Change in technology waits for none
Published on : Wednesday 16-10-2019
What are the latest trends in automation for the industry?
Automation technology is undergoing a disruptive change due to digitalisation and it can no longer be avoided.
Industry 4.0 initiatives and developments continue to grow, driving change to achieve the goal of holistic and adaptive automation system architectures. Hence all the latest trends are related to IIoT in one way or other. And few of them are Artificial Intelligence, Augmented Reality, Industrial Analytics, Remote Maintenance and Cyber security.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) – AI will have a positive impact in manufacturing sector that we have not yet anticipated. AI can coordinate among supply chain, design team, production line and quality control and make the manufacturing industry into a single engine of humongous efficiency.
Augmented reality – Augmented Reality is a model for computer-aided linking of virtual and real data. The user is provided with additional information, such as planning data that can be compared with the real product. Manufactures are now introducing new business models with augmenting digital services like technical support, app stores for driving the controllers (e.g., PLCnext store) along with the product. Thus, AR will drive the manufacturing sector with optimised application and maintenance solutions.
Industrial Analytics – Found at the core of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) transformation, industrial analytics is the engine that turns machine data into actionable insights, driving intelligent industrial operations and business processes.
Whether applied to discrete manufacturing or process production, an industrial analytics platform can be a solid foundation to build this powerful engine and ease the convergence of operations technology (OT) and information technologies (IT) by adapting requisite information technologies and innovating based on operational requirements.
Secure Remote Maintenance – The Internet can be used as a worldwide medium for remote maintenance and servicing in machine building and systems manufacturing. Firewall and VPN technology help make using the Internet for IP-based remote maintenance more secure.
This means that service technicians around the world have a straightforward, cost-effective, and above all secure way of accessing production systems.
Industrial Cyber Security Management – The increasing global digitisation and networking of production systems and critical infrastructures brings with its countless dangers and risks. Additional advances in industrial cybersecurity management solutions will be deployed to address these potential dangers.
These solutions are now extending its functionality to non-PC based industrial assets like cyber secured RTUs, security routers, etc. These solutions will also recognise and manage industry-specific cybersecurity regulations, such as NERC CIP, and leverage new integrated strategies that combine IT, OT, and IIoT security efforts, maximising the use of all corporate cybersecurity resources.
Is the pace of changing technology too rapid for user industries to adjust to?
No one can control the changes in the marketplace, just like no one can control the weather. An industry can change with the lightning strike of a brand-new idea or product. It’s not about beating the weather, it’s about learning how to survive it.
Those who are still following the old water fall model where one phase cannot be completed before the one prior, will find it very difficult to survive just like the house made of cards in a hurricane.
But those who are following an agile model in which development can begin alongside the development stage, will survive in the pace of changing technology. In short, ‘Change in technology waits for none’.
Are the user industries, especially SMEs, adequately informed and equipped to handle digital transformation and its challenges?
In India, the MSME sector makes up almost 9 per cent of India’s GDP and 40 per cent of its exports. Faster and massive adoption of cloud solutions and mobile technology will play a crucial role in helping MSMEs win and succeed in India.
But as per the joint research by Google and KPMG, 68% of Indian SMEs are still offline. That means, despite the tremendous potential it promises for the socio-economic development of India, SMEs are facing humongous challenges closely related to digitalisation.
Current policy initiatives such as Digital India and Skill India are focused on helping SMEs become digitally literate and train their manpower to develop necessary digital skills. The India focused industry specific initiatives launched by multinational organisations like Google, SAP and Oracle to bridge digital skill gaps for SMEs, will also help boost the sector.
The Indian market always has its own challenges when it comes to technology adoption, especially the RoI factor. Are things changing?
The problem is not with the RoI, but with the financial models for calculating return of investment (RoI) for the technology adoption, which are stuck using old methodologies of measuring benefits in terms of head count and operating cost savings. The primary benefit of digitalisation is not in doing more work with fewer people but in reducing the probability of bad business outcomes or failed products and increasing the probability of good business outcomes or quality products
The things are changing in a positive way since many of the firms started with the probabilistic benefit analysis of RoI and soon the new technology investment can perform its full market potential
Is there a fine balance between total automation and safeguarding jobs?
Disruptive changes to business models will have a profound impact on the employment landscape over the coming years. In advance economies, automation will displace many jobs over next 10 to 15 years, but many others will be created and even more change. Jobs of the future will use different skills, and many may have higher educational requirements.
As automation and AI take over the manufacturing plant and automate boring and ordinary human tasks, workers will get to focus on complex and innovative tasks. While AI takes care of unskilled labour, humans can focus on driving innovation and routing their business to advanced levels.
In short there will not be any major job loss but there will be better job management and displacement just like the updating of post offices to banking and rural distribution of ecommerce services.
Milan Desai is responsible for Sales and Marketing for Western India at Phoenix Contact, for industrial electrical and automation products. He is also responsible for business development for Wind Energy industry segment for India.