Industrial Automation was previously segmented under two broad categories – Process Automation and Discrete Automation.
Process Automation covered all process industries of which Oil & Gas is a major component that included upstream (exploration, drilling and extraction), midstream (transportation of crude oil) and downstream (refining and distribution) phases.
Other Process Industries include Fertilisers, Food & Beverages, Packaging, Bulk-drugs & pharmaceuticals, Chemicals & Specialty chemicals, Paints and coatings, Semiconductor fabrication, Steel and aluminium processing, Textiles, etc.
Other emerging segments include Warehouse Automation where robotics also plays a major role.
Post Industry 4.0 and the Internet of Things (IoT) era, every industry, including SMEs are using automation in their operations with the help of system integrators. Automation has thus become all pervading and has often blurred the boundaries of conventional distinction between process and discrete automation, now on the threshold of autonomous operations in the form of smart factories and Lights-Off manufacturing.
