Two industries that were important in the foundation and growth of the American middle class are the automobile industry and the steel industry.

In the auto industry, Henry Ford is credited with creating the assembly line. Once it proved itself in Ford's factory, the assembly line was adopted by manufacturers in nearly every market. Steel was one of the few industries where the assembly line does not work, but hordes of workers were needed to make steel 24/7. After all, once the furnace cooled down, it was costly to turn back on.

Manufacturers now produce more cars with far fewer employees, and car sales are again breaking records. One big reason is factory automation. Robots do repetitive tasks nonstop — no bathroom breaks, no food breaks, just doing the same task, over and over. Robots also do not expose employers to any sort of unfair labor practice claims. They are content to just continue welding or tightening a screw.

Acquiring a single robot can cost around $125,000, but automakers gladly pay the cost and view it as a good investment. The amortization and power costs associated with a robot come to roughly $8 per hour. When compared to an hourly wage of more than $25 per hour, it is easy to see why automation is a no-brainer.

However, automation is by no means restricted to the factory floor. Manufacturing plants with A/C and/or heat, can make the life of the facilities manager easier by using a PC to automate all HVAC functions. Similar programs can run lighting, control access to restricted areas and more.

Polished automation systems can even tie supply chain orders to factory orders for JIT manufacturing. With automated accounting systems, HR applications, ERP and CRM applications, large companies enjoy higher productivity with a smaller number of employees.

OK, so large manufacturers can take advantage of all these different kinds of automation, but as a small manufacturer, how can you use automation?

Automation for small manufacturers

In production, there are bench-mounted robots available for under $30,000. One unit recently displayed at Automate 2015, held in Chicago in late March, has seven degrees of freedom, weighs only 42 pounds and runs on power supplied from plugging into a standard electric outlet.

It has a high-resolution sensor on each section of its three-joint articulating arms. Two cameras make this device excellent for high-precision and delicate work, such as circuit board testing or material handling. This unit sells for $29,000.

Also seen at the show in Chicago was a six-axis articulated arm. Each of the wrist joints can rotate 360 degrees, and the end joint is engineered for infinite rotation, allowing it to set screws to at the right torque. In addition to screwing, it can perform gluing, painting and pick-and-place tasks.

Small manufacturers can also find plenty of software programs for running their enterprise from online shared services. Monthly costs can be taken as expenses, rather than needing to amortize the cost over 7-10 years. By the time it is amortized, it is probably obsolete anyway. Shared services update their programs often, based upon customer feedback.

There are also many free software programs such as CRM, accounting and more that give you many of the same advantages gained by companies several times your size.

Every aspect of your business needs to be scrutinized for what it needs to take better advantage of technology. As a small manufacturer, it is your responsibility to try to gain productivity through automation. It is good for you, your business, your employees and your customers.

Ultimately, customers benefit the high quality of automation. After all, robots, unlike humans, do not get bored.