“To improve is to change; to be perfect is to change often.” ̶ Winston Churchill
As has been rightly said, we must continuously change to achieve better results. Likewise, industries must embrace new technologies and changes to stay in the market. The 21st century is the era of digitization and smart work. All over the world, things are going digital. This development has its benefits, one of which is environmental awareness. Factories are automating not only to reduce their environmental footprint but also to meet growing market demand.
Today, we’re going to explore why a paperless smart factory with automated data processing is the present and future of industries.
Automated Data Processing
Data processing is the output of data collection and performance reporting. In earlier days, data processing was a completely manual process. Workers used to collect data from the floor manually, analyze it and generate a report based on it. But this process is time-consuming, tiresome, costly, and works only for a limited quantity of data. Once the production increases to bulk volumes, it becomes difficult for humans to keep an accurate eye on the processed data. This gave rise to automated data processing.
Automated data processing is performed using various systems in combination with field equipment to obtain real-time data on all processes taking place in the plant. The systems involved in data processing are an ERP system, a real-time production monitoring system, and a performance tracking system. These systems combined, provide all data for a manufacturer. The main advantage of automated data processing is that it’s fast and efficient at processing all of the data with minimal human contact and only sharing it with authorized personnel.
Advantages of Automated Data Processing
One of its main advantages, besides going paperless, is that it allows manufacturers to access all data in real-time on a single platform, no matter where they are in the world.
This allows manufacturers to keep their plants running smoothly anywhere in the world while minimizing downtime. These automated data processing systems can further correlate data that might not seem related, thanks to special algorithms. It gives manufacturers the advantage of processing data more accurately and, as such, allows for labor optimization and production improvements.
Improves product Quality and Efficiency: Automated data processing reduces machine downtime by collecting real-time data and analyzing reports on the causes and duration of downtime. This results in a production gain through more active production hours. In addition, automated data processing allows for more regularity in machine work. This ensures that the machines are running at desired capacity. In turn, it improves the quality and quantity of the production.
Enables wise utilization of labor: Automated data processing allows manufacturers to make efficient use of their workforce, reducing the time spent on data collection and performance reporting. It allows manufacturers to remove human power from data processing tasks and use them for other thinking tasks. This saves significant time and labor costs.
Data Security and Accessibility: Automated data collection helps manufacturers securely store data. It increases data security from theft and natural disasters. Moreover, it gives manufacturers access to their data around the clock at the convenience of their fingertips.
Go Paperless: With shop floor automation, the production rate of industries has skyrocketed in a short period of time. Because of this, collecting data manually has become a tedious and difficult task. In addition, storing so much data is an expensive task and requires a lot of storage space. Automated data processing solves all these problems at once. It helps manufacturers reduce their carbon footprint, cut costs, keep up with production rates and securely store data in one place without using an inch of floor space.
Advantages of Paperless factories
There are various advantages, but a classic example is the current Covid-19 situation around the world. Due to Covid-19, most employees are working from home. This means it wouldn’t be possible for them to access any of the industry’s data if it was on paper.
Paperless plants allow authorized personnel uninterrupted access to data anywhere.
Paperless factories reduce the waste of paper and storage space for all data collected as well as documentation costs. They improve data security against data loss due to natural hazards, theft, and various other factors. Because automated data is continuously monitored, it enhances the industry’s security. It streamlines the workflow and increases accuracy and efficiency.
This leads us to conclude that automated data processing and a paperless factory are a necessity in the 21st century. Due to its various short- and long-term benefits, automated data processing has revolutionized the production of manufacturing industries. There are several systems available on the market for these data processing services. At Clariprod, we offer a first-class service to keep your production running smoothly and uninterrupted. Automate data processing with Clariprod and experience change for yourself.