Manufacturing Automation: Top 5 RPA Use Cases for Improved Business Efficiency
The manufacturing industries are the front runners who adopted automation before other sectors to speed up their processes. However, they have primarily implemented physical robots that help them assemble, test, and package products. This physical automation cannot be considered well-rounded automation of all primary processes as it still leaves enough room for improvement. But Robotic Process Automation in manufacturing has proved to be a game-changer in back-office settings. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a virtual employee that takes on mundane and repetitive tasks. Manufacturing industries are adopting robotic process automation across various business processes to bring efficiency. Manufacturing automation is the new norm across the industry. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the manufacturing industry is not less than the manna from heaven. Manufacturing companies face a challenge in handling back-office activities that are equally repetitive and labour-intensive. Automation in manufacturing helps automate digital and administrative operations, such as invoicing, payment processing, and customer communication. Manufacturing automation ensures consistent error-free results and increases predictability in the delivery time and job satisfaction. Apart from automating administrative operations, use cases of RPA in the manufacturing industry include SCM, customer service operations, inventory management, sales campaign email management, CRM automation, new employee forms, etc. To know how automation in manufacturing is streamlining processes, keep reading.
Use Cases of RPA in Manufacturing Industry
With the Fifth Industrial Revolution dawning upon the world, applying Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in the manufacturing sector is the wisest decision to make. Manufacturing automation is used to automate many rule-based processes. Below are the five use cases of RPA for the Manufacturing Industry.
Bill of Materials
A Bill of Materials (BoM) contains the raw materials list, sub-components, sub-assemblies, and quantities. It is used as a central source of information when manufacturing a product. Some other names of it are ingredients list, recipe, or formula. To take the production process further, accurate BoM is necessary. If there is an error in BoM, it causes an increase in operating costs and other significant losses. Robotic process automation is the solution to ensure error-free BoM and smooth production of a product in the manufacturing industry. Integrating RPA in the manufacturing industry allows human employees to dedicate their time to works requiring creativity and solution-based thinking. RPA helps companies to create an error-free BoM. With the reduction in error rates, the team can move to the next phase of production quickly.
Data Migration
The Data Migration process takes place within a company when a new system replaces the old system. Manual transfer of data is not only time-consuming but monotonous. Manual data migration involves a great chance of errors. By employing RPA in the manufacturing industry, manufacturers can rest assured of 100% accuracy. Additionally, the company will be able to abide by its data policies as it intends firmly. Humans are the weakest link when it comes to data security. Thus, eliminating humans from the process altogether increases not only the possibility of error-free migration but also safe data migration
Inventory Management
Some common issues in inventory management are unpredictable customer demand and variation in supplier deliveries. It requires that the inventory managers make periodic adjustments to manage inventory, whether product procurement, sending email confirmation, or regularly monitoring inventory levels. For humans, these tasks are tedious and prone to mistakes, whose implications can be far-reaching. However, the implementation of RPA in manufacturing can take away all the pain of inventory management. RPA for the manufacturing industry can automate procuring material processes, tracking customer demand, adjusting inventory levels, and much more.
Invoice processing
We have talked about invoice processing in our previous blogs as well. Invoice Processing is the most common process in all business areas and is vital for ongoing operations. When humans process invoices, they are likely to make mistakes. They can click on the wrong columns, miss invoices, and get physically and mentally tired before processing all pending invoices. However, RPA in manufacturing can resolve these issues. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) can work 24 x 7 with the same pace and accuracy, without missing a single item or making errors.
Administration and Reporting
Timely reporting is essential for businesses to operate smoothly. Also, reports should be clear and communicate the information digestible, such as graphs and charts. However, it is difficult for humans to prepare reports at the exact time every day or week and ensure the same level of reporting quality. Bad reporting may lead to weak and untimely decision-making, thus impacting the ability to do effective management. By manufacturing automation, robots prepare reports as desired by administration departments with the same quality every time. Managers can directly get to the actionable numbers instead of making the report.
Application Process of RPA in Manufacturing Industry.
The implementation of RPA in manufacturing is pretty straightforward for all forms of business processes. After identifying a stable repetitive process that you want to automate, robots can be built using proprietary tools such as UiPath Studio and implemented in your organization. The time and cost employed for this implementation will depend on the size and complexity of your business process. If you want to automate an invoice processing activity, we can do it in a few days. On the other hand, it may take months to automate several activities that are intertwined with internal and external entities. However, even if it takes time, implementing robotic process automation in manufacturing can be the right decision because it prepares your company for a sustainable and profitable future.
How to devise RPA in manufacturing industries?
If you are unsure about where to start with manufacturing automation, you can contact us at (+91) 8010-369-369 or write your queries to us at [email protected], and our RPA consultants will reach you. We are the best in class when it comes to delivering RPA services. Click the link to register for your free demo.