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Boosting Production & Manufacturing with Poka-Yoke & Tech! 🚀 Streamline your production process with a tech-powered Poka-Yoke system! This scientific approach minimizes human error, boosts efficiency, and reduces waste. Imagine automated quality checks, real-time inventory updates, and smart error prevention – all contributing to a sustainable and cost-effective operation. 🤖 How Poka-Yoke Works: 1. Identify Potential Errors: Analyze production stages for common mistakes. 2. Develop Error-Proofing Devices: Design simple, visual controls (e.g., a color-coded system for parts, or a machine that automatically stops if the wrong part is inserted). 3. Implement in the Workflow: Integrate the Poka-Yoke devices directly into the production line. 4. Monitor & Optimize: Use data analytics to track error rates and refine the system. Results: Reduced defects, minimized downtime, improved quality, and lower operational costs. This approach is key to sustainable manufacturing. ♻️ Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ (Production & Manufacturing + Poka-Yoke is a powerful combination!) #PokaYoke #LeanManufacturing #Industry40 #SupplyChain #OperationalExcellence #Sustainability #Efficiency #Manufacturing #Production #Technology #Innovation #Logistics #CostReduction https://lnkd.in/e6bZd3eY

Manufacturing Automation – 80% increments Incremental Semi-Automation significantly increases Productivity! -- In automating a manual process, any task or operation follows the 80/20 rule, whereby 80% of the benefits can be had with 20% of the investment, costs or system complexity. Whether called edge cases, or degree of difficulty, ultimately the steps that comprise the remaining 20% of the steps involve DEXTERITY and/or PERCEPTION, both functions that the Human excels at with easy, speed and reliability BUT are more challenging to automate as the replication of this unique capability remains the HOLY GRAIL of automation ... with the latest go at it being the AI powered Humanoid. This seemingly presents a challenge as we can hardly staff a work cell or production line with FRACTIONAL humans whereby, they perform only 20% of the operation. However, it most often turns out that if we properly balance the workflow we can automate many steps of the operation which contribute to the 3Ds and make the manual operation fatigue inducing if not dangerous, thereby increasing productivity. Those steps can usually be found in: -         Parts ergonomic workstation design -         Parts feeding and presentation -         Part fixturing and templates -         Articulated power drivers and end effectors -         Completed assembly take-away -         Other, operator assist devices and workflows. The resulting incremental PRODUCTIVITY increases are not only significant but simultaneously result in the “biggest bang for the buck” which is especially important in HiMix-LoVolume, SME manufacturing where resources are both scarce and carefully husbanded, making full automation unlikely and the productivity gains possible, a LOST OPPORTUNITY. “Widely used in batch manufacturing and dedicated assembly work-cells, semi-automated assembly fixtures use proven “low” technologies of low maintenance requirements and are a cost effective first entry into automation for manual processes with relatively low risks and significant improvements to productivity.   Semi-Automated Assembly Fixtures are Labor Amplifiers!” -- Do you have examples of semi-automation yielding disproportional productivity? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to work on your automation for increased productivity. https://lnkd.in/ekkZ2VXr #industry40 #automation #productivity #robotics”

Manufacturing Automation – the System Successful automation starts with a good CONCEPT and finishes with good EXECUTION! -- Lacking objective, "check the box" metrics, a GOOD automated system, like many other things, meets the criteria: "You know it when you see it!" In an IDEAL world we have a perfect concept and perfect execution and the system operates flawlessly and without any unplanned downtime. More realistically, and assuming we have achieved functionality, the ACTUAL system is an integration and the result of: - Workflows - Physical constraints - Upfront assumptions about the process - Our own preferences and biases All leading to compromises and arbitrary choices since at some point, a Concept is agreed to and then, using past experiences and usual practices, designed and built. As it's easy to second guess the outcome, simpler possibilities become visible and incorporating those learnings, in a next generation solution offers simplification and higher reliability! Successful automation starts with a good CONCEPT and finishes with good EXECUTION! -- "If we are able to accomplish this on any particular system requirement, we will have converged on an efficient machine design for the application at hand that will not look identical to the system previously completed for a different application and we will have delivered a Hardware Agnostic Solution to our end user which is not only fully functional and very reliable but also very Efficient! Is the final system design efficient?" -- How do you judge the final outcome of your Automation? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to COLLABORATE on your automation for increased productivity. Helping manufacturers with the What? and How? of Automation! Reach out if I can help with your Automation Reset or Funded Project! https://lnkd.in/eGMCqNAE #industry40 #automation #productivity #robotics #innovation

Manufacturing Automation – Random Automation is best designed to the Unique Process and Purpose! -- Whether pushed by industry hype or a legitimate investigation of HOW a particular technology or "innovation" may be contextualized to the unique manufacturing process, the in-house team should always keep abreast of developments, if only to stimulate new ideas. On the other hand, NEW TOOLING and METHODS is always best conceived when paired with the domain knowledge of the specific process and its unique VALUE STREAM as mapped and understood. While the actual execution and building of EFFECTIVE automation may be outsourced, it's specification and architecture can't! Experiments with any "NEW" innovation, whether a formal pilot or simply buying "that cobot" so we can figure out how we might use it while it collects cobwebs in the engineering lab, is both a WASTE and a DISTRACTION. Especially true in SME processes, where a combination of: - "We have to do something", and - "Keeping up with the Joneses" to conform with FOMO driven hype ... has kept heads spinning, the fact remains that, NORMALIZED for the readily abundant and available myriad automation tools, PRODUCTIVITY isn't going up ... so, something else is missing and this becomes a high priority if we are to become competitive on a World Class basis. Automation is best designed to the Unique Process and Purpose! -- "Manufacturing Automation – Looking for Productivity Might the "Scatter Gun Approach" of technologies being deployed, most focused on “Automating the worker RATHER than Automating the Process”, be the true underlying cause of this Decline in Manufacturing Productivity whereby gains from one approach are thwarted by the impacts of another approach? OR is there some other key driver involved in the DECREASE of PRODUCTIVITY?" -- Are you following random industry developments or developing Custom Automation Solutions? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to COLLABORATE on your automation for increased productivity. Adding value on the WHY, WHAT and HOW of Automation! What are you working on that I can help with? https://lnkd.in/eKrF5UdN #industry40 #automation #productivity #robotics #innovation #hype

Manufacturing Automation – Quality Seemingly Incidental and taken for GRANTED, Good Automation ALWAYS improves QUALITY! -- The 1980s Mantra of "Quality First" was the main driving force to the half-hearted if not abortive effort to rejuvenate manufacturing at that time. Of course, it generally failed as the sequential historical events further exposed US manufacturing to off-shore competitive pressures, primarily labor, and an opening of the US domestic markets to world competition. With RESHORING and PROTECTIONIST measures now bringing back those same market conditions for some industries, many US SMEs have a chance to REPLAY that match and perhaps PREVAIL with domestic manufacturing by leveraging AUTOMATION that may not have been available at that time and by reconstituting the LABOR-CAPITAL-INPUTS recipe. In this new formulation, the redefinition of the MAN-MACHINE interface and reallocation of tasks between Man and Machine MAY offers a unique competitive advantage ... at least in addressing the large and significant US domestic market. -- "Manufacturing Automation – Ignore the 3Ds, (Dull, Dirty, Dangerous), focus on Productivity! Eliminating the 3Ds has become a slogan for why manufacturing should deploy more automation, at least as far as the automation suppliers are concerned, but the manufacturers themselves have another and more important motivation to automate! That is, to improve the bottom line by increasing productivity and competitiveness, that’s it!  Nothing more nuanced than that, or as romantic as the “3Ds”." -- How do you set the right Man-Machine boundary in your Automation? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to COLLABORATE on your automation for increased productivity. Helping manufacturers with the WHY, WHAT and HOW of Automation! Reach out if I can help with your Automation or Funded Project! https://lnkd.in/eZn9CStW #industry40 #automation #productivity #robotics #innovation

Plant managers, This capital budget season are you putting off automation because finding an actionable ROI is too much work? Tired of vendors pushing fancy solutions that don't solve your actual problems? I wrote a guide that cuts through the hype and shows you what's really working in manufacturing automation right now. You'll learn: > How to build a bulletproof business case for automation projects > Why many automation projects fail (and how to avoid these mistakes) > Real case studies with actual numbers from medical device and auto parts manufacturers > A step-by-step framework for evaluating automation investments This isn't about futuristic AI or robots - it's about practical solutions that deliver results today. One medical device client doubled production AND eliminated quality issues in just over a year using our approach. Check it out here: https://lnkd.in/eRaUkQ7k

Manufacturing Automation – the Tinkerer Don't underestimate the automation value of the workers' Tribal Knowledge! -- While less common today, owing to many factors including: - Lack of continuity and deep domain knowledge - Absence of role models - A more stifling and controlled operational management - Siloed operations - Day to day production pressures - High employee turnover at all levels - Other inhibitors ... And, Motivated by simply making their own jobs EASIER, many processes have benefited from the "gifted amateur" dynamic whereby the front line worker has innovated subtle but significant improvements to process. As such, the FULL value of these innovations can only be unlocked, scaled and realized as increased PRODUCTIVITY, IF they are recognized and tested by manufacturing management. Called "Kaizen" or simply the "Suggestion Box" in Continuous Process Improvement regimes, for automation, they require a little bit of investment to PROTOTYPE and test while the "seedling" may be JUST the observation of how the worker "rearranges" or "fixtures" the work in order to make life easier. Usually motivated by ergonomics and safety to meet production targets, this "Tribal Knowledge" can go unnoticed and untapped unless revealed and tested with some Tinkering! "Amounting anywhere from 2% to 20% of the total automation system development costs, prototyping is an investment that mitigates new equipment development risks while also potentially simplifying the entire system design through form factor definition and system performance and reliability." -- How do you incorporated Tribal Knowledge to simplify automation? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to COLLABORATE on your automation for increased productivity. https://lnkd.in/edMqvkbd #industry40 #automation #productivity #robotics

Manufacturing Automation – the Real Deal Man does Dexterity and Perception functions, while Machine does Power and Precision functions. -- "The quantification of benefits is not as simple as it sounds as it includes two parts. 1) The “easy part” of reduced labor costs, reduced costs of defects and rework, perhaps more efficient use of materials and other direct inputs or overhead cost reductions which have some value readily available for us to use. 2) The “hard part” which is the unknown and not easily quantifiable parts of increased customer satisfaction through on-time delivery, reduced up-stream process stress costs caused by our current inefficiencies, reduced down-stream process stress costs caused by our current inefficiencies and the costs of labor availability at the time we need it to perform efficiently. This second part is as much art as science since the full benefits of automating some parts of our current state are not easily foreseen or predicted and are only recognized after the automation has been deployed. The usual metrics where these “unknown and unknowable” benefits are realized are reduced WIP, decreased cycle times, increased worker morale and other soft metrics that may be generally characterized as a “smoother process”. Whether we task our in-house manufacturing team or hire an outside consultant in manufacturing automation to help us characterize and define the STATEMENT OF WORK or the USER REQUIREMENTS SPECIFICATION as well as the budget, based on our strategic goal, this critical first step will define the SUCCESS or FAILURE of our project. As such, our success metric will not be a hard number but a significant movement towards our goal as automation, properly devised and executed, often has order of magnitude effects, usually exceeding defined goals. It's not a gradual-incremental change but an impact driver that can be a “game changer”.” -- What is your method for developing your Automation? Your thoughts are appreciated and please SHARE this post if you think your connections will find it of interest. 👉 Comment, follow or connect to COLLABORATE on your automation for increased productivity. https://lnkd.in/emHEjTuq #industry40 #automation #productivity #robotics

📦No more labeling headaches: see the future of Print and Apply with Levata!📦 Is slow, manual labeling dragging down your production? Levata's Automation Solutions offers a game-changing print & apply solution. Our system effortlessly handles boxes of all sizes, lets you label anything anywhere, and puts you in control with a customizable interface. ✨Here's the magic: AI eliminates errors for a flawless finish, while automatic separation and restacking save you time and money. Plus, smart guides and safety features keep your workers protected and your products looking sharp. 📈Boost production, slash costs, transform your labeling process and #ElevateYourPotential with Levata's Automation Solutions. Learn more & get start your transformation journey today! ➡️https://ow.ly/zC9h50Sh9gS #RiseWithLevata #ThinkBIG #Automation #LabelingSolutions #AutomaticLabelingSolutions #AutomationWithVision #Labeling #PrintandApply

As manufacturing transitions from Industry 4.0 to Industry 5.0, the emphasis shifts from sheer automation to meaningful human-machine collaboration. This evolution opens up exciting avenues for creating personalized, efficient, and sustainable production processes. For manufacturers and automation companies aiming to scale effectively, integrating systems is essential. However, scaling automated inspection solutions introduces challenges—maintaining accuracy, flexibility, and cost-efficiency can become increasingly difficult as production volumes rise. By addressing these hurdles, the industry can leverage human insights alongside advanced technologies to create a more adaptive and responsive manufacturing landscape, ultimately benefiting both producers and consumers alike. #Manufacturing #Industry5.0 #Innovation