Getting Automation Right
The Weekly Report – May 12, 2025.
At our next manufacturing workshop, continuous improvement expert Eric Blaha will show companies how to use automation to fill gaps in the labor force and boost productivity.
Business Growth Consultant Eric Blaha’s next manufacturing workshop couldn’t come at a better time. He’ll show how automation can help Minnesota manufacturers confront the ongoing challenges of labor shortages and a trade crisis.
While promising, automation can also be fraught with challenges and pitfalls. The urgency to reduce the burden on employees, to fill gaps left by a tight labor market, or to enhance productivity can lead some manufacturers to purchase and install technologies that don’t always boost the company’s value or solve the problem at hand. If it isn’t implemented correctly, automation can leave wasteful practices in place.
At our June 5 workshop, Blaha will explain why companies that successfully automate make employee buy-in the very first step of the process. “When we engage our employees to improve processes and identify opportunities to automate, it can act as a force multiplier for our labor, allowing employees to add more value per labor hour.”
Another benefit of employee involvement might surprise leaders. “Often, employees have what they believe to be ‘far flung’ ideas on automation that would help them in their day-to-day tasks,” Blaha says. “But these ideas are typically completely realistic with modern technologies, and often cheaper to implement than companies realize.”
Blaha will share each phase of implementing automation successfully: assessing the source of value in the company; eliminating waste; standardizing; simplifying; and finally, automating; laying a foundation that helps manufacturers maximize the value of any new technology while involving employees closest to the process in every step of automation.
Enterprise Minnesota President and CEO Bob Kill says that Enterprise Minnesota’s automation process helps manufacturers to think strategically about each part of their automation process, ensuring nothing falls through the cracks. The cost of automation – in equipment, training, and time – makes correct implementation essential. “If you don’t do it right, it becomes a costly error,” Kill says.
This workshop will be invaluable to companies considering automation or seeking to improve their current automation strategies. We hope you can join us on Thursday, June 5 from 9:30 – 11:30 am at Great Lakes Association of Realtors in Baxter.
Workshop takeaways include:
- Understanding the broad scope of opportunities for automation
- How to engage your employees on automation and ways it benefits them
- Connecting continuous improvement thinking, automation, and employee retention
Who Should Attend
Any manufacturer who is considering implementing automation to improve productivity.
Registration
This event is exclusive to manufacturers and is free of charge. Please visit www.enterpriseminnesota.org/events to learn more and register.
If you have questions about this event, email us at [email protected]
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