The reasons that push us towards the automation of processes, either with software or robots (RPA, Robotic Process Automation), are diverse, such as eliminating repetitive or complex tasks, replacing people carrying out dangerous tasks or in environments and/or activities that involve high physical exhaustion, increasing safety and precision, reducing time and costs, especially in terms of energy.
Industrial automation does not mean that people, operators, are expendable. Quite the opposite, they become more important in their task of supervising the automation, in addition to carrying out the maintenance of these systems and verifying the end quality of the products.
Likewise, industrial automation increases the factory’s production, which means that it can take on a greater volume of orders which, in turn, leads to more personnel and also a faster amortization of the investment we’ve made.
Automation, step by step
But... where to start? The first thing to do is to sensorize the plant. Sensors are devices designed to collect data from machines and different processes for subsequent analysis using software with artificial intelligence algorithms. It’s what we call the Internet of Things (IoT), that is, interconnecting the factory to find out more about the production chain and control, in real time, everything that happens at the plant.
When implementing automation systems, a series of steps must be carried out:
Planning: find out everything about the whole production process and the supply chain to identify which processes can be automated and carry it out in such a way that there are no interruptions in manufacturing.
Integration: all the elements and data need to be computerized so that, once the plant has been sensorized, the automation software understands and processes the data properly.
Monitoring: the operators will monitor the systems to verify that they are working effectively.
Maintenance: it is also important to design a maintenance plan so that actions required to keep the systems performing optimally are carried out.
Equally, an automated factory communicates using a Distributed Control System (DCS) that consists of five levels and is known as the automation pyramid:
Process level: this is the field to be controlled, where the connected sensors are located.
Control level: PLC systems
Monitoring level: Visualization and Process Control Systems (SCADA)
Planning level: the manufacturing execution systems (MES)
Management level: comprehensive enterprise planning and management software (ERP).
Advantages of automation
We can identify 5 advantages that have been analyzed throughout this article.
Greater productivity. Automation makes production faster and optimizes the use of machines, allowing people to dedicate more time to other valuable activities where automation is unable to help. This improvement in productivity is not only noticeable in the production plant itself, but also in other areas such as stock management or order processing.
Savings in time and costs: A report by the market research firm, ARC Advisory Group, quantifies that only by adopting universal automation can we generate savings of up to 30 billion dollars a year for the industry.
Availability: automation works 24x7x365. It doesn’t rest, so orders can be processed at any time without human intervention.
Quality: Limiting manual processes means reducing the risk of oversights and errors that have an impact on product quality.
Efficiency: the use of industrial automation allows us to obtain excellent results in the products we manufacture, with minimal material wastage and perfect precision.
Automation has only just begun and when the technological enablers of Industry 4.0 gain ground in factories, just like Machine Learning or artificial intelligence is already doing, process automation will extend to other, more complex, areas. According to Deloitte’s annual study, "Automation with Intelligence", the incorporation of automation technologies increased last year by 73% compared to 58% the previous year and three out of every four companies have now started using them.
The sooner this competitive advantage is introduced, the greater the profitability distances with regards to the competition.