Improving Quality and Speed in Manufacturing with Technology
As a result of marketing research including the market analysis of the customer needs, the manufacturing industry has adopted technology is developing quality products and enhancing speed in production. In addition, competition within this sector has always been affected by firms racing to innovate, develop quality goods, and improve their production speed. Technology allows an industry to develop high-quality products at lower costs and this can translate to increased industry profitability. This report will thus seek to describe how technologies have resulted to improved quality and speed within the manufacturing industry, it will also discuss how technology-based decisions are made based on the variety and the volume requirements to attain a balance between flexibility and cost. Nonetheless, the report will also discuss the challenges experienced when adopting new technologies.
For a manufacturing firm to increase its revenue, the company should increase its efficiency. To achieve this, the company should integrate technology into their entire sketch-to-scale process that comprises of the production, supply chain, engineering, and design. This results in enhanced product quality and enhanced production speed (Rylands, et al, 2016, pp.972). Some of the technologies that have currently assisted the manufacturing sector to improve on quality and speed and their roles are are discussed;
Robotics have been used in the manufacturing industry to automate repetitive tasks and to perform tasks that are difficult to be carried out by human beings. Use of robotics ensures that there is consistent quality and repeatability because robots are capable of repeating a similar task over and over again accurately and in the same exact manner. As such, production is more predictable due to the repeatability of the process, thus quality is maintained (Zhong, et al, 2013, pp.291). Also, robotics have helped the manufacturing industry to achieve speed in production since the robots have got highly sophisticated industrial hardware that is capable of offering high computational power as well as short sample times (Deradjat and Minshall 2017, pp.111). For instance, due to their high speed and precision, the Delta robotics are used in several manufacturing sectors such as the industrial processes, including machining, food packaging, pick-and-place assemblies, and welding. Use of robotic technology in the manufacturing industry increases insights and intelligence. This is because robots have got an increased layer of intelligence as well as automation integration into the production process.
Nonetheless, the Internet of Things such as having sensors in the production line provide real-time feedback of the entire production process hence providing an extended visibility into the entire process. If there are deviations in the desired quality, using the Internet of Things, the deviation can easily be identified, thus providing feedback and the production process is halted, making sure that quality is achieved (Kasie, Bright and Walker 2017, pp.207). This technology is also effective in increasing the speed of processing a large volume of data. When the Internet of Things is combined with the analytics software, manufacturers are able to access a larger pool of data.
The Role of Robotics and the Internet of Things in Manufacturing
In making technology-based decisions by putting into consideration the volume and the variety of the requirements to achieve a balance between flexibility and cost, an organization should put into consideration the scale, automation, and the level of integration. For instance, the scale of technology refers to the individual capacity of every unit of process technology (Yu, et al., 2014, pp.3059). An organization may either decide to adopt large scale or small scale units of technology. The large-scale units of technology entail investing in large-scale technology which is capital intensive but has got a reduced operating cost (Forum 2016). However, investing in the small-scale units of technology is considered more flexible. This is because it involves an organization having many small units that are under different configurations rather than having them in one large unit. The degree of automation of the technology also influences the decisions made. The degree of automation refers to the ability of the technology to operate without human intervention. When an organization is making the technology-based decision, it may consider the advantages that are associated with automation along with disadvantages of automation (Caputo, Marzi and Pellegrini, 2016, pp.391). Some benefits include permitting precise execution of repetitive tasks at improved speed and power, while at the same time lowering the labor costs. The disadvantages of automation include the possibility of having increased support costs, loss of creativity and flexibility.
When adopting new technology, organizations are faced with several challenges that result from the employees or the organization itself. For instance, there is resistance to change is a result of the dynamics from which an organization operates, and it is essential for a company that intends to flourish. As such, an organization seeking to flourish should regularly upgrade its tools and make sure that these changes are accepted by the staff (Polygerinos, et al., 2017). Changes in an organization can result in disruptions in behaviors which may replace the customary social structures along with the familiar relationships or even lead to loss of continuity. Introducing new technology may be intimidating to the staff who are comfortable doing things the way they are used to doing them. Adopting such a new technology may mean changing the job responsibilities, adding personnel and requiring additional training, along with adding workload to the employees. Hence, resistance to change is one of the challenges that organizations face when introducing a new technology
Factors to Consider When Making Technology-Based Decisions
Additionally, there is the challenge of managing the implementation of a technology change. Once a firm selects and approves to introduce a new technology tool, this technology should be implemented and introduced to the staff. A firm that is not in a position to successfully introduce the planned change may end up losing a lot of finances, thus translating to the loss of its market position, loss of skilled staff, reduced employee morale, lost credibility, and it may also lose its stakeholders (Tao, et al., 2014, pp.1439). Implementing a new technology successfully requires that a company has got visionary leaders who have considered the technology’s benefits, sought advice from the influential leaders from all the level to determine the unintended consequences, determined some sources of resistance, and come up with a strategic plan for implementing the new technology over time. The key success to the implementation of the new technology involves having leaders who are able to spend their time to develop a well-thought-out plan to be used in implementing the technology (Liu, et al, 2013, pp.2413). The thoughts should be capable of demonstrating how the technology will not only serve the management but all the employees. Failing to communicate this to the employees may result in failure of the implementation efforts regardless of the efforts and the time spent on the rollout.
Conclusion
Adopting technology is effective in ensuring that the manufacturing sector achieves high quality and speed in the production of goods. The reason behind the need to have high-quality products and improved production speed is due to globalization which has resulted in enhanced competition. Organizations in the manufacturing industry have been able to achieve quality and improve production speed by making use of technologies such as the Internet of Things and robotics. Robots are effective in achieving quality because they can do repetitive tasks by maintaining the same standards. IoT also is effective in determining deviations in quality during production. Technology-based decisions are made by considering the scale of the technology and the technology’s degree of integration. Some challenges faced when adopting new changes include resistance to change by the employees along with the challenge of managing the implementation of the new technology.
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