How Automation Can Assist in Manufacturing Employee Retention

While some may argue that automation only eliminates employees, our experience is that automation most often reassigns employees instead. Manufacturers in today’s labor market are especially keen to hold onto their staff, pursuing automation projects more out of the need to make up for unfilled jobs than to reduce personnel. From this perspective, we view automation as an emerging approach that can directly empower staff and lead to manufacturing employee retention. Read on for three examples of how automation helps support and engage your workforce.    

Speaking of supporting employees, AMS is hiring! 

Automation = Job Diversification 

While modern manufacturing has certainly improved, giving employees more varied, challenging tasks to perform, there is always the risk of losing workers to disengagement or repetitive burnout when a job is too mundane. Automation is the surefire way to eliminate repetitive tasks and grant employees increased job diversity. Mechanical systems take on the manual tasks, freeing up staff to focus on a larger pool of more varied, abstract duties. Further, automation creates all sorts of new skill needs, driving more diverse jobs and keeping employees interested, engaged and on board for the long haul. 

Automation = Expanded Employee Opportunities 

Once manufacturing automation is deployed, affected employees are freed up to help on more complex, creative and subjective work while their new robotic counterparts handle their old duties. Now more than ever before, employees are given the opportunity to transition into new work types, new departments and new specializations that weren’t previously available to them. Better yet, positions with duties new to the company are created, many supporting the needs of the automated equipment just installed, all of which are fair game for interested employees looking for growth. Documenting and sharing strategies like this truly shows employees your dedication to their success. (Read about AMS’s new management philosophy here for more ideas.)   

Automation = Inspired Employees 

Making an investment in automation is in many ways a direct, tangible investment into your employees as well. Removing employees from the most mundane, redundant and physical tasks on your production line is clearly to their benefit, which should serve as a strong sign that you’re paying attention to their needs. Even better, this investment shows that you believe in the success of your business, that you’re not afraid to expend capital to improve working conditions and that leadership is pointed in a direction of long-term growth. In effect, automation can be an inspiring beacon to your team, keeping employees content to stay on board and boosting manufacturing employee retention. We know this because we practice it ourselves: AMS won recognition as one of the best places to work in Cincinnati 2021.  

—

Automated Machine Systems (AMS) is an industrial automation integrator in Cincinnati, Ohio.  We specialize in advanced automation solutions for medical, plastic processing, consumer goods and transportation industry manufacturers.  With 99.5 percent on-time delivery, 97 percent customer satisfaction, 24/7 service and over 20 years of earning our customer’s trust, AMS is your partner for industrial automation. To chat, reach us at (513) 771-3525, or by email at info@amsmachinesinc.com.