People wreck your quality.
Not on purpose. Most people try very hard not to wreck quality and generally do pretty well. Still…
Quality is best defined as “Absence of Variation”, that is, the first piece, the last piece, and all pieces in between are exactly the same. In our real world, exactly never happens, of course, but it always needs to be the goal.
People, no matter how hard we try, can never do something exactly the same twice in a row. Multiple people multiply the variation. We’ll always be slightly different.
People are also notoriously dirty. Again, most people practice good hygiene and try their best to be clean. The reality is that we are big bags of germs. Even a scrupulously healthy and clean person can contaminate with a sneeze or a touch.
We hear “handmade”, “artisanal” and other terms bandied about as desirable attributes. They are, in some cases. We probably don’t want to pay a lot of money for an artwork that is exactly the same as 1,000 others. We want ours to be unique. Those are the exceptions.
When I see handmade, I generally see it as a negative. I want machine made. I want quality. I want it to be the same as last time. I don’t want not quite, I want exactly.
The only way to do this is with automation.
A well designed and properly maintained machine, will do everything the same way every cycle. The first, last and in-between products will be the same. Machines do get out of adjustment but they usually do it in a predictable way and can be brought back to setpoint. Materials and components can vary but this too can be addressed.
Automation does require investment. It used to be that if the production wasn’t needed, the investment sat there with no return. Rental machinery from Frain has eliminated that issue. It’s as easy as Uber.
Automate or get run over. It makes your product better and your people more productive.