Technology is something created and developed by humans and most of the time, nothing is perfect in an absolute way. All issues brought up have two sides, either bright or dark. For technology, it comes with both advantages and disadvantages. The creators of technology often try to optimize the drawbacks and enhance the strengths of their inventions. Automation is no exception. To achieve the highest efficiency in operation and improve the development of production lines, there are numerous challenges and trade-offs made in order to optimize the process to the best fit for each business’s needs.
However, typically we can clearly see some advantages and disadvantages as follows:
Advantages:
- Automation contributes significantly to increasing productivity, quality, and ensuring production timelines.
- Improves quality and enhances quality prediction capabilities.
- Improves product processes leading to process uniformity, enhances consistency of output. Creates an enclosed and regulated process from start to finish, ensuring uninterrupted work segments.
- Reduces labor management costs, enhances workforce skills, aligns with societal development.
Disadvantages:
- An automation system may have a limit to its intelligence, making it susceptible to errors outside its scope, leading to security threats.
- Complex operation demands specialized expertise and extensive understanding of the equipment. Installation, programming, or configuring system settings all require expert execution to ensure accuracy and safety. Maintenance or repairs also need to be conducted with caution. Additionally, some devices are straightforward and easy to use.
- The research and development costs of automating a process can sometimes exceed the cost savings achieved by the automation itself.
- High initial costs: Implementing automation technology for a product or a facility often requires a substantial initial investment compared to the cost per unit of the product, although automation costs can be spread across multiple products and over time.