Technology is a powerful force to be reckoned with in this ever-changing day in age. It has been a spectacular catalyst to fascinating innovations and discovering, setting trends, and changing the field of industry in ways that are incredible to comprehend. For many, the industrial revolution is a thing of the past, a historical period of change that transformed the world many centuries ago. The truth is that change is always happening around, and the field of industry is experiencing a revolution as we speak. Maybe the changes are not as noticeable as the revolutions of the past, but the effects are just as impactful.
The transitions of horsepower to steam power was a revolution of its time, but the technology available to the field of industry today is mindboggling in comparison. However, just as the revolutions of industry throughout history have brought about criticism, stemming from a fear of the unknown, a similar trepidation is prevalent today. With more knowledge and understanding it is hoped that more will begin to accept the change. Those who do not will soon realize how redundant they can become.
A major factor in this revolution is the emergence of industrial automation. What is it? What are the advantages of this advancement in technology? We will find out more about this fascinating subject in the article to follow.
What is Industrial Automation?
Automation is not unique to the field of industry but is become a sought-after technology in many different areas. The goal of this technology is to reduce the need for human intervention in various processes and can be accomplished using various means. Industrial automation is the use of different control systems, like computers and robots, and other information processing machinery that can handle different procedures meaning that a human member of staff is not needed. In the past, the aim of automation was simple. Firstly, it was to improve productivity by the fact that it could run 24 hours a day without the need for lunch breaks and time off sick. Furthermore, the goal was to reduce the costs that are involved when hiring human workers. These days, the focus has changed somewhat. The goal of automation has shifted to increasing the quality and flexibility of the automation process. To illustrate the impact with a real example: the installation of pistons in a vehicle engine used to be performed manually and had an error rate of between 1 and 1.5 per cent. Now that this task is done through automation, the error rate is down to 0.00001 per cent. Evidently, automation has quite the noticeable impact.
What Are the Benefits of Industrial Automation?
Lower Operating Costs
There is no need to pay for healthcare, holidays, and sick leave when you have a machine doing the work instead of a human employee. There is no need for other financial benefits like bonuses or pensions either. The savings generated by this reduced monthly wage expenditure has a massive impact on the economical health of the whole company. Furthermore, the maintenance costs of automation machinery are much lower too as they are less likely to fail and break down. If a failure does occur, it’s easy to identify the issue and get an expert in to fix the issue
Increased Productivity
By automation machinery taking over the role of human employees, a company can run 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year, without needing to close for maintenance and holidays. While a company can hire many human staff members to cover these work shift patterns, an automated system can cover them all. This causes a great increase in the productivity and efficiency of the company.
Improved Quality and Flexibility
A human being, while being competent and efficient, will never do a job perfectly without any errors at all. Human errors account for a great deal of loss of time and money when it comes to manual processes. Automating these processes removes these errors completely. Robots and programmed machines don’t get tired and make mistakes or get distracted and do something wrong. This means that products can be created to meet a uniform standard, resulting in a higher quality production. Additionally, unlike human employees, robots don’t need training. They can be programmed to do any task they are required to do, without spending time shadowing, learning, and developing their skill. These saves a lot of time when new products are added to a line or new processes are added to a procedure. As a result, the whole manufacturing process can be a lot more flexible to fit the needs ot the business as it progresses.
Greater Accuracy of Information and Safety
With automated data collection, you can gather important information with a higher accuracy and at a reduced cost. This will allow you to have all the data you need to make insightful, informed decisions to help your business learn, develop, and grow from strength to strength. Moreover, employee safety is guaranteed as robots can do the more dangerous jobs that would prove to be hazardous for human employees. Industrial automation reduces the risk of employees getting hurt on site which will have far reaching benefits not only for the workforce and the individual workers, but for the whole company too.
Put Your Trust in the Experts
If your business could benefit from industrial automation, there is help at hand. Experts in industrial automation in Austin have helped many firms to grow and be transformed with the help of technology and digital advancements. These include innovations in robotics, industrial automation, mobile autonomous systems, augmented reality, virtual reality, machine learning and artificial intelligence, among other technologies. Around the country, there are specialists available to help businesses take the leap and embrace new technology to their advantage. If you don’t want to fall behind the competition, it would certainly be the course of wisdom to turn to experts like these to help you take your business to the next level and enjoy the benefits xwe have discovered today.
