UNIT 1

Introduction
The word automation comes from the Greek word “automatos”, meaning
self-acting.
The word automation was coined in the mid-1940s by the U.S. automobile
industry to indicate the automatic handling of parts between production
machines, together with their continuous processing at the machines.
The advances in computers and control systems have extended the
definition of automation. By the middle of the 20th century, automation
had existed for many years on a small scale, using mechanical devices to
automate the production of simple shaped items.
However the concept only became truly practical with the addition of the
computer, whose flexibility allowed it to drive almost any sort of task.
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Definition of Automation
• Automation can generally be defined as the process of following a
predetermined sequence of operations with little or no human labour,
using specialized equipment and devices that perform and control
manufacturing processes. Automation in its full sense, is achieved
through the use of a variety of devices, sensors, actuators,
techniques and equipment that are capable of observing the
manufacturing process, making decisions concerning the changes that
need to be made in the operation and controlling all aspects of it.
OR
• Automation is the process in industry where various production
operations are converted from a manual process, to an automated or
mechanized process
 When did the history of automation start?
• The very idea of having a mechanism that would operate in a
predetermined way and perform specific actions, while you’re sipping on a
cocktail is probably as old as the world itself. In fact, it was Homer, the
poet, not the cartoon character, who first used the term ‘automation’ back
in ancient Greece, talking about a self-moving chariot.
Invention of wheel
 The Industrial Revolution and the
appearance of the first computer
• It wasn’t until the industrial revolution of the early 19th century that
automation finally started making a significant impact on people’s lives. The
earliest examples of automation as we understand it today coincide with the
implementation of industrial machinery somewhere around the early 1980s.
• One of the most notable breakthroughs was Joseph Jacquard’s invention of
the so-called ‘punch cards’ in 1801. These cards were used to tell mechanical
looms what pattern to make. Using this technology, Charles Babbage began
developing the concept of the first-ever programmable computer, which he
later called The Analytical Engine. Babbage’s friend Ada Lovelace, in the
meantime, created the first-ever computer program, which would have run
on his machine.
• Famed mathematician Charles Babbage designed a Victorian-era
computer called the Analytical Engine. This is a portion of the mill
with a printing mechanism.
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 Why use automation?
• Usually, automation is employed to minimize labor or to substitute humans
in the most menial or repetitive tasks. Automation is present in virtually all
verticals and niches, although it’s more prevalent in manufacturing, utilities,
transportation, and security.
• For example, most manufacturing plants make use of some automated
process in the form of robotic assembly lines. Human input is required only
to define the processes and supervise them, while the assembling of the
various components is left to the machines, which automatically convert raw
materials into finished goods.
• In the technology domain, the impact of automation is increasing rapidly,
both in the software/hardware and machine layer. The implementation of
new artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technologies is
currently skyrocketing the evolution of this field.
 Automation
Automation is a technology dealing with the application of mechatronics and
computers for production of goods and services. Manufacturing automation deals
with the production of goods.
It includes:
 Automatic machine tools to process parts.
Automatic assembly machines.
Industrial robots.
Automatic material handling.
Automated storage and retrieval systems.
Automatic inspection systems.
Feedback control systems.
Computer systems for automatically transforming designs into parts.
 Computer systems for planning and decision making to support manufacturing.
 Automation
The decision to automate a new or existing facility requires the following
considerations to be taken into account:
Type of product manufactured.
Quantity and the rate of production required.
 Particular phase of the manufacturing operation to be automated.
Level of skill in the available workforce.
 Reliability and maintenance problems that may be associated with
automated systems.
Economics
 MECHANIZATION VS. AUTOMATION
• Mechanization is normally defined as the replacement of a human task with a
machine. But, true automation encompasses more than mechanization.
Automation involves the entire process, including bringing material to and
from the mechanized equipment. It normally involves integrating several
operations and ensuring that the different pieces of equipment talk to one
another to ensure smooth operation. Many times, true automation requires
reevaluating and changing current processes rather than simply mechanizing
them.
• One of the key concepts in automation is differentiating between
mechanization and automation. At a recent trade show in Europe, I saw an
interesting example of mechanization. On display was a piece of equipment
that was trimming boxwood into a ball shape. It accomplished this by
mechanical hedge clippers that replicated the motion of a human. While clever,
this device is not automation.
 Advantages of Automation
 Increase in productivity.
 Reduction in production costs.
Minimization of human fatigue.
 Less floor area required.
Reduced maintenance requirements.
 Better working conditions for workers.
Effective control over production process.
 Improvement in quality of products.
 Reduction in accidents and hence safety for workers.
Uniform components are produced.
 Disadvantages of Automation
• Initial Investment: Switching to job automation isn’t free and it isn’t
cheap, either. The initial investment is going to cost you. Often, the
initial cost to implement and maintain the automated systems may
exceed the manual costs of operation.
• Incompatible with Customization: With automation comes a loss of
versatility or flexibility. A machine can only do a limited scope of tasks,
only performing what it is programmed to do, unlike people, who can do
a variety of tasks. Automation entails repeating the same process over
and over again, often requiring standardization.
• Job Uncertainty: This is probably the biggest concern for business
owners and employees, alike. Automating business processes may
eventually eliminate certain jobs, such as positions that involve
repetitive, system-based tasks.
 Goals of Automation
Integrate various aspects of manufacturing operations so as to improve the
product quality and uniformity, minimize cycle times and effort, and thus reduce
labour costs.
Improve productivity by reducing manufacturing costs through better control of
production. Parts are loaded, fed, and unloaded on machines more efficiently.
Machines are used more effectively and production is organized more efficiently.
Improve quality by employing more repeatable processes.
Reduce human involvement, boredom, and possibility of human error.
Reduce workpiece damage caused by manual handling of parts.
Raise the level of safety for personnel, especially under hazardous working
conditions.
Economize on floor space in the manufacturing plant by arranging the machines,
material movement, and related equipment more efficiently
 SOCIAL ISSUES OF AUTOMATION
• Automation has contributed to modern industry in many ways. Automation
raises several important social issues. Among them is automation’s impact
on employment/unemployment.
• Automation leads to fuller employment. When automation was first
introduced, it caused widespread fear. It was thought that the displacement
of human workers by computerized systems would lead to unemployment
(this also happened with mechanization, centuries earlier).
• The freeing up of the labour force allowed more people to enter information
jobs, which are typically higher paying. One odd side effect of this shift is that
“unskilled labour” now pays very well in most industrialized nations, because
fewer people are available to fill such jobs leading to supply and demand
issues.
SOCIAL ISSUES OF AUTOMATION

• Another important social issue of automation is better working

conditions. The automated plants needs controlled temperature,
humidity and dust free environment for proper functioning of
automated machines.
• Thus the workers gets very good environment to work in. Automation
leads to safety of workers. By automating the loading and unloading
operations, the chances of accidents to the workers get reduced.
• Increase in standard of living with the help of automation. Standard of
living increase with the increase in productivity and automation is the
sure method of increasing productivity.
 LOW COST AUTOMATION
• Low cost automation (LCA) is a technology that creates some degree of
automation around the existing equipment, tools, methods, people etc.
by using standard components available in the market with low
investment, so that pay back period is short.
• The benefits of low cost automation are manifold. It not only simplifies
the process, but also reduces the manual content without changing the
basic set up.
• Major advantages of low cost automation are low investment, increased
labour productivity, smaller batch size, better utilisation of the material
and process consistency leading to less rejections.
• A wide range of activities such as loading, feeding, clamping, machining,
welding, forming, gauging, assembly and packing can be subjected to
low cost automation systems adoption.
LOW COST AUTOMATION
• Besides, low cost automation can be very useful for process industries
manufacturing chemicals, oils, or pharmaceuticals. Many operations
in food processing industries, which need to be carried out under
totally hygienic conditions, can also be rendered easy through low cost
automation systems.
• A wide variety of systems (mechanical, hydraulic, pneumatic, electrical
and electronics) are available for deployment in LCA systems.
However, each has its own advantages as well as limitations. For
uncomplicated situations, one can build a simple LCA device using any
of the above systems, through a rapid techno-economic evaluation.
• However, in most of the practical applications, hybrid systems are
used since that can allow, use of the advantages of different devices,
while simultaneously minimizing individual disadvantages.
 Issues in Low Cost Automation
1. Assessment of the Current Productivity Level: There are some simple
procedures for this. Work sampling (activity sampling) is one of them.
It needs no equipment and only very little time to collect the data. If
the data is processed, considerable information will come out about
the current productivity level.
2. PMTS: Predetermined Motion and Time Studies is a very useful tool to
check whether an existing manual operation is correctly pasted. If the
time taken is more than desirable, PMTS will help in identifying it and
improving it.
3. Design for Automation and Assembly: When components are made
and assembled manually one may not have thought about the
complexity of automation.
 TYPES OF AUTOMATION
Automated production systems are classified
into three basic types:
•Fixed automation
•Programmable automation
•Flexible automation
 Fixed automation
Fixed automation is a system in which the sequence of processing (or assembly) operations is fixed
by the equipment configuration. The operations in the sequence are usually simple. It is the
integration and coordination of many such operations into one piece of equipment that makes the
system complex. The typical features of fixed automation are:

• High initial investment for custom-engineered equipment

• High production rates
• Relatively inflexible in accommodating product changes

The economic justification for fixed automation is found in products with very high demand rates
and volumes. The high initial cost of the equipment can be spread over a very large number of
units, thus making the unit cost attractive compared to alternative methods of production.
 Fixed automation
Advantages
• Maximum efficiency.
• Low unit cost.
• Automated material handling - fast and efficient movement of parts.
• Very little WIP.

Disadvantages
• Large initial investment.
• Inflexible in accommodating product variety.
 Programmable automation
In programmable automation, the production equipment is designed with the capability to change the
sequence of operations to accommodate different product configurations. The operation sequence is
controlled by a program, which is a set of instructions coded so that system can read and interpret them.
New programs can be prepared and entered into the equipment to produce new products. Some of the
features that characterize programmable automation include:

•High investment in general-purpose equipment

• Low production rates relative to fixed automation
• Flexibility to deal with changes in product configuration
• Most suitable for batch production

Automated production systems that are programmable are used in low and medium volume production. The
parts or products are typically made in batches.
 Programmable automation
Advantages
• Flexibility to deal with variations and changes in
product.
• Low unit cost for large batches.

Disadvantages
• New product requires long set up time.
• High unit cost relative to fixed automation.
 Flexible automation
Flexible automation is an extension of programmable automation. A flexible automated
system is one that is capable of producing a variety of products (or parts) with virtually no
time lost for changeovers from one product to the next. There is no production time lost
while reprogramming the system and altering the physical setup (tooling, fixtures and
machine settings). Consequently, the system can produce various combinations and
schedules of products, instead of requiring that they be made in separate batches.

The features of flexible automation can be summarized as follows:

• High investment for a custom-engineered system
• Continuous production of variable mixtures of products
• Medium production rates
• Flexibility to deal with product design variations
 Flexible automation

Advantages
• Flexibility to deal with product design variations.
• Customized products.

Disadvantages
• Large initial investment.
• High unit cost relative to fixed or programmable automation.
 THE THREE TYPES OF AUTOMATION FOR DIFFERENT
PRODUCTION VOLUMES AND PRODUCT VARIETIES
•The relative positions of the three types of automation for different production
volumes and product varieties are depicted in Figure
 CURRENT EMPHASIS IN AUTOMATION
• Currently, for manufacturing companies, the purpose of automation has shifted from
increasing productivity and reducing costs, to broader issues, such as increasing quality
and flexibility in the manufacturing process.
• The old focus on using automation simply to increase productivity and reduce costs was
seen to be short-sighted, because it is also necessary to provide a skilled workforce who
can make repairs and manage the machinery. Moreover, the initial costs of automation
were high and often could not be recovered by the time entirely new manufacturing
processes replaced the old.
• Automation is now often applied primarily to increase quality in the manufacturing
process, where automation can increase quality substantially.
• Hazardous operations, such as oil refining, the manufacturing of industrial chemicals, and
all forms of metal working, were always early contenders for automation. Another major
shift in automation is the increased emphasis on flexibility and convertibility in the
manufacturing process.
• Manufacturers are increasingly demanding the ability to easily switch from one
manufacturing product to other without having to completely rebuild the production.
 REASONS FOR AUTOMATION
1. Shortage of labour
2. High cost of labour
3. Increased productivity: Higher production output per hour of labour input is possible
with automation than with manual operations.
4. Competition: The ultimate goal of a company is to increase profits. However, there are
other measures that are harder to measure. Automation may result in lower prices,
superior products, better labor relations, and a better company image.
5. Safety: Automation allows the employee to assume a supervisory role instead of being
directly involved in the manufacturing task.
6. Reducing manufacturing lead-time: Automation allows the manufacturer to respond
quickly to the consumers needs. Second, flexible automation also allows companies to
handle frequent design modifications.
7. Lower costs: In addition to cutting labor costs, automation may decrease the scrap rate
and thus reduce the cost of raw materials. It also enables just-in-time manufacturing
which in turn allows the manufacturer to reduce the in-process inventory. It is possible
to improve the quality of the product at lower cost.
 REASONS FOR NOT AUTOMATION

1. Labour resistance: People look at robots and manufacturing automation as a cause of

unemployment. In reality, the use of robots increases productivity, makes the firm more
competitive and preserves jobs. But some jobs are lost. For example, Fiat reduced its
work force from 138,000 to 72,000 in nine years by investing in robots. GM’s highly
automated plant built in collaboration with Toyota in Fremont, California employs 3100
workers in contrast to 5100 at a comparable older GM plant.
2. Cost of upgraded labour: The routine monotonous tasks are the easiest to automate. The
tasks that are difficult to automate are ones that require skill. Thus manufacturing labour
must be upgraded.
3. Initial investment: Cash flow considerations may make an investment in automation
difficult even if the estimated rate of return is high.

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 ISSUES FOR AUTOMATION IN FACTORY OPERATIONS

• Task is too difficult to automate.

• Short product lifecycle.
• Customised product.
• Fluctuating demand.
• Reduce risk of product failure.
• Cheap manual labour.

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 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES

Specialization of operations:
The first strategy involves the use special purpose equipment
designed to perform one operation with the greatest possible
efficiency. This is analogous to the concept of labor
specialization, which has been employed to improve labor
productivity.

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 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Combined operations:
Production occurs as a sequence of operations. Complex pans
may require dozens, or even hundreds, of processing steps.
The strategy of combined operations involves reducing the
number of distinct production machines on workstations
through which the part must be routed.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Simultaneous operations:
A logical extension of the combined operations strategy is to
perform at the same time the operations that are combined at
one workstation. In effect, two or more processing (or assembly)
operations are being performed simultaneously on the same
workpart, thus reducing total processing time.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Integration of operations.
Another strategy is to link several workstations into a single integrated
mechanism using automated work handling devices to transfer parts
between stations. In effect, this reduces the number of separate machines
through which the product must be scheduled. With more than one
Workstation, several parts can be processed simultaneously, thereby
increasing the overall output of the system.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Increased flexibility.
This strategy attempts to achieve maximum utilization of
equipment for job shop and medium-volume situations by using
the same equipment for a variety of products. This normally
translates into lower manufacturing lead time and lower work-in-
process.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Improved material handling and storage.
A great opportunity for reducing non-productive time exists in
the use of automated material handling and storage systems.
Typical benefits included reduced work-in-process and shorter
manufacturing lead times.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
On-line inspection.
Inspection for quality of work is traditionally performed after the
process. This means that any poor-quality product has already
been produced by the time it is inspected. Incorporating
inspection into the manufacturing process permits corrections to
the process as product is being made. This reduces scrap and
brings the overall quality of product closer to the nominal
specifications intended by the designer.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Process control and optimization.
This includes a wide range of control schemes intended to
operate the individual processes and associated equipment
more efficiently. By this strategy, the individual process times
can be reduced and product quality improved.
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES

Plant operations control

Whereas the previous strategy was concerned with the control
of the individual manufacturing process, this strategy is
concerned with control at the plant level. It attempts to manage
and coordinate the aggregate operations in the plant more
efficiently. Its implementation usually involves a high level of
computer networking within the factory
 AUTOMATION STRATEGIES
Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM)
Taking the previous strategy one step further, we have the
integration of factory operations with engineering design and
many of the other business functions of the firm. CIM involves
extensive use of computer applications, computer data bases,
and computer networking in the company.