Let's see what industrial automation is and how it works, what advantages it can bring to companies
What is Industrial Automation?
Industrial automation refers to the use of computers and information systems to manage machinery and production processes without human intervention, or with minimal intervention, thus automating production processes. Activities that do not produce physical objects, such as production management, logistics, monitoring and control, can also be automated.
What are the advantages of industrial automation?
The advantages of industrial automation are many and include various aspects:
- overall improvement in productivityIndustrial automation allows to optimize production and reach levels of precision, standardization of production, speed and strength impossible for a human being, thus increasing production rates and limiting any defects that can be caused by manual labor.
- the reduction of operating costs. Automation reduces downtime, speeds up production, reduces human error, and avoids waste. Being able to use machines for repetitive and/or strenuous tasks allows you to use personnel for higher value-added and less tiring tasks, thus also increasing employee satisfaction and reducing the heavy workload for workers.
- improvement of security. Some more dangerous tasks can be entrusted to machines, thus reducing accidents at work.
In which activities and sectors can industrial automation be applied?
Industrial automation can be applied in many different sectors always with the result of improving the efficiency and quality of production.
Manufacturing sector
Industrial automation in manufacturing allows for reducing production costs and improving product quality. Siemens is a prime example of this, introducing collaborative robots in the assembly phase. Siemens has reduced defects by 50% and significantly improved production efficiency, freeing employees from repetitive and boring tasks to focus on higher value-added activities.
To confirm how important industrial automation is in the manufacturing sector, we see that in 2024 the global industrial automation market revenue in the manufacturing sector reached 13,53 billion dollars and is expected to reach 31,23 billion dollars by 2033.
Logistics, Warehousing and Supply Chain
Industrial automation applied to logistics, warehousing and supply chain has transformed these sectors. Through the use of automated storage and retrieval systems (ASRS: Automated Storage and Retrieval Systems) used to make the storage and retrieval of goods in the warehouse more efficient and the use of autonomous vehicles, efficiency has been improved and delivery times have been reduced. Shipments can then be monitored in real time with the IoT, improving the transparency and responsiveness of the supply chain.
Retail sector
Automation applied to retail leads to automating many steps, thus transforming warehouse and inventory management through automated storage systems, or even the shopping experience with automated systems such as self-service checkouts. In addition, big data analysis allows inventory management to be more precise and offers to be highly customized. All this improves the customer experience, increases profitability and makes warehouse and resource management more efficient.
Pharmaceutical sector
Automation allows for a significant improvement in the levels of precision and sterility in production, which are essential in pharmaceutical production. An interesting case is that of the leading company AbbVie, which, thanks to process automation, has raised sterility levels and improved product traceability, reducing production times and improving the ability to respond to changes in demand, even increasing the safety and quality standards required by industry regulations.
Healthcare sector
In the healthcare sector, through the use of surgical robots, automated systems for managing medical records and AI for image analysis, it has improved the precision of interventions, the precision and timeliness of diagnosis and treatment of diseases and the management of patient data. In the future, the combined use of AI and automation in the medical field will allow for increasingly personalized and precise care.
The advantages of industrial automation
In general we see that companies that adopt industrial automation systems obtain significant competitive advantages and new opportunities for growth and innovation because they are all able to improve their efficiency, increase production speed, product quality and reduce costs. For companies that want to be competitive in today's market it is very important to invest in automation