Rising Quality Standards
In addition to capacity issues, customers cite rising quality standards as a reason for automation. Whereas customers used to be satisfied with minimal edge rounding, they now demand reproducible results with measurable documentation, including grinding and test reports/
Manual sanding inherently results in variation between operators, and the brush setup wears down during production. An automated machine that operates via a program recipe and manages the resulting radius through automatic calibration modes offers objective and repeatable output.
Implementation
For most companies, the technical feasibility of automation is not the primary issue. More often, organizational and cultural factors play a role in the decision to invest or not. Van Quickelberghe: “If a company is not willing to critically examine its processes, automation will be less efficient. The technology is available, but implementation will only succeed if the organization is ready for it.”
A recurring bottleneck is that companies overestimate the scale of the required investment. Automation is often associated with large, expensive production lines, whereas in many cases the first step can be limited to a single machine with buffer tables. That alone is enough to halve manual loading and stabilize throughput.
Van Gompel: “A buffer table in front of and behind the machine is almost always enough to go from two operators to one. That’s a small investment with a measurable impact on staffing levels.”
Support on the shop floor
A factor that regularly comes up during implementation projects is employees’ attitudes toward automation. The question of what automation means for job security is a concern in many workplaces, even though the introduction of machines rarely leads to forced layoffs in practice.
Van Quickelberghe: “Most clients automate because they are short-staffed, not to let people go. The employees involved are usually assigned a different, less physically demanding task. But this must be communicated effectively; otherwise, resistance arises that complicates the implementation.”
Q-Fin advises clients to involve employees early in the implementation process, including through demonstrations where operators operate the system themselves. The company’s own experience shows that digitization also benefits the workplace structurally: technicians at Q-Fin work with tablets that always display the latest drawings, and production planning is transparent to everyone via a digital task board.
Competitive Position
In addition to immediate operational needs, strategic considerations play a role in investment decisions. Companies that fail to modernize their finishing processes run the risk of eventually being unable to meet the requirements of larger clients.
Van Gompel: “Larger customers are increasingly demanding demonstrable quality assurance and traceable processes. For companies that cannot deliver this, it becomes more difficult to retain those orders.”
The payback period for an automated system typically ranges from one to five years, depending on volume, staffing levels, and existing infrastructure. Q-Fin calculates this timeframe based on the production data provided by the customer before issuing a quote.
Step-by-step investment
A significant portion of Q-Fin’s customers start with a single machine, possibly supplemented with simple handling, and then expand the setup step by step. The modular design of the machines makes this possible without writing off previous investments.
Van Quickelberghe: “Growth doesn’t have to mean higher volumes. For many companies, it’s already valuable if they can achieve the same output with less reliance on scarce personnel, and with less physical strain on the people who do work there.”
