In the early days, the purpose of industrial automation was to increase productivity (since automated systems could work 24 hours a day) and reduce labor-related costs (i.e. wages and benefits). Today, however, the focus of automation has shifted to improving quality and flexibility in the manufacturing process.

　　1. Advantages of industrial automation

　　Reduced operating costs: Industrial automation eliminates healthcare costs and labor-related paid time off and holidays. Also, industrial automation does not require other employee benefits such as bonuses, pensions, etc. Most importantly, although it is associated with a higher initial cost, it saves workers on their monthly wages, resulting in significant cost savings for the company. Since machines used in industrial automation fail infrequently, they are less expensive to maintain. If it fails, all it takes is a computer and a maintenance engineer to fix it.

　　2. High productivity

　　While many companies employ hundreds of production workers on shifts of up to three to keep factories running for maximum hours, factories are still shut down for maintenance and furloughs. Industrial automation accomplishes a company's goals by allowing it to run manufacturing plants 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

　　3. High quality

　　Automation mitigates human-related errors. Also, unlike humans, robots do not involve any fatigue, which results in the manufacture of products of uniform quality at different times.

　　4. High flexibility

　　Adding new tasks to an assembly line requires operator training, but robots can be programmed to perform any task. This makes the manufacturing process more flexible.

　　5. High accuracy of information

　　Adding automatic data collection allows you to collect critical production information, improve data accuracy, and reduce data collection costs. This gives you the facts to make the right decisions when it comes to reducing waste and improving processes.

　　6. High security

　　Industrial automation can make production lines safe for workers by deploying robots to handle dangerous situations.

　　7. Disadvantages of industrial automation

　　High initial cost, the initial investment for converting from a manual production line to an automatic production line is very high. Additionally, there are substantial costs involved in training employees to use this new state-of-the-art equipment.