Author Archives: atspeed

What industrial automation is and the advantages of it.

Industrial automation is using computers or robots and other information technologies to handle different processes during the manufacturing of a product. The main aim is to replace human beings in the production line.

You will increase Quality, productivity and flexibility in your manufacturing process by using industrial automation.

Advantages of Industrial Automation

Financial Advantage:

Industrial automation may require a fairly large initial capital outlay, the financial benefits in the long term outweigh the costs by far. Maintenance costs are also fairly low and machines don’t often fail but if they do, it is quite easy to fix ensuring there are no halts in your production line. Hiring a computer engineer to repair the machine won’t take nearly as long as the human being would be off sick due to an illness of some kind. Regular maintenance will ensure that the systems never crash, much like the human taking vitamins.

Increases productivity

Machines are able to run 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. Some companies may hire hundreds of workers to operate machines in shifts so as to get the most out of the production line. There will have to be maintenance breaks and holidays where production will slow down or stop completely. Robots and computers don’t take holidays thus productivity will remain at its peak throughout the year.

Higher Quality

Automation greatly reduces errors associated with human beings. Robots run at the same pace and provide the company with the same amount and level of work all day whereas a human’s performance can slip as they gradually fatigue throughout the day.Say human error contributed 1% of errors in the manufacturing process, a robot will decrease these errors to pretty much 0.

Higher flexibility

Machines can be instantly programmed to perform more or different tasks. A human will have to be trained for however long in order to be able to perform a new task. This could take weeks and the errors will be plentiful.

Higher Information Accuracy

As your machines are working they are simultaneously keeping a record of everything they do, how long it took, what errors were made, etc. This is highly important in quality control and improving productivity even more. Papers containing these records won’t get lost or misplaced. The data collected by the machines can later be analysed and gaps in the process can be filled or machines can be programmed to perform faster.

Increased safety levels

Machines can be used to handle hazardous situations. This increases the safety of your human employees by minimising the chances of injuries in the work place.

ATSpeed specialises in all forms of industrial automation. Find the solution that suits you.

Variable speed drives for the layman and how efficient they are.

You may have been reading a few articles on variable speed drives that contain so much jargon that you actually don’t know what the speed drive does or how it works. This is where I come in. I will explain what variable speed drives are and how they work in terms that anyone can understand.… Continue Reading