Industrial Automation: What Is It?

The introduction of an automated system to manufacturing has greatly removed the limitations brought by manual labour and mechanisation in manufacturing. Before the introduction of automated systems, manufacturing industries, through the use of machines that are controlled by humans, were able to carry out different manufacturing processes that used to be done manually by humans. The use of these machines is called "mechanization." Implementing mechanizations in production processes improved manufacturing performance in no small way, but the frailty of the operators limited the efficiency of these machines. An automated system allows machines to carry out manufacturing processes without the interference of humans, allowing for more optimised operation and accuracy.

What Is Industrial Automation?

Automation is coined from two ancient Greek words: "Auto" meaning # self and "Matos" meaning ## move. Industrial automation is simply the use of automatic control devices (such as PLC, HMI, and robotics) and modern technologies to carry out manufacturing/industrial processes with little or no human involvement.Types of Industrial Automation Explained "Automatic control devices use logic and programmes to instruct a machine on what to do".

The Advantages Of Industrial Automation

• Reduced Labor Expenses: An industrial automation system does not need a lot of workers to operate. With just a small number of supervisors, the system is good to run. Setting up an industrial automated system may be costly at first, but the operating costs will be drastically reduced in no time.

• Quality Enhancement: Automated systems are computer controlled, leaving no room for human errors, and with special features such as adaptive control, the system performs optimally over a long period of time without any reduction in product quality.

• Increased productivity: automated systems operate at a high speed without any errors and can run 24/7. ensuring mass production of quality products.

• High reliability: With the right instruction, an industrial automated system can flawlessly carry out manufacturing processes with or without human supervision.

Types Of Industrial Automation

Automation can be classified into four (4) main categories.

• Fixed (Hard) Automation.

• programmable automation.

• Flexible (Soft) Automation

• Totally Integrated Automation.

Now you know what industrial automation is, its importance and types. If you have a special interest in Automation and Control Engineering like I do, and you want to know more about automation systems, then watch out for my next post on "Types of Industrial Automation Explained."

Stay Techie!!!

Ogundele Elijah.