Free checklist · Manufacturing
The manufacturing automation checklist.
Every manual process on this list is costing your plant floor time, accuracy, and money — here's exactly how much.
40%
efficiency increase — industry average
39
Hrs/week at stake
$70,980
Annual waste, total
The checklist · 13 tasks
Tick every task your team still does by hand.
Hours and costs assume one person
at typical manufacturing wage rates.
/ 01 — Automate first — highest payback
Inventory reconciliation in spreadsheets
FixConnect your inventory system to your ERP via Make.com so counts sync in real time and discrepancies trigger automatic alerts.
5 hrs/wk · $9,100/yr
Manual production order entry
FixUse n8n to auto-route incoming orders from a web form into your ERP and production scheduling board without manual data entry.
4 hrs/wk · $7,280/yr
Supplier invoice processing
FixUse AI document extraction in n8n to read invoice PDFs, match them to POs, and route for approval automatically.
4 hrs/wk · $7,280/yr
Shift handoff reports typed by hand
FixDeploy an AI workflow in Make.com that pulls production data from your MES and auto-generates shift summary emails at each changeover.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Quality control logging on paper
FixReplace paper QC logs with a mobile form that feeds data directly into a centralized dashboard via Zapier.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Compliance document filing
FixBuild an n8n workflow that auto-tags, categorizes, and files compliance documents into the correct folders with expiration alerts.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Purchase order approval chains
FixCreate a multi-step approval workflow in Make.com that routes POs by dollar threshold and notifies approvers via Slack or email.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
/ 02 — Automate next — steady gains
Customer order status updates sent manually
FixUse n8n to trigger automated email/SMS status updates to customers whenever an order milestone is reached in your system.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Employee timesheet collection
FixAutomate timesheet reminders and collection with Make.com, aggregating submissions into payroll-ready spreadsheets.
3 hrs/wk · $5,460/yr
Maintenance request tracking via email
FixSet up a Zapier workflow that converts maintenance emails into tickets in a tracking board and notifies the assigned technician.
2 hrs/wk · $3,640/yr
Downtime incident reports
FixUse a simple form connected via Zapier to log incidents and auto-generate timestamped reports sent to management.
2 hrs/wk · $3,640/yr
Shipping label generation
FixConnect your order system to ShipStation or EasyPost via Zapier to auto-generate and print shipping labels on order confirmation.
2 hrs/wk · $3,640/yr
Safety inspection checklists on paper
FixDigitize safety checklists with a mobile form app connected via Zapier to log results and flag failed items automatically.
2 hrs/wk · $3,640/yr
/ Total estimated waste
39 hrs/wk · $70,980/yr
3 quick wins
Build these first.
26 hrs/week recovered
across the set.
12 hrs/wk
Production Order Automation
Auto-route orders from form to ERP to scheduling board.
Ask us to build this →6 hrs/wk
Automated Shift Reports
AI pulls production data and generates shift summary emails.
Ask us to build this →8 hrs/wk
Supplier Invoice Processing
AI extracts invoice data and routes for approval.
Ask us to build this →Keep exploring
/ Recommended services for manufacturing
/ Other industry checklists
Where we go from here
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