What’s Industrial Automation?
Automation has a long tradition in the world. In the mid-eighteenth century, large-scale manufacturers started to use machine production to run at higher speeds. This massive shift to modern production processes was the start of the Industrial Revolution, which revolutionised the way people shopped and producers delivered the goods.
Today, industrial automation is widely used in commercial manufacturing environments, thus its name. In manufacturing plants, many control systems and machines operate together to execute functions both automatically and concurrently. Almost all manufacturers use a type of automation, where control systems conduct processes and work with limited human assistance.
These advanced systems are particularly important for the growing population of the world, where there is a continuous influx of high-quality demand. And it looks like the demand for automation is just just beginning: the market for industrial software automation is predicted to rise by 8 per cent over the next few years.
Types of systems for industrial automation
There are a number of various kinds of in-house control systems that are used on the basis of the manufacturer’s needs: fixed automation, programmable automation, and modular automation.
- Type #1: Automation Fixed
Fixed automatic computers execute a preset procedure routine. Usually, these technologies are used for component manufacturing and assembly lines where there is a high demand for thousands of the same product. Fixed devices are difficult to reprogram and can come with a heavy price tag, which is why these models are ideally suited for industries such as food manufacturing.
- Type #2: Automation programmable
Programmable automation provides greater versatility than predetermined when it comes to modifying the configuration of the process. However, this method will normally only alter assembly procedures, making it suitable for manufacturing processes that only need minor processing changes.
- Type 3: Flexible automation
Flexible automation provides complete functionality to modify any system with any product. This change can be made rapidly and easily by a human user using the human-machine interface of the device (HMI). This method requires several components to be manufactured at the same time rather than individually, making it suitable for car manufactures.
The Important Role for Industrial Automation
Industrial automation is the use of a number of control systems for running machines and equipment. This varies widely across a number of categories of industries, such as manufacturing factories and construction, transport and communications control systems.
This type of procedure is highly functional and employs computers and software to substitute people for jobs, requiring little attention from the human operator. As a result, some of the key benefits of an integrated system include:
- Increased efficiency as machines can run tirelessly
- Improvement of product consistency with the same production every time
- Cheaper labour rates when replacing jobs with machinery
- Reduced repetitive controls for PLCs and HMIs operating together
- Increase the standard of protection by excluding employees from dangerous workplaces
At the end of the day, automation is an ideal way to perform major procedures with limited human interaction. And although it has been used in various ways, this technique has been used by humans for millennia.
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