As new technology goes, so goes the trajectory of how we work.
From fire, the wheelbarrow and agriculture to today’s automation of so many tasks, new technology has reshaped how we produce things. For manufacturers, that can include a host of advancements featuring unexpected savings.
What might some of those savings include for your company in 2017? Here are some possibilities.
Materials
Recently, innovation in materials has been changing the way manufacturers produce goods. Over the past few decades, scientists and industry leaders have developed new alloys, which have resulted in more resilient products that are lighter in weight. For example, materials are better at withstanding harsh weather conditions.
Lighter materials yield lighter products, which save on shipping costs. Depending on the materials used to create alloys, however, costs to make goods may increase. But that increase may be offset by charging more for a better product.
Breakdowns
If you are especially dependent upon exotic machinery that has high maintenance costs, you may want to strongly consider investing in predictive analytics. How long will production need to stop before some of your equipment needs maintenance? Clearly, the halt in production can prove extremely expensive.
Additionally, one of the great aspects of cutting-edge technology is that costs inevitably reduce – often, quite quickly! That makes the cost to implement new sensors and alarms on crucial production points increasingly worthwhile.
Employee accidents (and more)
Workplace injuries causing employees to miss six or more days of work cost U.S. employers nearly $62 billion in 2013, the most recent year data is available from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) and the National Academy of Social Insurance. However, more reports are coming out about the various benefits of virtual reality (VR), which offers new ways of looking at environments and machines to yield safety.
VR is also continuing to yield time-saving and previously unseen insights into training, product development, maintenance and repair. The savings and benefits of VR will continue to become apparent in the coming years.
Cybersecurity
Threats from hackers has become a serious threat and you’ll need to protect your information and electronic process from them. Not only do you want to protect your company data, but hackers can shut down various phases of automated or robotic processes.
Energy
Just as advocates encourage homeowners to save money with energy efficient products, appliances and more, the same can be applied to a manufacturing business. An article from the U.S. Small Business Association explains howbusinesses can save plenty of money on air conditioning and heating, water conservation, lighting, vehicles and more. While some industries and business models may yield more savings than others, energy efficiency is inevitably a great cost-saver in the long-term operation of a business.
As technological advances continue to reveal solutions for well-established problems, and solutions for problems we never thought possible to resolve, the end result will be increasing savings for manufacturers in the long run.
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