BLOG

Industry Automation – what are industrial automatic machines and what are their abilities?

Industrial automation

Automation radically improves the quality in the industry. Welding machines, punching machines, plotters, hydraulic presses and dozens of other devices today rely more and more on automatic operation adapted to the current needs of the business.

Industry automation includes solutions that are technically adapted to the tasks outlined by the operator. The difference between automation and robotization in the industry is quite important in this context. While automatic machines for industry are strictly used with relatively narrow application possibilities, robots consider the energy, information or so-called machine learning. Effectively, they are subjected to changes in software and the ultimate purpose of the work performed. In this respect, the automatic machines operate utterly differently – in a narrower field.

Just as the first industrial revolution concerned mechanization and the invention of the steam engine, and the next one – electrification, the third version brought universal digitalization. It is computers that make industrial automatic machines controllable machines through software. In a situation where the degree of automation increases, and the efficiency, precision and importance of machines increase, digitalization becomes a natural direction of development. Industry today includes system integration or network creation; connects industrial automatic machines in networks and other technological formats.

Industry automation and application in the industry

The industry today uses automatic machines at every stage of the production chain. The application covers both the process of ordering and providing components for production, as well as their production, shipment of goods and after-sales services. As a result, industrial automation is redefining human-managed processes. It increases efficiency, allows better use of raw materials, and greater safety.

These effects are easy to observe in the food industry as an example. Industrial automation has led to changes in the way products are manufactured and in the field of – which should be especially noted – packaging and palletizing processes.

The same can be observed in the case of e.g. warehousing tasks. Due to the increased dynamics of tasks in production plants, the handling of warehousing, production and distribution processes begins to play a crucial role. Industrial automatic machines influence the growing role of integration and comprehensiveness of services.

Industrial automatic machines are used in dozens of industries: from energy to advertising. BOXMAKERS, machines that create packaging and cardboard boxes, such as BOXMAT PRO or FLEXOMAT, ensure fully machine production of individual elements. High frequency welders are a natural means of production of elements for advertising, automotive and energy industries. At the same time, their range of use turns out to be much wider, including e.g. awnings and parts for roller blinds or cinema screens.

Additionally, punching machines turn out to be indispensable in the context of the production of protective clothing, wooden furniture or office supplies. The same is the case with thermoformers.

Advantages of industrial automation

Industrial automation is therefore the use of control systems – such as the operation of computers and IT technology – to support the operation of machines and processes that allow to replace human employee. In opposition to previous solutions, the goal of industrial machines is no longer just to increase efficiency or reduce costs related to employing operators. Currently, automation has a slightly different nature; its importance clearly shifts towards ensuring the highest possible quality of production and general flexibility of production processes. This is confirmed by, among others, analysis of the effectiveness of solutions implemented for the automotive sector in USA. It frequently uses high frequency welders or machines enabling automatic assembly. One of the analyzes concerned the effectiveness of the installation of engine pistons, which showed that manual work was the origin of approx. 1.5 percent of mistakes. With the implementation of industrial automation, this indicator drops to 0.0001 percent.

Despite the relatively high initial cost, industrial automation has clearly a number of benefits. It is not limited only to increased efficiency and the possibility of virtually 24/7 operation. The above-mentioned issue of quality and production repeatability maintained at a high level becomes the key factor. Along with the widening possibilities of flexible adaptation of the assembly line to a given project, it fits perfectly into today’s investment trends. However, it is also important how much industrial automatic machines place emphasis on the level of accurate and transparent information. The ability to collect data and then analyze it in terms of innovation and production improvement improves processes, reduces waste and operating costs.