afdave
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The Future of Industrial Automation
Article From automation.com
Brief Summary:
* The Since the turn of the century, the global recession has affected most businesses, including industrial automation.
* Because of the relatively small production volumes and huge varieties of applications, industrial automation typically utilizes new technologies developed in other markets.
* Automation companies tend to customize products for specific applications and requirements. So the innovation comes from targeted applications, rather than any hot, new technology.
Over the past few decades, some innovations have indeed given industrial automation new surges of growth:
* The programmable logic controller (PLC) –designed to replace relay-logic; it generated growth in applications where custom logic was difficult to implement and change.
* The PLC was a lot more reliable than relay-contacts, and much easier to program and reprogram.
* Growth was rapid in automobile test-installations, which had to be re-programmed often for new car models. The PLC has had a long and productive life and (understandably) has now become a commodity.
* Mini-computers replaced large central mainframes in central control rooms, and gave rise to "distributed" control systems (DCS). These were not really "distributed" because they were still relatively large clumps of computer hardware and cabinets filled with I/O connections.
* The arrival of the PC brought low-cost PC-based hardware and software, which provided DCS functionality with significantly reduced cost and complexity.
* The plethora of manufacturing software solutions and services will yield significant results, but all as part of other systems.
* Innovation and technology can and will reestablish growth in industrial automation.
* The automation industry does NOT extrapolate to smaller and cheaper PLCs, DCSs, and supervisory control and data acquisition systems; those functions will simply be embedded in hardware and software. Instead, future growth will come from totally new directions.
New Technology Directions
* Industrial automation can and will generate explosive growth with technology related to new inflection points:
* nanotechnology and nanoscale assembly systems
* MEMS and nanotech sensors (tiny, low-power, low-cost sensors) which can measure everything and anything; and the pervasive Internet, machine to machine (M2M) networking.
* Real-time systems will give way to complex adaptive systems and multi-processing. The future belongs to nanotech, wireless everything, and complex adaptive systems.
The Automated factory
* Automated factories and processes are too expensive to be rebuilt for every modification and design change so they have to be highly configurable and flexible.
* To successfully reconfigure an entire production line or process requires direct access to most of its control elements – switches, valves, motors and drives – down to a fine level of detail.
* The vision of fully automated factories has already existed for some time now
* The promise of remote-controlled automation is finally making headway in manufacturing settings and maintenance applications.
* Communications support of a very high order is now available for automated processes: lots of sensors, very fast networks, quality diagnostic software and flexible interfaces – all with high levels of reliability and pervasive access to hierarchical diagnosis and error-correction advisories through centralized operations.
* The factory of the future will be small, movable (to where the resources are, and where the customers are).
Hard Truths about Globalization
* Innovation is the true source of value, and that is in danger of being dissipated – sacrificed to a short-term search for profit, the capitalistic quarterly profits syndrome. Countries like Japan and Germany will tend to benefit from their longer-term business perspectives.
The Winning Differences
* In a global market, there are three keys that constitute the winning edge:
* Proprietary products: developed quickly and inexpensively (and perhaps globally), with a continuous stream of upgrade and adaptation to maintain leadership.
* High-value-added products: proprietary products and knowledge offered through effective global service providers, tailored to specific customer needs.
* Global yet local services: the special needs and custom requirements of remote customers must be handled locally, giving them the feeling of partnership and proximity.
To read the original article please click:
]http://www.automation.com/sitepages/pid1757.php[/quote]
The Future of Automation
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