There are a lot of changes in the world these past ten years. We saw economies rise and fall, the shifting of power from one hand to another, the technological revolution, and the way technology has been more integrated to everyone’s life. Just like the other things in the world, the manufacturing industry also experienced some changes in the past decade. Here are the five changes that the manufacturing industry underwent and how these changes helped the industry as a whole.
- Automation
There is no doubt that the devices and machines that are being used now are more powerful than the things that we used ten years ago. Because of the improvements in parts and accuracy of the machines that we use today, the usage of modern automation brought a lot of benefits in manufacturing. One of the advantages of using automation in manufacturing is the reduction of cost in operating the factory. Machines are even more durable these days because of the usage of methods such as hard chrome plating in the most important parts.
Hard chrome plating is the method of applying hard chrome in the ferrous and nonferrous objects to improve the wear and tear, reduce the friction, and prevent galling in the important parts of the machinery. This helps in adding the lifespan of machines that are being used in automation. Hard chrome has been used in other industries, such as in the aerospace, nuclear, automotive, and lawn and garden equipment.
Additional factors on why manufacturers favor automation are because robots are capable of working tirelessly over a period of time. Robots also don’t get bored or distracted during the working time. Maintenance for machines is also cheaper because fewer employees do the maintenance of the machines. The cost of salary wages for the person doing maintenance is way cheaper than the cost of more people working.
- Manufacturing is back home
It has been revealed in the past decade that manufacturing offshore is not as good as it seems to be. Offshoring the manufacturing labor was believed to be one of the cheapest ways to make the manufacturing done. However, after some time, manufacturers started to notice that offshoring is, in fact, more expensive than doing the labor at home. This is because a lot of factors, such as cultural and linguistic differences, are making setbacks and other problems.
Shipping the materials that are needed in the manufacturing, as well as the finished product, from one place to another is also an additional cost, both for the shipping and the delay. And last, but not least, is when the finished products have lower quality than intended. It was revealed by a survey from National Tooling and Machining Association that the extra cost being added to offshoring bids are 63%.
- Fewer people, more output
This is a change that has been monitored in the last three decades. Because of a lot of factors, the biggest of them being automation, the number of jobs needed to keep a factory running is lower compared to the number of jobs needed thirty years ago. Another factor is because of more efficient tools that are being used in manufacturing. With better tools, the productivity of the workers is higher than before. - Digital management
The conversion of the system from analog to digital introduced the manufacturing world to systems that are efficient in storing, monitoring, recording, and journalizing data. Because of this change, manufacturers were able to produce products that are on a certain level of quality in the shortest amount of time possible.
There are manufacturers who are still using the old school paper and analog machines, but these manufacturers already started, or are planning to start, to convert to digital systems. In the near future, these legacy systems will all be wiped out as digitalization takes over completely.
- Higher level or qualification
Because of the changes in the way factories manufacture their raw materials, the qualification for workers also took a step higher. Now that things are more complex because of the new technologies involved, employers require workers to be at least in the know of the basics in the technologies which are in usage today. People who already have experience in working for a factory before are more favored because of their past experiences with machinery. This lessens the cost of orientation and training needed for new workers.
