Here are three reasons why industrial automation is important

Over 200 years ago, in the early 1800s, a series of riots broke out in northern England. Weavers and textile workers in Nottingham and other towns, concerned about the effect the introduction of mechanized looms and knitting machines would have on their livelihoods, began to destroy the machines. The Luddites, as they were called, clashed several times with the British army before the movement was over.

Rapid change is never easy to accept. At the time, it was the beginnings of the industrial revolution that caused the unease. In the decades and centuries that followed, the speed of technological change rapidly accelerated, transforming manufacturing beyond recognition. We are now in the midst of the fourth industrial revolution – or “Industry 4.0” – and the production lines of today’s factories are bristling with automated control systems, software, computer panels and robots.

It is important to recognize the concerns that industrial automation and concepts such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the Internet of Things (IoT) can present for workers who are not trained in these fields, and for poorer economies that lack the resources to improve their work. To obligate.

But it’s also important to understand the full – and ever-expanding – range of benefits that industrial automation brings. As the COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted supply chains and manufacturing, it’s worth taking stock of why automation is something to welcome, not fear.

First, and perhaps the most obvious, industrial automation massively increases the productivity of tasks, processes and businesses in factories and on workshops. Processes that once required armies of workers (think car manufacturing or food processing plants of 20, 30 or 40 years ago) now involve a fraction of that labor – an important consideration in against the backdrop of current supply issues and labor shortages accompanying slowing population growth in many parts of the world.

But it’s not just about cutting labor costs and getting more done, faster. The digitization of manufacturing, and in particular the advent of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), also means increased throughput and avoided downtime as machines are used and maintained more efficiently. McKinsey estimates that using sensors on machines reduces maintenance costs by 10-15%.

The IIoT also provides the added flexibility to adjust output on demand. For example, new open software approaches are more easily scalable. This way, if orders change, operators spend less time on reprogramming or re-engineering, which means increased machine uptime.

Finally, precisely configured industrial automation systems reduce errors and variability and thus increase productivity. Automation of repetitive tasks such as stamping, brazing, welding, handling and packaging results in consistently high quality products.

Companies that were slow to deploy industrial automation tools before COVID-19 are now being forced to rethink their operations. Lockdowns and social distancing measures have prevented workers from physically traveling to production sites, warehouses and logistics centers.

This has highlighted the importance of tools and technologies that enable personnel to access, monitor, operate and maintain machinery, control systems and other equipment safely and remotely.

This includes everything from augmented reality glasses and other wearable technologies, to IIoT connectivity, advanced analytics and cloud-based technologies that improve the way industrial operations are monitored. Supervisors can make data-driven decisions, adjust production more accurately, and improve operational efficiency in real time, all remotely.

At the same time, data sharing and digital traceability technologies have dramatically improved the ability of companies to gain visibility and transparency to authenticate the origin of parts and products throughout their value chains. At a time when companies are increasingly held accountable for the actions of their suppliers and partners, this is now an indispensable way to build trust while making operations more resilient to potential supply issues.

The third main benefit of industrial automation – and one that is less obvious – is how it can help reduce our impact on the environment.

Energy- and carbon-intensive industries need better control of operational indicators and efficiency levers to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions. Digital automation tools can contribute to this, as brilliantly demonstrated by a new generation of industrial plants, which manage production, resources and business processes in an eco-efficient manner by overseeing assets and operational data across multiple sites. and entire value chains.

Powerful visualizations on dashboards display thousands of data points to track production in real time, giving in-depth insights into resource management, overall equipment efficiency, and plant-wide optimization. the company.

Even notoriously high-emitting industries in hard-to-reduce sectors are converging factory automation with energy management technologies from a central point of control to get a better sense of where to save energy and minimize waste.

Obviously, none of this can be done without investing in hardware and software, but most importantly, also in people.

Industrial automation, almost by definition, means companies need fewer employees and different skills. Many old-fashioned, manual jobs are disappearing and being replaced by high-tech, higher-skilled (and often better-paid) jobs that didn’t exist just a decade ago.

For some, it’s understandably scary. It is therefore essential that governments ensure that education systems are designed to foster the skills needed for the next era of automation.

But the private sector – including companies such as Schneider Electric – must also play a role. Whether it’s mentoring first employees or reskilling older employees, or helping communities beyond their own workforce through training programs.

In other words, we must not only embrace industrial automation, but also ensure that the benefits are well understood and shared with all parts of society.

That way no one need fear automation or start destroying machines like the Luddites 200 years ago.