Introduction to Industrial Automation
Manufacturing involves using raw materials or parts to create goods or products that will be sold to customers. Creating products from raw materials can be done by using hand tools that are operated by humans or by machines such as motors, pumps, and drills, which are also operated by humans. Before machines, items/products were made by hand using tools, and lots of time and effort was spent producing a single item. The development of manufacturing resulted in hand tools being replaced by machines operated by humans, which made production faster with minimum effort. Nowadays, human involvement in terms of operating machines in manufacturing is being reduced or replaced via industrial automation.
By completing this chapter, you should be able to understand what industrial automation is and identify the various types of industrial automation that exist. You will also be able to describe the basic levels of industrial automation and identify the benefits of industrial automation in industries. Finally, you will be able to identify the cons of industrial automation in society.
In this chapter, we will cover the following topics:
- Introducing industrial automation
- Exploring the types of industrial automation
- Understanding the levels of industrial automation
- Discovering the advantages and disadvantages of industrial automation
