Repetitive jobs can negatively affect productivity and a company’s bottom line in addition to making work boring for the employee. More than 40% of workers across all industries, according to surveys, spend at least one-fourth of their workweek on manual, repetitive chores. These mundane tasks in manufacturing frequently involve data collection and manual data entry. Many people believe that these duties are a waste of an employee’s time given the amazing automation capabilities currently accessible.

There are other ways besides automation to reduce manual and repetitive chores. Modern robotic technology is being used by many manufacturing companies. These programmed robots, also known as robot-controlled machines, use artificial intelligence (AI) to improve an organization’s capacity for processing, material handling, and assembly. Robots can do physically demanding or boring jobs that could have a negative effect on workers through injury or morale when programmed to work in a predictable environment. As a result, labor expenses are decreased, and productivity is greatly increased.

Below are a few examples of how organizations are using technology to minimize, or even eliminate, repetitive tasks in the manufacturing industry.