Finishing - January-February 2020

38 AUTOMATION
Automation makes waves
The automation of manufacturing
processes is at a turning point. Since the
advent of the programmable logic
controller (PLC), a number of automation
islands have evolved that automate isolated
steps in the manufacturing process. For
example, a six-axis robot can stack and
palletize products in a factory, but a
manufacturer would need to invest in several
different types of automation to fully automate
its production line. This process-specific
approach can result in some increases to
operational efficiency. However, this does not
provide a comprehensive, integrated view of
manufacturing and thus doesn’t harness all
the benefits of a complete automation system.
While it’s years since the emergence of the
term Industry 4.0, we’re not quite ready to
leave the buzzword in its founding decade.
Here are three predictions for major trends in
industrial automation for 2020 —
manufacturers take note.
Vertical integration — with
actionable insights
Vertical integration in Industry 4.0 looks to
unite all logical layers in a business, so that
information can be free flowing. Increasingly,
organizations are demanding a seamless
connection between IT and OT to provide an
integrated and holistic view of manufacturing
and business operations. This infrastructure
has been deployed successfully in many
facilities, but in 2020, we can truly begin to
reap the rewards.
Vertical integration delivers multiple streams
of data, but it doesn’t make decisions.
Successful deployment should enable
organizations to respond to changing markets
and spot new opportunities seamlessly. We’re
already collecting the data — let’s do
something with it.
Improvements in software addresses this
trend with platforms that are highly scalable,
simple to use, flexible and easy to implement.
Finishing - January/February 2020