When to automate:
Not every task or operation is a good candidate for automation. There are a few questions you should answer before you put too much effort into investigating automation.
Do you have a volume of parts that need the same thing? If you have a wide variety but a low volume per part it may not be a good option. If you spend one hour per part by hand and suddenly you have a new cell that can do them in five minutes what do you do? Do you have the volume to keep the new machine working? Can you sell more product now that you can finish it faster?
Its for a new product that is unproven. You dont want to automate a new product right off the bat unless you are very confident. If the new product falls short in sales or performance you will have a larger problem if you have invested in a ton of automation. Let the product mature a bit to be sure investing in it makes sense.
Can the other processes handle the new volume? If you apply a bunch of automation you will find the other shortfalls in the system. Can the welding keep the new automation fed with parts? Can the final assembly keep pace with the new volume of parts? Can shipping and packing handle the volume? You get new automation that works great but now parts are piling up in assembly and getting damaged or lost is no place to be. Look at the flow of material as a whole.
Where you do want to apply automation is to your staple products. If you have been making the same box for 6 years and it sells well automation can help make it more profitable. Reducing the labor per part alone will be an increase but thats not the end. Lower rejection rates, less scrap and higher volumes with more consistent results add to the gains. The staple product for your best customer would fall into this category as well. Cutting lead times and being able to produce the product faster means happier customers and hopefully more business.
Automation especially in finishing makes sense. Sanding, grinding and polishing are not jobs people line up to do. A welder that is grinding down welds is a welder that is not welding. Having 10 people hand sanding is not cost effective and it makes consistency a challenge to say the least. Having the grinding contained in one place where you can control the dust keeps the shop cleaner. Polishing is worse with the mess and labor it takes. Finishing is not glamorous and few want to do it and even fewer are good at it. Letting the few people that are good at it manage the finishing automation lets you benefit from automation while helping to keep good people.
If you are thinking about automation, finishing is a great place to start for the reasons mentioned. It tends to have a very high return and shorter ROI than many other operations. Often the payback can be very short on even large complex units due to the speed and labor savings alone. Finishing tends to be a labor and time black hole and that is why automation often is the best solution but not always.
Talk to an expert that knows finishing and automation. One size fits all is not reality so be careful who you trust. We have near 50 years in just finishing so we know it well. A jack of all trades is a master of none that is why we focus only on finishing so we can master the topic and be the experts you need.