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Industrial Automation and Robotics · Automation Equipment Makers
HR for Automation Equipment Makers: Special Machines, Fabrication, Fitting and Trials
Automation equipment makers build special-purpose machines, conveyors and assembly lines to a customer's requirement. Each machine is close to a one-off, so fitters and designers carry knowledge that no drawing holds.
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Share your requirementsAn automation equipment maker builds special-purpose machines, assembly lines, conveyors, test rigs and handling systems. A job moves from a customer brief through design, bought-out parts and machined or fabricated components, then fitting, electrical wiring, programming and trials in the shop before dismantling and installation at the customer. Each machine is largely unique, so assemblers adjust and solve problems as they go. Senior fitters know how parts fit and how to make a machine run, and designers know what the customer wants. Work comes from a handful of customers with fixed delivery dates. Machine shop, fabrication, fitting and electrical teams depend on one another, and delays in one stage push into the next. See also HR for manufacturing.
- Plan
- Hire
- Onboard
- Manage
- Develop
- Perform
- Engage
- Retain
- Exit
- Improve
When HR is weak in automation equipment makers, you may see
- Senior fitters hold knowledge that is not drawn
- Designers and fitters blame each other
- Delivery dates press on the last stages
- Mixed trades struggle to coordinate
- Work is irregular and orders are few
- Helpers have no clear route up
These are the places the people side of this kind of business tends to give way. The rest of this page works through them.
Who does the work in automation equipment makers
HR here has to work for each of these groups, not only the office. The set-up below is written with all of them in mind.
- Mechanical designers
- Machinists and fabricators
- Assembly and fitting technicians
- Electrical and wiring technicians
- PLC and controls programmers
- Trial and commissioning engineers
- Project managers
- Purchase and stores staff
Where HR strains in automation equipment makers
Senior fitters hold knowledge that is not drawn
A fitter who knows how to make a one-off machine run saves days, and the trick leaves when the fitter does.
Designers and fitters blame each other
A fit problem is blamed on the drawing by the fitter and on the build by the designer, and nothing is learnt.
Delivery dates press on the last stages
Slow bought-out parts or late design changes shift trials and packing into a squeeze.
Mixed trades struggle to coordinate
Machining, fabrication, fitting and electrical teams each work to their own schedule, and one waits for another.
Work is irregular and orders are few
With a handful of customers, a delayed order leaves the workshop idle and hands are tempted to leave.
Helpers have no clear route up
Helpers learn by watching, and a good one has no obvious path to fitter or technician.
HR topics for automation equipment makers
Start with the topics that matter most here: Learning and Development; Compensation, Payroll and Benefits; Organisation Design. Then work through the rest. Each topic is written for manufacturing, not in general.
Learning and Development
Training planned from need rather than from the calendar.
Compensation, Payroll and Benefits
Salary structure, payroll inputs and a month that closes on time.
Organisation Design
Structure, reporting lines and who is allowed to decide what.
HR Strategy and Workforce Planning
How many people, in which roles, by when — and what they will cost.
Recruitment and Talent Acquisition
Requisition to joining, the same way every time.
Onboarding and Probation
A first day that is the same for the fifth joiner as the first.
Employee Administration
Records, attendance, leave and the day-to-day HR that must simply work.
Performance Management
Goals, reviews and ratings that hold up in a conversation.
Career and Succession Management
Named backups for the roles that cannot be vacant.
Employee Engagement and Experience
Communication, recognition and the conditions people actually work in.
Employee Relations
Two routes — one for complaints, one for conduct — kept separate.
Policies, Compliance and Governance
Policies a manager can apply, and obligations with owners and dates.
Health, Safety and Wellbeing
Induction, records, incident reporting and follow-through.
Retention and Attrition Management
Who leaves, when, why — and which of them mattered.
Exit and Alumni Management
Resignation to relieving letter, in a defined order.
HR Technology and Automation
Records that survive people, and approvals that do not queue.
HR Analytics and Management Reporting
A short monthly pack management actually reads.
HR Operations and Governance
An HR function that runs the same way every month.
What a working HR set-up looks like
The pieces a automation equipment makers business puts in place, in an order that makes each easier. Open any card for the detail.
Run a short review after each build
A one-hour review with design, fitting and electrical staff on what went wrong and right, with notes kept for next time.
What this coversHide
Run a short review after each build
A one-hour review with design, fitting and electrical staff on what went wrong and right, with notes kept for next time.
What this coversHideA one-hour review with design, fitting and electrical staff on what went wrong and right, with notes kept for next time. See hr documentation process.
Grade fitters and technicians by machine complexity
A scale from helper to senior fitter linked to the type of machines each can build alone, tied to pay.
What this coversHide
Grade fitters and technicians by machine complexity
A scale from helper to senior fitter linked to the type of machines each can build alone, tied to pay.
What this coversHideA scale from helper to senior fitter linked to the type of machines each can build alone, tied to pay. See compensation benchmarking.
Have designers visit the shop floor each week
Fixed time for designers to see the build and answer fitters' questions, so fit problems are caught before trials.
What this coversHide
Have designers visit the shop floor each week
Fixed time for designers to see the build and answer fitters' questions, so fit problems are caught before trials.
What this coversHideFixed time for designers to see the build and answer fitters' questions, so fit problems are caught before trials.
Plan labour across trades
One weekly view of what each trade needs and has, owned by the project manager, so waiting time is seen early.
What this coversHide
Plan labour across trades
One weekly view of what each trade needs and has, owned by the project manager, so waiting time is seen early.
What this coversHideOne weekly view of what each trade needs and has, owned by the project manager, so waiting time is seen early. The role design work clarifies who owns the schedule.
Build a helper to fitter path
Set stages, a senior who reviews and recognition when a stage is passed.
What this coversHide
Build a helper to fitter path
Set stages, a senior who reviews and recognition when a stage is passed.
What this coversHideSet stages, a senior who reviews and recognition when a stage is passed. See learning and development process.
Start by checking where you stand
Before changing anything, find out what is true today. These checks take an afternoon and tell you which of the topics above to start with.
Share your requirements- Ask your senior fitter which tricks on your last machine are not in the drawings.
- Look at the last three fit problems and who was blamed.
- Check which jobs were late and which stage caused the delay.
- Count how many helpers have been with you more than two years.
- Find out how many designers visited the shop floor last month.
- Confirm with a qualified professional the registration, record-keeping and employment obligations that apply to your automation equipment making business.
Confirm with a qualified professional. What applies to you depends on your business, your state and your arrangements, and it changes. This page describes practice. It does not state a legal position.
How GullyHR helps
The services below fit this kind of business best. Each starts by recording where you stand, and every later report compares against that. We do not promise outcomes.
- Compensation benchmarking
Fitter and technician grades and pay steps that recognise the skill of building one-off machines.
- Learning and development process
A path from helper to fitter with stages and review by seniors.
- HR documentation process
Build reviews and records so fitting knowledge is kept in the business.
- Role design and job descriptions
Clear duties and ownership across design, fitting and projects.
Start with a free conversation, or see the paid HR Diagnostic.
Our HR transformation approach
- 1
Assess
Understand the business, its workforce, current processes and HR challenges.
- 2
Identify gaps
Find the missing, weak, inconsistent or person-dependent processes.
- 3
Design
Create the structure, processes, policies, SOPs, dashboards and systems needed.
- 4
Implement
Help HR and department managers actually adopt the new system.
- 5
Automate
Digitise repetitive and approval-based workflows where it is worth doing.
- 6
Measure
Track hiring, attendance, employee cost, performance, training and attrition.
- 7
Improve
Strengthen the people-management system continuously, not once.
Blogs worth reading first
From the GullyHR blog: one on HR in manufacturing, and one on each of the topics this page points to.
HR Process
The training calendar nobody attends: fixing the learning and development process
A calendar of courses, a budget spent by March and no record of what any of it changed. What a learning and development process contains when it starts from need rather than from the catalogue.
7 min readRead article
HR Management
Salary bands for SMEs: building grades when you have never had any
Most salary structures grew one negotiation at a time. How to build grades and bands from what you already pay, without repricing everybody at once.
8 min readRead article
HR Management
Everyone reports to the founder: when and how to redesign the structure
A flat structure works until the founder becomes the only route to a decision. How to tell when you have passed that point, and how to redesign without a reorganisation.
8 min readRead articleMore on the GullyHR blog.
Questions owners ask
Hold a short review after each build with the fitter present, write notes and have a junior work with them. Recognise the skill with a grade.
Hold joint reviews, put designers on the floor weekly and note the fix in the drawing. Focus on the cause.
Use quiet periods for training and maintenance, keep a few part-time or returning hands for peaks and plan hiring around confirmed orders.
Keep one weekly view of what each trade needs and has, owned by the project manager and reviewed with the team leads.
Set stages, reviews and pay steps from helper to fitter. Say it clearly so they see the route.
We would ask your senior fitter about knowledge not in the drawings, look at the last late jobs and which stage held them, and see how helpers move up. A good first piece of work is a build review routine and a fitter grading scheme. Scope is agreed in writing afterwards.
More on HR for manufacturing
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