Why traditional lines are failing
Many European companies cite high implementation costs and a lack of knowledge about the benefits as obstacles to automation. On top of that, over 44% of European manufacturers struggle to grow due to a lack of skilled workers. Today, manufacturing and production demands adaptation. Businesses are oriented towards sales-based productions, bringing demands towards customized, niche, or seasonal products. It’s economically unfeasible for factories producing small or frequently changing product lines to invest in rigid high-volume automation systems. At the same time there are products with similar sizes and shapes, that use the same outdated lines – low level of data gathering, inflexible quality assurance and inability for digital integration. At the same time many products, even those with similar sizes and shapes, still use outdated production lines that offer poor data collection, rigid quality control, and no digital integration, even though automating them seems unfeasible. In such cases, low-cost automation solutions are often the only way to mitigate this challenge, while balancing delivery time, costs, and fast business impact.
What a low-cost automation means?
Low-cost automation aims to develop and integrate automation solutions in processes with minimal upfront investment. The method is common in companies which want to increase their efficiency and have business impact faster, while limiting expenses and gradually scaling or automating. Main principles in low-cost automation are:
- Maximum utilization of available resources – re-shape or re-purpose available equipment with the newly developed one;
- Focused impact – solve one-by-one a particular problem which takes too much time, result in errors or could increase quality and traceability;
- Faster Return of Investment (ROI) – smaller scale is easier to implement and bring value to the overall ecosystem;
- Simplicity – use simple and cost-effective standard modules;
A step-by-step automation journey
Low-cost single-series systems allow manufacturers to maintain efficiency without overspending on underutilized machinery. Today, cross-functional R&D teams are necessary to adequately assess and translate the business needs into technical requirements and constraints. A following approach can bring clarity and transparency in this process:
- Initial assessment – standard practice in custom single-series machinery and automation is to “meet” the problem on-site. Conducting workshops and meeting with the people responsible and practically involved in the process is essential to understand not only the requirements, but the space, time constraints and future plans.
- Concept design and verification – Once the opportunities are marked, the R&D design teams, together with appointed stakeholders, work over a conceptual solution that fits the need from an engineering perspective. Then, process simulation engineers incorporate the new technology and verify its impact on production. While analyzing and verifying the simulation outcomes, process engineers give solid parameters to the design team for cycle times, system adaptability, and necessary designs. One of the advantages of process simulations is that by covering a wider period of time, machine design today can be prepared for future integrations and upgrades.
- Detailed design – when an informed decision-making is possible, detailed design is a smooth and timely optimized process. Even though, sometime experiments and additional validations are necessary, they can be properly planned and addressed. By the end of the design phase, there’s a clear and reliable estimate of the technology budget, which different teams can use for planning, approvals, and other decisions.
- Manufacturing and implementation – given the nature of custom solutions, close collaboration between engineering, manufacturing, and end users is essential to ensure a smooth transition and operational validation. In our digital decade, technologies and system should be prepared, if not – directly integrated in an overall virtual replica (digital twins) where analytics and AI can support engineering and production in suggesting parameter optimizations and practical insight for predictive maintenance.
The Future of flexible manufacturing
Ultimately, adopting low-cost, single-series automation is not just about new machinery; it’s about fundamentally transforming how businesses respond to market demands. By embracing these targeted solutions, companies gain the agility to produce diverse products efficiently, minimize wasted investment in oversized systems, and navigate workforce challenges more effectively. This strategic shift ensures operations remain responsive and profitable in a landscape that increasingly values flexibility and speed over rigid, high-volume output.