Enterprise Automation and its Elements
The concept of business enterprise automation has brought a drastic change in the industrial world. This has resulted in phenomenal growth in the industrial area by providing a wide range of products with minimum cost and effort. Automation implies the use of machines and types of equipment for performing physical and mental operations in a production process in the process in place of human beings.
Business enterprise automation can be visualized as an electronic brain with the capability of taking routine and logical decisions connected with the control and planning function of management.
In the absence of any human intervention or activity, automation can be considered as a self-regulating and controlling system. Mechanization provides the self-regulating property and by performing manual operations by means of mechanized operations viz. material handling etc., self-control can be introduced in the process.
Automation can be defined as
“A system of doing, work where material handling, production process, and product designs are integrated through the mechanization of thoughts (logic) and efforts (routine) to achieve a self-regulating and controlling system.”
Elements in Bussiness Automation
(i) Handling of raw materials, semi-finished goods, or finished goods. Instead of doing the work manually, the operation can be done by means of trolleys, conveyor belts, Overhead cranes, lifts, etc. This eliminates chances of losses due to handling and saves valuable time.
(ii) Sophisticated, reliable and efficient machines and equipment can be used in the production process. This will ensure both the quality and quantity of the product desired.
(iii) Inspection and quality control operations can be done by means of mechanical devices. This eliminates the chances of human bias and error.
iv) The use of machines and equipment in automation ensures the production of high-quality products at minimum cost. This also increases the confidence of the consumer in the product and stabilizes the demand for the product.
Advantages of Business Enterprise Automation:
(a) Better quality of goods and services.
(b) Reduction of indirect labor costs.
(c) Effective control of operations.
(d) Greater accuracy, more output, greater speed.
(e) Minimization of waste.
(f) Production planning and control are to be done in the beginning only.
(g) Working conditions can be improved greatly since much of the work follows an orderly path.
(h) The worker does not come into much contact with the equipment; also the design of the special-purpose equipment is usually superior to that of the general-purpose equipment. This improves overall safety considerably.
(i) Direct and indirect costs, inventories, setup times and lead times are all reduced. Space and equipment utilization are improved
Disadvantages of Automation
(a) High capital investment.
(b) High maintenance cost and maintenance labor of high caliber.
(c) Requires highly skilled manpower.
(d) Can create unemployment.
(e) Scheduling and routing operations are difficult and time-consuming.
(f) Restrictions in designing and construction of the buildings.
