SMV discipline comes before automation

Automation quotations are usually built on the numbers a factory already has. If those standard minute values were set once, years ago, and never re-timed, the payback calculation is fiction.

Start with the operations that carry the most volume. Re-time them across a full shift rather than a single cycle, separate machine time from handling time, and record the allowances you are actually giving. Only then compare the vendor's promised saving against a real baseline.

Three checks worth running before any purchase order: how old is the study, who signed it off, and does the line balance on paper match the balance on the floor. Where these disagree, fix the data — the equipment will still be available next quarter.