Automation refers to using know-how to finish duties and processes with minimal human intervention. The time period encompasses a spread of applied sciences from robotic palletizing cells to AI product administration instruments. Automation is reworking industries and there are large advantages to automating elements of your corporation.
The case for automation is getting stronger yearly. Whereas 10 years in the past, we have been nonetheless introducing firms to the fundamental advantages of automating even one course of, now folks usually come to us already understanding that they need to automate. And so they need to do it shortly and effectively.
There are lots of advantages to including automation, notably with robotics. Whereas loads of discussions give attention to the “easy advantages” of automation — like elevated effectivity, productiveness, and efficiency — there are a lot of extra nuanced advantages to automation.
If you would like your corporation to thrive this yr, it is vital to know the precise advantages which are most vital proper now. It is also vital to know what you need to keep away from when automating, to flee widespread pitfalls.
Let’s discover 9 of the highest advantages of automation in 2025.
9 Advantages of Automation in 2025 (and What to Keep away from)
1. Flexibility and agility
With robotic automation, we regularly speak about flexibility and agility. These are each advantages that include automation however one is more and more extra related in 2025…
Versatile automation refers to methods that may meet deliberate modifications to job or product calls for. For instance, your organization would possibly expertise seasonal manufacturing spikes. A versatile automation course of can adapt to those predictable modifications.
As Robotiq R&D Venture Supervisor, Nicolas Lauzier highlights, this agility and related good know-how can provide your organization a aggressive edge:
“There’s an urgency for adopting automated options within the present financial local weather. In accordance with reviews, good manufacturing unit options would be the major drivers of competitiveness within the subsequent 5 years.”
A pitfall to keep away from right here is investing too closely in inflexible automation options. These are sometimes designed for mass manufacturing and might fall brief in in the present day’s fast-evolving markets.
2. Scale simply and adapt to alter
A standout advantage of automation is scalability. Not solely can the suitable automation enable you to ramp up manufacturing to fulfill your strategic development targets, agile automation may enable you to pivot manufacturing to deal with sudden market shifts.
Throughout the Covid-19 pandemic of 2020, we noticed that many firms that succeeded in adapting to the altering world state of affairs had invested in the suitable automation earlier than the pandemic.
One technique that may be very useful is to deploy “copy-paste” robotic cells. This entails deploying a selected software as soon as after which replicating that very same cell to scale manufacturing.
An instance of copy-paste automation is in decentralized palletizing. This modular method entails including a palletizing cell to the top of every new manufacturing line. By incorporating this core end-of-line course of into the road itself, you keep away from needing a drastic reconfiguration of your facility each time you scale manufacturing.
A pitfall to keep away from right here is assuming that you recognize what the market will need sooner or later or relying an excessive amount of on predictions. As a substitute, spend money on automation that may assist you to adapt to modifications shortly once they occur.
3. Scale manufacturing regionally
Native manufacturing, empowered by collaborative robotic automation, is more and more thought-about a strategic selection for producers.
For a few years, offshoring manufacturing was seen as the way in which to scale manufacturing. Nevertheless, in recent times, reshoring manufacturing has develop into common. This shift is not only a development however is turning into a necessity within the quickly altering financial and geopolitical panorama.
By bringing manufacturing nearer to house, producers can expertise many advantages, together with decreased transport prices, shorter lead occasions, and the power to customise merchandise for native markets.
Reshoring with robotic automation additionally builds resilience into an organization’s operations by lowering reliance on complicated international provide modifications.
A pitfall to keep away from with reshoring is to match solely the preliminary prices moderately than calculating the return on funding of automation in the long run. Offshored operations usually depend on low-cost labor, which might make automated options look extra expensive to start with. Nevertheless, financial savings usually develop into clear while you undertaking into the medium to long run.
4. Make higher choices with knowledge
Automation does not simply carry out key duties in your corporation, it additionally generates invaluable knowledge. This knowledge can feed into your wider enterprise analytics and enable you to make higher, extra strategic selections.
Within the fashionable world, knowledge is significant for making good enterprise choices. With a robotic system, for instance, you may generate knowledge that means that you can hold optimizing your robotic deployment and enhance efficiency.
Our eBook Analytics for Cobots highlights how collaborative robots can simplify capturing this important knowledge. By monitoring solely the suitable metrics, you may give attention to people who immediately align along with your operational wants for the automated resolution.
Amassing this knowledge may enable you to justify your previous choices, equivalent to investing in automation within the first place. For instance, the info you gather from a collaborative robotic might help you calculate the ROI and make choices about future automation tasks.
A pitfall to keep away from right here is monitoring pointless knowledge. Solely monitor and analyze knowledge that’s related to your wants and software.
5. Solves workforce shortages
Labor scarcity is a rising problem in fashionable manufacturing and is an issue now we have been monitoring for a number of years. With an getting old workforce and fewer expert staff in key jobs (equivalent to finish of line palletizing), automation is more and more the one choice for some firms.
Robotiq’s Nicholas Lauzier emphasizes the urgency of this example in 2024, stating:
“Research present that the labor scarcity producers at present face isn’t more likely to diminish; in reality, it’s anticipated to worsen. As folks retire, youthful staff more and more go for jobs with higher working situations and compensation, steering clear of producing positions.”
Automation affords a strategic response to this concern, enabling you to maximise the potential of your current groups. By permitting automated methods to take over the extra repetitive, mundane duties, you unencumber your expert professionals for higher-value, extra intellectually stimulating actions.
A pitfall to keep away from isn’t speaking the labor shortages to groups earlier than including automation. When folks perceive why you’re including this new know-how, they’ll extra simply get on board.
6. Construct safer, higher workplaces
Some of the understated advantages of automation is its potential to create higher workplaces. By addressing the “4 D’s of robotics” you take away the least interesting facets of individuals’s jobs.
These 4 D’s discuss with duties which are boring, harmful, soiled, or expensive. They’re normally jobs that result in low morale, greater accident charges, decrease job high quality, and elevated operational prices. By automating them, you may take away the burden on human staff and make their jobs extra rewarding.
Robots usually excel on the duties that people do not get pleasure from doing. For instance, a boring job is likely to be a repetitive meeting job. When human staff do the identical job for hours on finish, they’ll develop into demotivated, and the duty high quality is decreased. However a robotic will simply and constantly carry out the identical job for hours on finish.
A pitfall to keep away from right here isn’t involving your group members within the deployment. While you contain folks from the beginning, they usually take possession of the robotic deployment, main to higher outcomes.
7. Reduce waste and enhance sustainability
Sustainability has develop into a central focus throughout many industries. As many firms look to align their operations with extra sustainable practices, automation can present a robust software to information this transformation.
Robotic automation, for instance, has been proven to make packaging processes extra sustainable. Packaging is usually a notoriously wasteful manufacturing stage, each in supplies and vitality utilization. With the suitable automation resolution, you may deal with this downside and contribute to enhancing your organization’s total sustainability.
By including collaborative robotic packaging, you may optimize your workflow and minimize materials use to a minimal. For instance, by monitoring your robotic, you may tweak and modify the quantity of fabric utilized in packaging to chop it to a minimal. This isn’t a one-off exercise however moderately a step you need to revisit now and again to see how one can additional scale back waste.
A pitfall to keep away from at this stage is taking a look at your automated processes in isolation. Generally, you may scale back waste considerably throughout robotic deployment by noticing different inefficiencies in the remainder of your operations.
8. Guarantee constant operations
Whereas robotic automation is commonly most celebrated for enhancing effectivity and productiveness, maybe its most transformational profit is consistency.
In contrast to guide processes, automation is extremely constant. That is essential in enterprise processes because it ensures your organization is dependable and maintains a excessive degree of product high quality. Including a robotic to your manufacturing workflow not solely makes its particular job extra constant, it additionally improves the consistency of your whole manufacturing movement.
In Eli Goldratt’s seminal e-book “The Objective”, the creator highlights how a selected robotic workstation units the work cadence for the remainder of the manufacturing, serving to to take away a problematic bottleneck. Folks working in manufacturing usually speak about how the robotic makes them extra constant as a result of they need to “beat the robotic” or sustain with its constant throughput.
Lean Robotics supplies a centered pathway that may assist obtain this consistency in your corporation. The primary stage, mapping your current guide course of, can usually enable you to determine wasteful or inconsistent steps earlier than you automate with a robotic.
A pitfall to keep away from right here is attempting to suit your automation into your course of with out contemplating the remainder of your manufacturing levels.
9. Automation is simpler than ever
Maybe the largest profit to utilizing automation in 2025 is how simple it’s now to automate in comparison with the way it was up to now.
After we first began serving to firms to automate their processes, they nonetheless wanted to place in numerous work throughout deployment. Today, including a robotic to your manufacturing is simpler than ever earlier than.
Robotiq’s CEO Samuel Bouchard highlighted this at a Automatica commerce truthful, saying:
“With plug-and-play parts, you continue to must do a little bit of the mixing. Our early adopters have been prepared to try this. Now we’re working with individuals who do not even know what a cobot is. It permits extra folks to undertake robots into their factories.”
With options like software kits you may add robotics to your course of shortly and simply, serving to you to realize the outcomes you need to make.
By eradicating boring, harmful, soiled, and expensive duties from the fingers of people, you should utilize automation to make the mark you need to make on the world.
As Samuel says, that is a part of our core driver at Robotiq:
“Our mission for the previous 14 years has been to free human fingers from repetitive duties. That is nonetheless our mission. We see loads of cobots, however I nonetheless suppose we’re at a extremely early stage. There’s nonetheless loads of potential.”
How will you automate in 2025?
Automation in 2025 guarantees a world past simply effectivity or productiveness.
From enhanced labor dynamics to sustainability, consistency, and usefulness, its advantages ripple throughout each side of enterprise. Nevertheless, the important thing to reaping these rewards lies in making use of that automation thoughtfully and avoiding key pitfalls.
What is going to the way forward for automation seem like in your organization?
Take a look at our software kits to see how simply you may apply automation this yr.
What profit most speaks to your wants proper now? Inform us within the feedback under or be part of the dialogue on LinkedIn or Fb.
