Engineering Tomorrow, Today: How Does Automation Fit Into Your Manufacturing Operations?
Manufacturing
automation technologies are receiving more attention and consideration for
implementation across numerous industries. These technologies are mature with
proven effectiveness, and senior leaders may be advocating the automation of
processes because they recently read a success story about how another company
is using the technology to improve quality, reduce costs and speed
time-to-market.
However, the highly
regulated industries that Celestica serves have unique requirements for
quality, traceability and scalability that drive additional complexity when
applying automation technology. Designing and operating a fully integrated automated assembly line in
Aerospace & Defense (A&D), Healthcare, and Smart Energy requires
specialized expertise and a deep understanding of the market and end user
requirements. It also has to be cost-effective and deliver the benefits the
customer expects.
Celestica takes a
consultative approach to developing automation solutions that deliver maximum
ROI. When we assess a customer’s production process for the first time, the
priority is to evaluate how automation could address existing interrupts by
replacing manual processes and maximize the utilization of assets.
At Celestica, we have
a long heritage in delivering engineering excellence. Our engineers are among the best in the
industry, boasting a broad range of skills and technical capabilities to solve customer
challenges’. We work with each customer to tailor solutions for their most
complex problems and addressing their unique needs. This is key to improving
product quality and traceability, which is especially critical in highly regulated
industries like aerospace and healthcare. Our expertise enables us to help
these companies that are working with advanced electronics and/or are producing
very complex products maintain a strong compliance posture. Together with our customers and our people we
are engineering, tomorrow today.
Dr. Kevin Dempsey,
Celestica’s Director of Global Automation, recalls a recent visit to a
Celestica customer in the communications industry. The Celestica team spent a
few days with the company’s product designers and engineering teams looking at
every potential manufacturing failure mode, whether automation technologies
would succeed in eliminating it, and also how automation could improve
materials testing and measuring processes. Celestica presented the customer
with a detailed list of recommendations for 60 product changes to facilitate
automated assembly.
“I can't imagine a
successful factory in five years that has not implemented some form of
automation, but they will only be successful if they respect the complexities,
time and money required to do it well,” adds Dempsey. “It is imperative to
invest today in engineering talent and partner with a trusted expert like
Celestica to determine the first steps. When you do the work up front, the
results will follow.”
Automation also
solves for scalability issues created by talent shortages. Factories all over
the world, including traditional low-cost geographies like China, are
experiencing severe labor market shortages even though wage rates have more
than doubled. One of the most common questions we receive from prospective
customers is “what is your labor turnover ratio?” They know how that negatively
impacts quality, delivery and cost. Implementing automation technologies
ensures that fluctuations in your labor force will not adversely affect your
ability to meet your customers’ high expectations for product quality and fast
delivery.
While we facilitate
the benefits of automation for our customers, we are equally committed to
ensuring they don’t try to apply automation where it’s not appropriate. For
instance, a facility may produce a large number of SKUs, but in low volumes.
The cost of automating those processes will be higher than the cost-savings the
company realizes. Or maybe robots simply can’t make legacy products that
include wires with intricate connections.
The cost for
implementing an end-to-end automated line for a product comprised of ten
components can range anywhere between $1 million - $20 million (USD). The price
tag for starting with discrete modules of automation, such as a six axis robot
that takes over some manual processes, is much less - tens of thousands of
dollars, not millions. The key number to determine is whether the annual cost
savings will be sufficiently large to cover the capital costs of investment in
automation technologies.
“We work with our
customers to identify high volume applications to spread capital costs out over
more units. Ideally, we want to target 20 parts per minute, although that is
not a universal rule,” says James Jonakin, Celestica’s Director of Global Sales
for HealthTech. “A company that has created a life-saving medical device may
not produce that many units, but automation can accelerate product development
for rapid market entry while ensuring consistent quality, compliance to strict
regulatory requirements, and avoiding post-launch issues.”
Implementing new technologies is just the first step to realizing the
potential benefits of automation. The mindset of running an automated line is
much different compared to a manual operation, but engineering tomorrow, today
is critical to enabling future success. Learn more about
Celestica’s automation capabilities and how we are enabling success for our
customers in highly regulated industries.
We’ve only addressed
the very first steps any organization should take when implementing automation
technologies. Further posts will address other key considerations, including how
to minimize interruptions by focusing on the “4 M’s”:
- Materials
- Machines
- Measurement
- Muscle: the physical skills, training and knowledge today’s
complex manufacturing processes require workers to have.
Engineering tomorrow,
today starts here at Celestica.