The Impact of Industrial Automation on Supply chain Management: From Raw Materials to Final Delivery

Industrial automation has had a significant influence on supply chain management. Organizations have been able to optimize their supply chain operations, save costs, and boost efficiency thanks to the advent of automation in recent years. The term “automation” describes using technology to formerly manual procedures. Automation has been utilized in supply chain management to speed up operations, including order fulfillment, inventory management, and transportation. Because of automation, supply chains are now more dependable, efficient, and quick to respond to customer demands. By automating these procedures, businesses may use less time and money to execute operations like inventory control and order fulfillment. As a result, companies can work more effectively and deliver goods to clients more quickly. Automation may also assist firms in increasing accuracy and decreasing mistakes, increasing productivity, and saving expenses during the supply chain.

Businesses may significantly save costs by reducing the requirement for human labor by automating tasks previously done manually. Additionally, automation may aid companies in lowering the costs of mistakes and delays, which can lead to less revenue and higher expenditures, resulting in better order management and supply chain structure. Automation helps organizations manage their inventories more effectively, saving inventory costs and increasing cash flow. Supply chain management has benefited from industrial automation, but there are drawbacks as well, including job displacement and the need to upskill the workforce.

We all know that the impact of using robots in the supply chain process has many impacts that can be categorized as positive and negative. First, we will examine the positive effects of inculcating industrial automation in the supply chain process.

Positive Impacts of Industrial Automation on Supply Chain Management

Better Raw Material Handling in Supply Chain Through Automation

Significant improvements in raw material handling have been made due to integrating robots into supply chain operations. Robots can handle raw materials more effectively than human labor because they can do repeatedly and frequently physically demanding jobs accurately and quickly. Businesses may speed up production and cut expenses by automating the processing of raw materials, which takes less time to accomplish. Sometimes the raw material is hazardous, such as some brittle metals or low melting point metals, which can damage human hands. Moreover, the raw material is always in pure form, so if not taken care of properly through efficient robots, it can change the product’s shape or form. Using robots in supply chain management contributes to waste reduction and increased sustainability. Businesses may gain a competitive edge in the marketplace, improve customer happiness, and ultimately boost profitability by automating the management of raw materials.

Increasing Efficiency Throughout the Supply Chain by Automation

The overall process of manufacturing or assembling boosts up when we use robots or other automation tools in the supply chain process. Robots can operate continuously without becoming tired, completing jobs faster and more precisely than human labor, which leads to increased production rates. In the supply chain process, each step carries equal importance, and when we have robots to ensure that each process has a specific completion time and efficiency, it makes the work easier. Robots may also be trained to carry out jobs with little waste, ensuring that production processes remain effective. They can detect flaws in real time throughout the supply chain process, which enables prompt remedial action. The possibility of production delays can be decreased in this way. Businesses may obtain shorter lead times by increasing production process efficiency using robots. In the end, integrating robots into the supply chain process can result in a supply chain that is more effective and efficient, which is essential for continuing to compete in the modern market.

Reducing Downtime Through Robots in Supply Chain

Supply chain procedures may be performed without interruptions since robots can operate constantly without rest or taking breaks. Businesses may reduce missed deadlines by decreasing downtime and achieving faster turnaround times. Robots are already equipped with task allocation time, which means that in a supply chain process, they only allocate a desired amount of time to a specific task over the whole period of the supply chain. Companies mostly related to manufacturing products can build their reputation through effective supply chain management by decreasing downtime by deploying robots. Additionally, the ability to control robots remotely and keep tabs on their performance in real-time guarantees that businesses can immediately pinpoint and address any problems that may develop, minimizing disturbances and further decreasing downtime.

Ensuring Better Resource Utilization Throughout the Supply Chain

Robots can function constantly and accurately without the need for rest or breaks when operations previously performed manually are automated, maximizing the use of resources. Inventory management is one of the primary areas where robots may enhance resource utilization. They may carry out jobs like inventory control, tracking, and restocking, cutting down on the time and labor needed to do these jobs. As a result, resources are used more effectively, and the danger of stock-outs and overstocking is reduced. Let’s suppose that in a certain Industry, such as juice manufacturing, a robot tends to collect the apples, wash them and then move them forward to another robot in the supply chain, which then peels them off. Now the next step is going for the squeeze; You can see that in all these processes, the respective robots have utilized the resources they had and performed specified tasks.

Better Quality Control

Robots are particularly good at quality control in the areas of inspection and testing. They can evaluate items more quickly than humans, finding flaws the human eye frequently misses. As a result, there is an increase in consumer satisfaction and an improvement in product quality and consistency, which lowers the likelihood of product recalls. Robots can also do non-destructive testing, eliminating the need for destructive testing techniques that risk destroying or damaging things. Additionally, they may help with product traceability, ensuring that the goods are safe for consumption and comply with all applicable regulations. In every industry sector, robots throughout the supply chain are given an algorithm to monitor the pros and cons of the product. In this way, industrialists can keep track of quality control throughout the supply chain.

Better Space Utilization

These sophisticated devices can make the most use of limited storage and floor space, resulting in more productive operations at lower prices. Robots’ capacity to maneuver through tight aisles and vertical storage spaces —areas that human employees would find difficult to access— is one way they guarantee improved space utilization. Robots may efficiently use these areas to fetch and store products, eliminating the need for expensive warehouse expansions or the lease of extra storage facilities. This capability enables businesses to make the most of the available space and control better inventory levels, improving space utilization and streamlining the supply chain. In this way, robots do not only know where to pile up the material or products without disrupting the other areas of the industry and using a minimal amount of space for the work.

Increasing Scalability

Robots deployed in an industry are the quickest way to scale the products because they are considered a checkpoint in supply chain management. Most importantly, keeping track of the number of articles of a single product that the customer is ordering along with its proper manufacturing step-by-step is the most helpful phenomenon of a robot. Getting bulk orders and then starting to work on them instantly will speed up the process and enhance its scalability. In this way, more products could be manufactured in bulk, having the same features as those of a single article of that product. Processing large orders and maintaining their record is critical to introducing robots into a supply chain.

Better Finishing and Labelling

In the past, whenever a product was made, a label was glued to the body for the marketing and specifications of the product. This process involved hundreds of workers at a time which was quite hectic.  Better finishing and labeling capabilities offered by robots are crucial components of the supply chain process. Labeling and product finishing are vital elements in the production and distribution process in many sectors, and precision and uniformity are essential to ensuring that goods get to their destination quickly and securely after passing through the whole process. Companies may automate these crucial processes in the supply chain process by incorporating robots, ensuring that labels are applied uniformly and finishing jobs are executed precisely and effectively. Because of automation, there is a lower possibility of human mistakes and higher quality final products, which appeal to consumers more.

Increased Safety in Transportation

Before automation, after manufacturing the product, it was the laborer’s duty to ensure that the product was delivered on time. Now automation has helped deliver the products providing safe and clean transportation of the products towards their destination. Delivery drones or robots could be used to carry out this last step of supply chain management. With the help of automation, this step is effectively carried out because robots can navigate addresses and store necessary information of customers.

Negative Impacts of Industrial Automation on Supply Chain Management

The High Upfront Cost of Robots

Although there are many advantages of using robots in the supply chain, many businesses may need help to employ them due to their high initial costs. Buying robots and integrating them into current supply chain operations can be prohibitively expensive, making it challenging for businesses to justify the expenditure. For one task at an assembly line of a supply chain process, there has to be at least one robot to carry out a respective task. Additionally, the cost of robotic system maintenance and repair can be high and necessitate skilled specialists and software upgrades, raising the overall ownership cost. The high initial price of robots can also influence supply chain forecasting and planning. Companies must carefully examine their projected return on investment to make sure that the deployment of robotic technology is in line with their business goals and objectives.

Technical Complexities Associated with Robots Harming the Supply Chain

The technological difficulties involved in setting up and maintaining robots are one of the drawbacks of employing them in the supply chain process. Companies must spend money on personnel training and recruiting to handle the technical complexity associated with robotic technology. Incorporating robots into current supply chain procedures can be difficult and require substantial equipment and infrastructure changes. When there is a lack of personnel who can operate the robots, there is no use for such a supply chain with robots. Robotics utilization can also bring forth new technological difficulties, such as software compatibility problems and system breakdowns, which can impair supply chain operations, cause downtime, and lower productivity.

Cyber Security Risks with Robots in the Supply Chain

Concerns regarding the cyber security threats linked with the employment of robots in the supply chain have increased as their use has grown. Robots are susceptible to cyber attacks like hacking, malware, and ransomware, which can seriously disrupt the operations of the supply chain and compromise essential data. Robots are a significant target for cybercriminals because they may be a gateway to access other supply chain system components, such as servers, databases, and other connected equipment. Using robots in the supply chain might lead to additional cybersecurity difficulties, such as data security and privacy concerns. Businesses must ensure that the information gathered by robotic systems is safe, shielded from unauthorized access, and utilized only as intended. 

Sole Dependence on Technology

Using robots in the supply chain can disrupt the need for human critical thinking and decision-making. Sometimes in industry, there is a need for a technical solution for a supply chain problem, which robots don’t have. Relying on robots throughout the supply chain can lead to damage and uncertainty at each stage. This is the reason why automation can negatively affect the supply chain process.

Inability to Handle Returning Products

In industry, many products are made at the same time. As we all know, robots cannot process customers’ emotions and specific demands. Once the robot delivers a product, the robot can’t alter changes simultaneously if the customer has some issues. He can only take feedback but not make changes if the customer has complaints. All the changes that will be done after the complaint will only be entertained when the robot comes back to the company warehouse.

Lack of Professional Communication, Marketing, and Responsibility

Manual labor is a part of the supply chain and can do sales work, marketing, and entertaining customer queries on the spot. In industrial automation, where robots are employed in the supply chain, such a skill set is impossible. Robots cannot manipulate human emotions, and there is always a communication gap that cannot be filled. Robots can only tell you about the product’s specifications in a supply chain but cannot process the customers’ sentiments. This whole story is a massive drawback of industrial automation in supply chain management.

Reducing the Visibility of Faults Inside a Robot Itself in a Supply Chain

Robots being complex machines, require sophisticated algorithms to work and process the information at each step of the supply chain process. Suppose a robot has some internal fault due to parts’ wear and tear, lack of lubrication, excess heating, and usage. That supply chain process cannot move forward until that particular problem in the robot is corrected. Either the robot has to be replaced or checked thoroughly by a specialist. If that’s not the case, then all the forward processes of the supply chain will be hindered because all the forward and backward processes are interconnected in a supply chain process. 

This entry was posted on August 14th, 2023 and is filed under General, Technology. Both comments and pings are currently closed.