Establishing Consistency with Automation in an Unstable Mattress Market
By Randy Metcalf
The latest news cycles have reported a variety of concerning stories about the economy: inflation increasing at a pace not seen in decades, persistent labor pains for manufacturers, rising borrowing costs, and more.
"...bottlenecks, hiring difficulties and other constraints could continue to limit how quickly supply can adjust, raising the possibility that inflation could turn out to be higher and more persistent than we expect..."
Excerpt from recent Fox Business news article, June 16, 2021
It is becoming hard for manufacturers, including mattress producers, to sell products without passing those costs on to the consumer. Mattress manufacturers are forced to make the hard choice of absorbing those costs or potentially decreasing sales by increasing prices.
So, how does a mattress manufacturer compete in a sales environment full of rising costs and unstable market conditions? Automate.
The strongest benefit of automation is consistency. Sure, replacing manual labor with automated equipment cuts labor costs. That’s important, but establishing consistency in an unstable manufacturing environment is crucial to developing a clear path to better profits.
Here's how computerized automation can help:
- Automation establishes a predictable production rate
- Programmable machine actions create precise quality every time
- Automation gives management greater control for a more agile production workflow
You’ll never have complete control of supplied materials costs, and the entire supply chain is always vulnerable to unexpected disruptions. The availability of skilled labor will never be as good as it once was. Even with the best employees, you still have variables like unexpected absences, injury-related costs, and increasing wages and benefits.
To succeed, you need to be in command of as much of your production operations as possible. The consistency of automation gives you greater regularity in key areas such as productivity rates and quality control.
Fortunately, Global Systems Group (GSG) has developed automated machines for every area of mattress manufacturing.
- Manage production schedules and product changes for your entire fleet of quilting equipment with AutoSchedule® and BatchMode from Gribetz. A single manager can arrange schedules and push them out to all machines in real-time, so the production is as efficient as possible.
- The sewing machine work in the mattress factory is filled with processes that are either highly repetitive or require highly skilled tailors. GSG has developed many automated systems that de-skills these processes and replaces the repetition with computer-controlled actions.
- There is little value added to the mattress in the packaging department. That’s why GSG has a variety of machines to replace the inefficient and costly process of hand-bagging.
- Eliminate non-value-add touches with automated conveyors and work aids. Manually stacking, transporting, and unloading materials eat up profit margins. This is where automation really shines, and GSG has many solutions for material handling work.
Establish greater cost control, consistency in your workflow, and uniformity in product quality through mattress factory automation. GSG engineers and plant layout strategists can assist with your automation plans for every mattress production process.
Explore our products to learn more, or contact us today for a personal conversation with one of our experts.
Randy Metcalf