In this last installment on this topic I said that the main purpose of automation is no longer to eliminate labor. That may have been the purpose some decades ago, but it is no longer the purpose of automation.
I spent some time explaining that fundamentally that was the case because if some type of machine or automated equipment could be used to replace manual labor, it would have already been installed a long time ago.
So...
Back in the ‘60’s and ‘70’s the main purpose of automation was to eliminate labor. Actually, that’s pretty much been the main purpose of automation since the first machine of any kind was rolled onto a factory floor hundreds of years ago.
Eliminating or reducing labor is the purpose behind just about any tool or machine from the invention of the wheel right down to the invention of this laptop computer I’m using to write this blog.
But, you may not realize this, that is all very much in the process of changing and, in many cases, has already changed, and changed dramatically.
I’m not joking. The main purpose of automation used to be to ...
A few years ago, I was working with an internal integration group for a manufacturing company which had facilities in many domestic and international locations. One of the initiatives I had undertaken was to redevelop procedures for assessing safety hazards on automated equipment.
With the planned adoption of the International Standards Organization document ISO:13849-1:2006, the older EN-954 standard was slated for retraction by the European Standards Organization. Anticipating this retraction, we needed to take another look at our own risk analysis and mitigation procedures in order to maintain complia...
As I walked into the control room the first thing I heard was, “Why can’t I commission this transmitter?” The technician was pointing to the screen where he was trying to commission some Foundation fieldbus transmitters that had been taken out for service. At least this time he’d remembered to decommission them first.
“I don’t know, let me take a look,” I responded as I started sizing up the situation. The first thing I noticed was that the three transmitters were appearing and disappearing from the utility. That’s never a good sign. “Have you checked the voltage on the segment?” I asked. Of course the answer was no, so I directed him to go to the rack room and check it.
