Those following the industry development trends are predicting the dawn of the fourth industrial era, Industry 4.0, and increasing role for Industrial Internet, an acronym that includes emerging technology enablers or technology tools, such as Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), edge, fog, and cloud computing, data analytics, artificial intelligence, autonomous robots, and others in automation systems. The third era of industrialisation is the extensive use of automation, computers, and electronics in manufacturing.ĭriven by technological developments and customers’ growing needs, the evolution of the manufacturing industry, industrial automation systems, and business process/enterprise solutions will continue. Industrialisation which began with the emergence of machines powered by water and steam was followed by mass production assembly lines and electrification. Just as the automation technology has evolved, so too has industrialisation progressed over time. The emergence of digital technology based systems can be viewed as the third industrial automation era. The next logical step was the introduction of digital communication protocols, such as HART, Modbus, Profibus, Foundation Fieldbus, etc., to send data from field devices to control room automation systems and the evolution of smart transmitters. The entry of powerful microprocessors and the rapid convergence of information and communication technologies further spurred the development of programmable logic controllers (PLC), distributed control systems (DCS), operator stations/human machine interfaces (HMI), supervisory and data acquisition systems (SCADA), and safety instrumented systems (SIS). The evolution of the digital technology spurred instrumentation and control companies to introduce computer-based control systems. New range of online transmitters, such as radar devices for level measurement and vortex and Coriolis for flow appeared in the market.
The central room became the nerve centre from where all plant-operations including electrical control of plant’s startup and shutdown were performed. With industrial plants becoming bigger in size and more complex, the need arose for more real-time measurements and the use of central control room housing panel-mounted pneumatic and electronic instruments. This was followed by the era of pneumatic and electronic instruments that work in conjunction with transmitters, which send pneumatic or electrical signals to transmit the sensed data to the control room 3-15 psi and 4-20 mA emerged as standard pneumatic and electrical signals for transmission. The first era of instrumentation and control comprised of simple site or local mounted gauges and meters. These systems also generate plant performance information, such as energy consumption, plant efficiency and other key performance indicators (KPI).Įvolution of automation systems and industry
These systems generate plant floor information, which the manufacturing companies leverage to maximise productivity and reduce operational and maintenance costs and plant downtime through energy and asset management, and such others.
Industrial automation systems gather production floor data, generate actionable information, and control outputs that help manufacturing companies to ensure reliable, effective, efficient, and safe operation of their plant and equipment.