How to create best practices for effective automation applications

Automation Application Insights

• When automation is applied, system integrators may not be brought into collaborate during the project’s inception. Because small changes early can save considerable time and resources later, system integrators should be consulted early.
• Product and process design can even make a control system design subject to failures without collaboration about the control system as part of the process design.

No matter what types of automation technologies are applied, universal rules apply. Automation can do quite a bit, but do not overreach automation’s capabilities. Automation cannot cure overly complex operations. Get the process design right and then apply the right automation is among advice offered below and in an RCEP webcast for 1 PDH, “Best practices for effective automation applications,” live on Aug. 16 and archived for a year. System integrators and webcast speakers Chris Clayton, advanced manufacturing engineer, Applied Manufacturing Technologies, and Kevin Tom, lead automation engineer, E Tech Group, explain how to:

• Assess the process or processes under consideration for automation.
• Determine if a redesign is needed prior to automating.
• Consider key ways automation can influence and enhance process design.
• Identify steps for an automation implementation.
• And examine lessons learned and best practices for effective automation applications.

Chris Clayton, advanced manufacturing engineer, Applied Manufacturing Technologies, and Kevin Tom, lead automation engineer, E Tech Group, explain about how automation applications should be identified and implemented in an Aug. 16 RCEP/PDH webcast, archived for a year. A preview of advice is offered in this article. Courtesy: Applied Manufacturing Technologies, E Tech Group, Control Engineering webcasts

Poll questions during the webcast will benchmark participants’ progress on the topic. Webcast is moderated by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering.

When should something be automated?

To assess a process’s suitability for automation, Clayton says to ask:

• What are the parts being made and how are they currently making them (process and tooling)?
• What about the environment? Is the space constrained? Is this a new installation? Is equipment being replaced or retrofitted?
• What does the labor pool look like? Union or non-union? Is the goal to replace skilled labor with unskilled labor? Are we trying to bridge a labor shortage gap?

What are business goals and targets for the project? What are the priorities among:

• Increased throughput
• Increased quality
• Reduced labor
• Return on investment (ROI)/payback requirements
• Capital expenditure limits.

These goals are often teased out using a priority setting meeting where all stakeholders agree on the goals, targets and key performance indicators (KPIs) that will be used to gauge the suitability for automation.

More frequently, Clayton said, customers must automate or die because they’re in a labor desert. To make more parts, the natural solution is to hire more people. Sometimes that’s not enough or possible; automation is required to bridge the gap. Also, when a close competitor automates, that may create a disadvantage that requires doing the same to remain competitive.

Gather information about the process or processes being considered for automation. This includes the product, process, equipment, facility and layout, labor and business considerations, said Chris Clayton, advanced manufacturing engineer, Applied Manufacturing Technologies. Courtesy: Applied Manufacturing Technologies, Control Engineering webcasts

Get the process right before automation is applied

Tom suggested that control system integrators often aren’t brought into a project until near the end, when they could have added benefit throughout the process. A case study highlighted explains how the process and connected automation was redesigned to work around blind spot in the process design.

Detailed diagrams and process control optimization explanations are included in the webcast and article linked below. The upshot is working with a system integrator during process design can help avoid schedule delays and frenzied rush to fix things at project end, saving money in the long run.

In some cases, automation isn’t always able to fix the shortcomings in process design, Tom said, creating a situation where the control system becomes more of a bandage than a real fix.

– Edited by Mark T. Hoske, content manager, Control Engineering, CFE Media, mhoske@cfemedia.com.

KEYWORDS: How to automate, process design, control systems

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