Automation

Benefits of Automation

The benefits of industrial automation include:

• Quality Products
• Productive Employees
• Reliable Equipment
• Environmental and Safety Compliance

The quality of any industrial product will vary greatly depending on the conditions within the production environment. Tank levels and pressures, flow rates, and temperatures all affect the quality of the end product. By automating a process, we can ensure that those conditions are kept within narrow limits—thus ensuring quality products at all times.

Operators are most productive when they spend their time operating—not filling out reports or troubleshooting equipment. A well-designed automation package can create reports automatically and email them to any person desired. It can also help operators troubleshoot equipment problems by displaying checklists, offering suggestions, and presenting historical data for comparison.

Often, however, it is better to keep equipment running in the first place. Timely maintenance is the key to reliable equipment. This is where historical data become so important. For example, if an historical trend shows a pump running at a higher speed to produce the same flow rate, it may indicate a worn impeller. Spare parts could then be purchased and a repair could be scheduled at a time that was convenient, rather than waiting for the pump to fail.

Every industrial process includes the possibility of undesirable events which might pose a threat to safety. Once these events are identified, an automated system can be designed to provide reliable protection against such events and make the plant fully compliant with safety and environmental laws.