How does industrial automation impact safety?

There is a separate branch in automation dealing in safety. Unfortunately in India the concept of safety is still new; many companies are not bothered to safeguard their employees. They implement safety only after some untoward incident happens. But the awareness of safety is gradually coming, thanks to the MNC companies who are bringing their safety culture. These MNCs follow the same rules in India as are followed in the Western countries. Products like safety laser scanner, area guarding, safety light curtain, locking devices, Safety mats can be used to avoid accidents in moving AGVs, hydraulic presses, robot working area and wherever dangerous machines are running.

How industrial automation help organisations in terms of shop floor agility and flexibility?

Automation helps increase productivity as it is fast, simple and easy to install. Most of the sensors are not so costly and have a long life as these are contactless. With sensors and processor, you can get most of the information in terms of object movement, detection of object, positioning, counting, Ok/Not ok, inspection, measurement, temperature, pressure, identification, and so on…ensuring both efficiency and personnel safety.

Does industrial automation help on the ‘green' front?

Most of the automation products run on 24VDC, with very less power consumption. Moreover, electronics and metals used in automation products can be recycled later. The electronics production itself does not need much industrial effort or power. Even with big companies, the factory size is much smaller than their sales office size! Sensors can be used in optimisation of consumption like avoiding dry run of machine, switching on lights only when needed, even opening / closing of roof based on light requirements etc.

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