase efficiency and run a manufacturing business smoothly. Manufacturing process planning used to be done manually in the early days. This required additional workforce and labour costs. Now, many businesses use automation and digitisation to increase their productivity.
In this blog post, we will compare automation vs. manual processes for manufacturing process planning. It will help you decide which is the better method to run your manufacturing business smoothly and increase productivity.
Understanding Manufacturing Process Planning
Manufacturing process planning is focused on creating process plans, making decisions and scheduling the processes involved in manufacturing finished goods. It starts from the designing of the products and goes on to arranging resources and assigning tasks to make the finished goods. You need to optimize your manufacturing process planning according to your customer orders and business capacity.
It involves setting production targets, analysing resource availability, and assigning tasks to machines and workers according to their skills to increase efficiency. You also have to identify bottlenecks and potential issues that can cause production delays to create an effective manufacturing process planning.
What Is Manual Process?
A manual process means people perform the work without using machines or automation tools. If there are repetitive tasks like counting and categorizing products, then doing them manually can take a lot of time. There are also higher chances of making errors when doing work using manual methods.
Manual processes also make it difficult to monitor tasks and modify strategies in real time. You need to hire highly skilled and trusted employees to manage tasks manually and full your production requirements.
What Is Automated Process?
An automation process means using technology or automation tools to perform tasks. When you adopt automation in your manufacturing business, you can reduce errors and speed up tasks. You can have better visibility over your manufacturing processes when you use automated tools. Automation allows you to access data and manage tasks from different locations.
You can use software like material requirement planning (MRP) software, purchase order software, inventory management software, etc., to manage various operations and improve your manufacturing process.
Manual Vs Automated Process: A Comparison
To understand better, you need to learn the comparison between manual vs automated process. Here is a detailed comparison of manual vs automated processes to manufacture products with accuracy and efficiency.
| Manual Process | Automated Process |
|---|---|
| The manual process takes a lot of time to perform different types of tasks. | Automated processes speed up tasks and complete even complex tasks faster. |
| Since humans perform tasks manually, the chances of errors are higher. | Since high-tech programming is used in automated tools, the chances of errors are low, and it helps complete tasks with accuracy. |
| It is difficult to communicate with team members, especially from different departments. | It improves communication with your in-house team and suppliers. |
| It is difficult to assign work to workers or machines according to their skills. | It suggests the right machines and skilled workers to manage various tasks. |
| It requires a higher number of employees which can increase labour costs. | It requires fewer human interventions which can reduce labour costs. |
| It puts limitations in adapting to changes in production targets and market trends. | It provides scalability and can adapt to changes according to demand. |
| It can cause a waste of materials and time. | It can utilize resources for its maximum outputs. |
| Operational efficiency can be limited. | It can improve operational efficiency in the entire manufacturing process. |
| It is difficult to get previous data. | All the data is stored to analyze and make informed decisions easily. |
Challenges Of Manual Processes
You have to face lots of challenges in manual processes which decreases your business’s productivity. Let’s understand these challenges of manual processes and their solutions.
1. Time Management
Time management can be the most challenging issue for manufacturing process planning if you are doing it manually. Your employees can take a different amount of time each day to complete the same task. It can make it difficult for you to figure out the manufacturing lead time to fulfil rush orders and make a profit during high demand.
2. Risk Of Errors
Errors can cause huge losses for your business. You have to give proper training to your new employees before assigning them tasks on the production line. Even experienced employees can make mistakes, but you have to keep more focus on your new employees to avoid errors.
3. Difficulty Adapting
To implement new strategies or start manufacturing new products all of a sudden is difficult. This is because humans cannot adapt to different situations easily. If you have to deal with additional products and data, it can be very difficult to manage with manual processes. It also makes it difficult to expand your business.
4. Accessing Data
When you run your business with manual processes, you don’t have all the data about your resources and customer orders in one place. You need to collect data from your employees, and if someone is unavailable, it can cause delays in manufacturing process planning. It makes it difficult for you to make informed decisions for your business.
Benefits Of Automating Manual Processes
If you replace manual processes with automation, it can increase your business’s productivity. Here are the key benefits of automating manual processes in your business:
1. Faster Tasks
Automation improves your manufacturing process planning because it allows you to speed up tasks. It gives you the flexibility to increase your production targets. If you use tools like barcode scanning systems, you can identify, sort, and track products easily and in real-time.
2. High-Quality Production
The main aim of manufacturing process planning is to make high-quality products on time. You can set quality standards for different types of products in automated systems to manufacture them with the required standards.
3. Effective Resource Utilization
Automating manual processes to make effective manufacturing process planning allows you to use your resources for maximum output. It helps you conduct inventory analysis in real time to avoid overstocking, inventory shrinkage, and production delays.
4. Real-Time Visibility
Automating manual processes helps you modify your strategies to manage changes in your customer orders. It provides you with real-time visibility and improves your manufacturing process planning. If a batch production has been completed, the system can send an update to you directly.
5. Improved Communication
Automated tools help you improve communication with your team and other departments. You can also improve communication with your suppliers when you automate your manual process. It can improve your decision-making process and help you create manufacturing process planning.
6. Increased Operational Efficiency
Since automating manual processes allows you to optimize each step in manufacturing process planning, you can increase your operational efficiency. You can manage bottlenecks and potential issues that can cause production delays with automated tools.
Examples Of Manual And Automated Processes
Manual process examples include counting, categorizing, tracking, and packaging products, which require a lot of employees and time. Manual processes also make it difficult to create purchase orders, enter data in systems, provide customer support, and more.
Automated process examples include using tools like barcode scanning software, purchase order system, material requirement planning (MRP) software, etc., to optimize your manufacturing process. Automated tools allow you to use specific features that can help you fulfil production targets.
Making The Right Choice For Your Manufacturing Process Software
Your business’s productivity can indeed be improved if you use automation for manufacturing process planning. Here is how you can make the right choice for your manufacturing process software:
- You should use a software that can be customized according to your specific requirements.
- You should analyze your business capacity and production targets.
- You should also analyze the features and options of the software before implementing it.
- You should finally get a manufacturing process planning software that can align with your production goals, is easy to use, and is affordable.
Improve Your Manufacturing Process Planning With TranZact
TranZact is a software specifically made to streamline the production process of Indian manufacturers. It is the leading choice for small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India. It can help you optimize your inventory and the entire manufacturing process to fulfil your specific requirements.
When you want to improve your manufacturing process planning with advanced software, you should implement TranZact in your business. It can speed up various tasks and help you manufacture high-quality products. Get a customized TranZact dashboard now according to your purchasing activities, production targets, and more.
FAQs
1. What are the advantages of automation over manual processes?
The advantages of automation over manual processes are as follows:
- Speed up tasks
- Reduced human-errors
- Improved communication
- Real-time visibility
- Increased operational efficiency
- Adaptability and scalability
2. Which testing is best manual or automation?
Automation can be the best option for repetitive testing, but you should also conduct manual testing at regular intervals.
3. What are the 4 steps of automation?
The four steps of automation are:
- Identifying specific requirements
- Implementing relevant software
- Testing the software and training employees
- Monitoring and adapting
4. What is an example of process automation?
An example of process automation is TranZact. It can be used for manufacturing process planning, optimizing inventory, improving customer service, and more.
5. What is manual process automation?
Manual process automation is the use of technology or automated tools to manage tasks that were earlier done by humans.
6. Why automate a manual process?
You should automate a manual process to save time, reduce human errors, and increase efficiency.
