# Degree of automation

The degree of automation  A is the ratio of the number of automated production steps to the total number of production steps:

{\ displaystyle {\ begin {aligned} A & = {\ frac {automated} {manual + automated}} \\ & = 100 \% - {\ frac {manual} {manual + automated}} \ leq 100 \% \ end {aligned}}}

The selected degree of automation is in most cases dependent on the number of items to be produced (cost-benefit), the required flexibility (raw materials, end products), the area (shell construction, paint shop, assembly ...), the complexity of the activity, wage costs or the necessary investment volume and its financial feasibility.

Even within a single industry, such as the food industry , the degree of automation of the individual companies and even of the individual production lines within a company can differ greatly. So z. For example, the production line for french fries in a potato processing plant can be completely automated, as the recipes for the end products are very similar. At the same time, the production line for potato specialties ( hash browns , duchy potatoes ...) can have a very low level of automation, as different production processes are used depending on the end product and the existing machines are integrated into the production line in different configurations.