Industrial Automation: Four Popular Applications

Industrial automation is used by a wide variety of companies and industries to create more efficient processes through the application of various technologies. Aspects of industrial application are replacing mundane tasks previously completed by individuals. This allows repetitive and precise tasks to be completed with fewer errors and frees employees to performer higher level activities.

What Is It?

Industrial automation is the technological enhancement of systems and machinery used for industries like manufacturing and production. The goal is to limit procedures performed by human workers.

Industrial Automation: Five Benefits

Industrial automation technology helps businesses enhance safety, save time, boost quality production, reduce monitoring, and lower costs. All of these benefits lead companies to higher productivity, greater efficiency, and more profitability.

1. Enhance Safety

Workplace safety is an important issue for the protection of your employees, suppliers and customers. It can help enhance safety processes by retrofitting older equipment. This allows the machines to automatically perform tasks, without as much human intervention.

2. Save Time

Often, industrial automation technology allows production lines and other facility processes to run more efficiently and reliably. That means that your company can produce products and services more quickly, meeting or exceeding customer expectations.

3. Boost Quality Production

Producing your products more quickly means nothing if you introduce errors or quality issues into your process. The beauty of it is that it not only speeds the production process, but also it reduces issues down the line. As a result, the quality of your products will be high, and the errors during production will be minimized.

4. Reduce Monitoring

Industrial automation is a much more efficient way to monitor assets and equipment. In many cases, technology can provide around-the-clock monitoring, as well as record data at programmed intervals without human interaction. That means maintenance technicians can be deployed on higher level tasks, while monitoring quality improves.

5. Lower Costs

When industrial automation reduces emergency maintenance requests and downtime, it will reduce the costs for your organization. In addition, it often boosts production and efficiency, which means you’ll be able to produce more for fewer dollars.

Industrial Automation: Four Types

The four types of industrial automation are soft, hard, programmed, and integrated automation. Each one has different applications and can be used in a variety of business settings. Here’s a brief primer:

Soft Automation

Soft automation involves entering new code on systems you own. These are almost always controlled by computers and are useful when the result changes frequently. For example, CNC machines must be programmed for each new job. Once the operator programs the code, the machine then produces the part.

Hard Automation

Requiring special equipment, hard automation is fixed and is very difficult to change once production begins. The equipment is programmed with an essentially permanent set of tasks. This type of industrial automation is popular in continuous flow processes, such as mass production and conveyors.

Programmed Automation

This type of industrial automation requires a set of programs or configurations that can be set with electronic controls. Although it is more flexible than hard automation, programmed automation is still time-consuming and best used on high quantity production lines for large batch production.

Integrated Automation

An integrated automation system pulls together stand-alone machines, data, and processes to work together following a single control system. For example, computer-aided design, computer-controlled machines, robots, and conveyors may all be integrated to complete a larger task, following commands of a scheduling control system.

Popular Industries Using Industrial Automation

Many industries can benefit from industrial automation processes. Some of the largest ones include manufacturing, oil and gas, paper mills, and steel mills. Here are some examples of how these companies apply this technology.

Industrial Automation: Manufacturing

Manufacturing companies as a whole employ industrial automation in a wide variety of ways. They may use technology to assemble or create product, monitor maintenance tasks, or manage inventory levels.

Oil and Gas Drilling

Because oil and gas drilling often involve offshore stations and remote locations, industrial automation is extremely useful in this industry. Sensors and other monitoring equipment mean fewer difficult and potentially dangerous trips for technicians.

Paper Mills

It can be used in paper mills to manage batch production, as well as control instrumentation, plant devices, and equipment. This allows operators to have excellent visibility into the entire production system.

Industrial Automation: Steel Mills

We're also seeing hierarchical control industrial automation in steel mills. This technology offers an integrated system that manages and controls the entire steel mill.

Transportation

Industrial automation has long had a place within the airline industry with autopilot controls on commercial jets. Currently, the movement toward self-operating vehicles, both used at a commercial and personal level, will incorporate industrial automation developments.

Distribution

Once products are made and are ready for shipment, the distribution industry takes over. Expectations for faster delivery continue to accelerate in all areas. As a result, it will continue implementing solutions in the distribution arena to manage shipping and delivery of products at an even faster rate.

Industrial Automation: Implement Industrial Controls on Your Production Line

To successfully implement industrial automation controls on your production line, you’ll want to use a computerized maintenance management system (CMMS). This centralized system can collect a wide range of information, including inventory data, maintenance history, work order schedules, and reports from remote sensors.

By bringing together your critical assets, high-quality data, historic information, and real-time alerts or sensor readings, you will be well-prepared to select, refine, and use your industrial automation tools to improve efficiency within your organization.

Conclusion

Industrial automation is a growing trend that shows no sign of slowing down. Continued automation technology will drive organizations to an ever-greater level of efficiency and performance. In order to stay competitive in your particular market, you’ll want to be one of the front runners.