{"id":7995,"date":"2025-06-09T13:10:00","date_gmt":"2025-06-09T18:10:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?p=7995"},"modified":"2025-06-09T14:07:17","modified_gmt":"2025-06-09T19:07:17","slug":"how-to-know-if-youve-outgrown-your-automation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/how-to-know-if-youve-outgrown-your-automation\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"htmlBody article_div\">\n<div class=\"roofHeader\"><strong>MHI Solutions Community<\/strong><\/div>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081.jpg\" alt=\"christian dow\" width=\"92\" height=\"118\" \/><\/figure>\n<div class=\"byline\">BY <span class=\"author-name\">CHRISTIAN DOW<\/span>, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI<\/div>\n<figure class=\"picture\"><\/figure>\n<p><span class=\"dropCap\">M<\/span>aybe your manufacturing plant or warehouse was an early adopter of automation, but that original material handling equipment is now showing signs of age. Or maybe your automated systems were built for the business\u2011to\u2011business selling model, before the shift to business\u2011to\u2011consumer e\u2011commerce. Or maybe robust order growth and SKU proliferation are pushing your automated systems\u2014and the four walls of your facility\u2014beyond their limits.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-01.jpg\" alt=\"mhi solutions community logo\" width=\"224\" height=\"77\" \/>Even the best\u2011designed automated systems can become obsolete over time due to changing business dynamics, emerging technologies and years of steady use. That\u2019s why it often pays to take a fresh look at automated equipment to determine whether it\u2019s still the optimal solution for your operations.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg\" alt=\"mhi solutions community\" \/>Jason Effing, chief revenue officer at MHI member Systems in Motion, said many factors can alter a company\u2019s automation needs, including mergers and acquisitions or changes to the customer base and service\u2011level agreements.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Maybe the systems they put in place five, 15 or even 30 years ago were appropriate at that time, but their business needs have changed, so they\u2019ve simply outgrown their system and need to make some changes,&#8221; Effing said. &#8220;With older automated systems, the issue could be capacity because the business has grown, but many times, it\u2019s actually obsolescence. A lot of this technology does have a shelf life and can become obsolete.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Effing said it\u2019s not uncommon to walk into a facility that\u2019s 20 years old and see that the automated equipment is still running on the original programmable logic controllers (PLCs), which may be so old that you can\u2019t get replacements from the original equipment manufacturer (OEM). In some cases, the OEM has gone out of business or the people familiar with that system have retired, leading facilities to turn to online retailers such as eBay to source parts.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;That\u2019s a really obvious technology gap that you see in some cases,&#8221; he said. Key performance indicators often provide clues that a facility has outgrown its automation, Effing said. A common tell is a steady increase in labor costs. When automated systems can\u2019t keep up with order volume, the quickest fix may be to throw additional manpower at the problem. That\u2019s hardly a sustainable solution, however, as companies face a prolonged labor shortage, high turnover and rising wages.<\/p>\n<p>On\u2011time shipping and delivery rates also tend to suffer when antiquated equipment is used, leading to dips in customer satisfaction due to unmet service\u2011level agreements. Customers may expect to get deliveries the next day as long as they submit orders before 6 p.m., for example, but as order volume grows and equipment fails, that cutoff time no longer assures on\u2011time delivery.<\/p>\n<p>In other cases, customer satisfaction scores may decrease due to quality\u2011control issues. Customers may get the wrong type or number of products, or more products will arrive damaged. Return rates tick up, and net promoter scores decline. Managers may see changes in other KPIs such as order fill rate, perfect order rate, order cycle rate, dock\u2011to\u2011stock time and inventory accuracy rate.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;You could have a simple capacity issue where a conveyor sortation system was designed for throughput rates from 15 years ago, and the company has tripled its throughput, so now you start to see bottlenecks show up,&#8221; Effing said. &#8220;The equipment wasn\u2019t designed to handle that additional throughput, so if you keep trying to push more product through it, you\u2019re going to get logjams.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Taoufik &#8220;TK&#8221; Haddadi, sales manager at MHI member Ryson International Inc., said unplanned downtime is another key metric. As automated equipment experiences wear and tear, facilities may see more frequent breakdowns, leading to costly production delays.<\/p>\n<p>Accordingly, facilities may see a steady uptick in maintenance\u2011related costs, including labor, spare parts and the space needed to store those parts, Haddadi said. In some cases, upgrading the PLCs or variable frequency drives (VFDs) can bring new life to older equipment, but in other cases, it\u2019s best to replace entire systems with something newer and more capable.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;When you start seeing frequent breakdowns, bottlenecks or excessive maintenance costs year\u2011over\u2011year, and you\u2019re adding more maintenance professionals to keep the machines going, that\u2019s an indicator that there\u2019s probably something out there that\u2019s more reliable, more efficient and would last longer, with less maintenance,&#8221; Haddadi said.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Whether it\u2019s individual components that have become obsolete or even high\u2011level software such as a warehouse management system, warehouse control system or warehouse execution system, you want to make sure that it\u2019s still supported by the OEM,&#8221; he added. &#8220;If not, then you want to be proactive and start looking for a replacement before you experience more problems.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?articleId=2065501&amp;app=false#articleId2065501\"><em>Click here to read the full article.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<h6><span class=\"attribution\"><a href=\"http:\/\/ISTOCK.COM\/\">ISTOCK.COM<\/a>\/GORODENKOFF<\/span><\/h6>\n<\/div>\n\n\n<p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>MHI Solutions Community BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI Maybe your manufacturing plant or warehouse was an early adopter of automation, but that original material handling equipment is now showing signs of age. Or maybe your automated systems were built for the business\u2011to\u2011business selling model, before the shift to business\u2011to\u2011consumer e\u2011commerce. Or maybe &#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":40,"featured_media":7999,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4,13],"tags":[174,4046,442,1902,1907,4045,466,441],"class_list":["post-7995","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-departments","category-technology","tag-automation","tag-automation-systems","tag-mhi-solutions","tag-mhi-solutions-magazine","tag-mhisolutionsmag","tag-outdated-automation","tag-supply-chain","tag-supply-chain-innovation"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation - MHI Solutions<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation - MHI Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"MHI Solutions Community BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI Maybe your manufacturing plant or warehouse was an early adopter of automation, but that original material handling equipment is now showing signs of age. Or maybe your automated systems were built for the business\u2011to\u2011business selling model, before the shift to business\u2011to\u2011consumer e\u2011commerce. Or maybe ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/how-to-know-if-youve-outgrown-your-automation\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MHI Solutions\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-09T18:10:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-06-09T19:07:17+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"900\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"424\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Robin Lamerson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Robin Lamerson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/how-to-know-if-youve-outgrown-your-automation\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910\",\"name\":\"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation - MHI Solutions\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-06-09T18:10:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-06-09T19:07:17+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/651ab04bd5786351be0f915720b16f5b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg\",\"width\":900,\"height\":424},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/\",\"name\":\"MHI Solutions\",\"description\":\"Improving Supply Chain Performance\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/651ab04bd5786351be0f915720b16f5b\",\"name\":\"Robin Lamerson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a282fa3daa389a57fb7be768af92152401f459d8e257543a57ce1b0bc913a8cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a282fa3daa389a57fb7be768af92152401f459d8e257543a57ce1b0bc913a8cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Robin Lamerson\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/author\/rlamerson\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation - MHI Solutions","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation - MHI Solutions","og_description":"MHI Solutions Community BY CHRISTIAN DOW, EVP OF INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP, MHI Maybe your manufacturing plant or warehouse was an early adopter of automation, but that original material handling equipment is now showing signs of age. Or maybe your automated systems were built for the business\u2011to\u2011business selling model, before the shift to business\u2011to\u2011consumer e\u2011commerce. Or maybe ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/how-to-know-if-youve-outgrown-your-automation\/","og_site_name":"MHI Solutions","article_published_time":"2025-06-09T18:10:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2025-06-09T19:07:17+00:00","og_image":[{"width":900,"height":424,"url":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Robin Lamerson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Robin Lamerson","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/2025\/06\/09\/how-to-know-if-youve-outgrown-your-automation\/","url":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910","name":"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation - MHI Solutions","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg","datePublished":"2025-06-09T18:10:00+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-09T19:07:17+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/651ab04bd5786351be0f915720b16f5b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/05\/081-02.jpg","width":900,"height":424},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutions-digital.com\/mhiq\/0325_volume_13__issue_3\/MobilePagedArticle.action?app=false&cmsId=4276910#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Know if You\u2019ve Outgrown Your Automation"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/","name":"MHI Solutions","description":"Improving Supply Chain Performance","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/651ab04bd5786351be0f915720b16f5b","name":"Robin Lamerson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a282fa3daa389a57fb7be768af92152401f459d8e257543a57ce1b0bc913a8cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/a282fa3daa389a57fb7be768af92152401f459d8e257543a57ce1b0bc913a8cb?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Robin Lamerson"},"url":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/author\/rlamerson\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/40"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7995"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7995\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7999"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7995"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7995"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.mhisolutionsmag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7995"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}