Strategic Advice

Like anything, data needs intentionality to be useful. Too much data can overload unprepared or underresourced managers or analysts, and undetected sensor malfunctions could skew results, which, if acted on, could lead to negative consequences. That means the shift toward more automated information collection has to be done carefully, and with specific goals in mind, Senuta says.

“When you quantify each step of your process, you’ll be able to really understand where performance is gained and lost,” he says. “But not every number has the same potential impact.”

Your Truist relationship manager will take the time to learn all your goals to help you prioritize potential investments, including automation, in a way that is affordable and will benefit your bottom line.

Say you manage a packaged food manufacturer that has installed the basic automation necessary to grow to become an established business, but hasn’t yet invested in more comprehensive systems due to cost constraints.

By working with your Truist relationship manager to set priorities, the first step might be to focus on systems that will give better insight into the existing operation and can yield immediate returns without an expensive overhaul quite yet.

Temperature and humidity sensors—along with other low-cost monitoring tools common across manufacturing—are relatively inexpensive and easy to integrate into existing systems, helping to limit quality deviations and regulatory exposure. Similarly, overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) sensors calculate how fully production machinery is being used in terms of availability and performance. The ability of these sensors to identify the specific reasons for any equipment downtime can be invaluable to managers who might otherwise lack understanding of the root causes of lost production.

A similar step-by-step approach applies in other industries too. In any operation where overall efficiency depends on both equipment performance and manual labor, early automation projects can reveal where labor is being lost to repetitive tasks. The data and the tools used to collect it may be different in other contexts, but the insights allow managers to understand how to automate selectively while deploying people where they add the most value.

At your food packaging facility, reviewing early OEE and downtime data might find frequent but brief stoppages caused either by packing stations falling behind or high error rates in hand packing. Seeing those patterns, you may take the opportunity to further automate your packing stations while deploying labor resources to skilled or nonautomated tasks, such as performing preventive maintenance.

With better operational visibility and initial process improvements in hand, you can position your company to make smart investments that support your long-range strategic goals. These might involve fully automated warehousing systems and end-to-end supply chain visibility.

“Automation can be a major capital investment, but it doesn’t have to happen all at once,” Senuta says. “And by using what you learn from your early efforts to inform your next steps, you can really maximize the return.”

This phased approach mirrors how many companies modernize their financial systems as well, Senuta notes. The Truist Purple Paper^® “Developing a Treasury Ecosystem to Propel Your Business” is a deep dive into how advanced treasury tools aid decision-making through real-time data visibility similar to what automation can provide.

There can be costs and challenges associated with automating tasks, including integration issues with legacy systems, training requirements, and safety compliance, especially in highly regulated industries such as food and beverage or healthcare. Your Truist relationship manager can illustrate how to align your investments with your strategic goals, all while considering your available resources.

“Automation can be a rich source of data,” Senuta adds. “But you also need the right partner to help you turn that data into confident decisions.”