Paperless factories Way of the future!

Over years, manufacturing units across industries have used paper for various operational purposes. However, today, with rapid rise in digital tools; going paperless has almost become a pre-requisite for achieving manufacturing excellence. The article explains how production can grow manifold with the help of paperless manufacturing operations leading to significant productivity improvement in the coming years.

- Dr Vijay Kumar Singh, 

Using paper is the most popular way of monitoring industrial processes, but that does not mean that it is the most sustainable way as well. The production of paper itself takes a huge toll on the environment. Pulp and paper mills are one of the major contributors to water, air and land pollution. In addition to that, massive amounts of water and energy are spent on the making of paper. Looking at the adverse effects of paper production, we can confidently say that the use of paper will fade out sooner or later. Therefore, for a factory owner and its workers, it is better to get familiar with non-conventional techniques of controlling manufacturing procedures and switch to apps like MS Excel, Word, and many other software available as soon as possible. Electronic software-based) applications are the future of the production industry.

How does paperless methods ensure production efficiency?

Paperless factories are manufacturing units that employ software systems in place of physical books and registers to manage and record the production processes.

Following are some benefits that a paperless factory offers: Time-saving: Maintaining production records on paper takes much more time and effort than modern electronic methods. Using computers means saving time and human energy with the help of techniques such as:

•  Cut/copy/paste for entering information
• Ctrl+F for finding certain information instead of searching manually
• Grouping sheets/files together and organising them in folders so that you do not have to waste your precious time looking for the required information One can create one destination folder for all SOPs, machinery manuals, safety precautions, checklists, clients and vendors.

Minimise human error: Paperless methods minimise the scope of human error with features like: