Dictionary:

automation

  (ô'tə-mā'shən)

1. The automatic operation or control of equipment, a process, or a system.
2. The techniques and equipment used to achieve automatic operation or control.
3. The condition of being automatically controlled or operated.

[From AUTOMATIC.]

The process of having a machine or machines accomplish tasks hitherto performed wholly or partly by humans. As used here, a machine refers to any inanimate electromechanical device such as a robot or computer. As a technology, automation can be applied to almost any human endeavor, from manufacturing to clerical and administrative tasks. An example of automation is the heating and air-conditioning system in the modern household. After initial programming by the occupant, these systems keep the house at a constant desired temperature regardless of the conditions outside.

The fundamental constituents of any automated process are (1) a power source, (2) a feedback control mechanism, and (3) a programmable command (see illustration) structure. Programmability does not necessarily imply an electronic computer. For example, the Jacquard loom, developed at the beginning of the nineteenth century, used metal plates with holes to control the weaving process. Nonetheless, the advent of World War II and the advances made in electronic computation and feedback have certainly contributed to the growth of automation. While feedback is usually associated with more advanced forms of automation, so-called open-loop automated tasks are possible. Here, the automated process proceeds without any direct and continuous assessment of the effect of the automated activity. For example, an automated car wash typically completes its task with no continuous or final assessment of the cleanliness of the automobile. See also Control systems; Digital computer.

Elements of an automated system.

Because of the growing ubiquity of automation, any categorization of automated tasks and processes is incomplete. Nonetheless, such a categorization can be attempted by recognizing two distinct groups, automated manufacturing and automated information processing and control. Automated manufacturing includes automated machine tools, assembly lines, robotic assembly machines, automated storage-retrieval systems, integrated computer-aided design and computer-aided manufacturing (CAD/CAM), automatic inspection and testing, and automated agricultural equipment (used, for example, in crop harvesting). Automated information processing and control includes automatic order processing, word processing and text editing, automatic data processing, automatic flight control, automatic automobile cruise control, automatic airline reservation systems, automatic mail sorting machines, automated planet exploration (for example, the rover vehicle, Sojourner, on the Mars Pathfinder mission), automated electric utility distribution systems, and automated bank teller machines. See also Assembly machines; Computer-aided design and manufacturing; Computer-integrated manufacturing; Flexible manufacturing system; Inspection and testing; Space probe; Word processing.

A major issue in the design of systems involving both human and automated machines concerns allocating functions between the two. This allocation can be static or dynamic. Static allocation is fixed; that is, the separation of responsibilities between human and machine do not change with time. Dynamic allocation implies that the functions allocated to human and machine are subject to change. Historically, static allocation began with reference to lists of activities which summarized the relative advantages of humans and machines with respect to a variety of activities. For example, at present humans appear to surpass machines in the ability to reason inductively, that is, to proceed from the particular to the general. Machines, however, surpass humans in the ability to handle complex operations and to do many different things at once, that is, to engage in parallel processing. Dynamic function allocation can be envisioned as operating through a formulation which continuously determines which agent (human or machine) is free to attend to a particular task or function. In addition, constraints such as the workload implied by the human attending to the task as opposed to the machine can be considered. See also Human-factors engineering.

It has long been the goal in the area of automation to create systems which could react to unforeseen events with reasoning and problem-solving abilities akin to those of an experienced human, that is, to exhibit artificial intelligence. Indeed, the study of artificial intelligence is devoted to developing computer programs that can mimic the product of intelligent human problem solving, perception, and thought. For example, such a system could be envisioned to perform much like a human copilot in airline operations, communicating with the pilot via voice input and spoken output, assuming cockpit duties when and where assigned, and relieving the pilot of many duties. Indeed, such an automated system has been studied and named a pilot's associate. Machines exhibiting artificial intelligence obviously render the sharp demarcation between functions better performed by humans than by machines somewhat moot. While the early promise of artificial intelligence has not been fully realized in practice, certain applications in more restrictive domains have been highly successful. These include the use of expert systems, which mimic the activity of human experts in limited domains, such as diagnosis of infectious diseases or providing guidance for oil exploration and drilling. Expert systems generally operate by (1) replacing human activity entirely, (2) providing advice or decision support, or (3) training a novice human in a particular field. See also Expert systems.

Replacement of human workers by machines for particular jobs.

The replacement of manual operations by computerized methods. Office automation refers to integrating clerical tasks such as typing, filing and appointment scheduling. Factory automation refers to computer-driven assembly lines. See also COM automation and tape library.

A Vision of Automation

Artist Unknown, Circa 1895

A hundred years ago, the concept of the future lacked one major ingredient... the computer!

Operating a device by automatic (e.g., mechanical, electronic, or robotic) techniques.

Automation refers to the use of computers and other automated machinery for the execution of business-related tasks. Automated machinery may range from simple sensing devices to robots and other sophisticated equipment. Automation of operations may encompass the automation of a single operation or the automation of an entire factory.

There are many different reasons to automate. Increased productivity is normally the major reason for many companies desiring a competitive advantage. Automation also offers low operational variability. Variability is directly related to quality and productivity. Other reasons to automate include the presence of a hazardous working environment and the high cost of human labor. Some businesses automate processes in order to reduce production time, increase manufacturing flexibility, reduce costs, eliminate human error, or make up for a labor shortage. Decisions associated with automation are usually concerned with some or all of these economic and social considerations.

For small business owners, weighing the pros and cons of automation can be a daunting task. But consultants contend that it is an issue that should not be put off. "We are creating a new ball game," wrote Perry Pascarella in Industry Week. "Failure to take a strategic look at where the organization wants to go and then capitalizing on the new technologies available will hand death-dealing advantages to competitors—traditional and unexpected ones."

Types of Automation

Although automation can play a major role in increasing productivity and reducing costs in service industries—as in the example of a retail store that installs bar code scanners in its checkout lanes—automation is most prevalent in manufacturing industries. In recent years, the manufacturing field has witnessed the development of major automation alternatives. Some of these types of automation include:

• Information technology (IT)
• Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM)
• Numerically controlled (NC) equipment
• Robots
• Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS)
• Computer integrated manufacturing (CIM)

Information technology (IT) encompasses a broad spectrum of computer technologies used to create, store, retrieve, and disseminate information.

Computer-aided manufacturing (CAM) refers to the use of computers in the different functions of production planning and control. CAM includes the use of numerically controlled machines, robots, and other automated systems for the manufacture of products. Computer-aided manufacturing also includes computer-aided process planning (CAPP), group technology (GT), production scheduling, and manufacturing flow analysis. Computer-aided process planning (CAPP) means the use of computers to generate process plans for the manufacture of different products. Group technology (GT) is a manufacturing philosophy that aims at grouping different products and creating different manufacturing cells for the manufacture of each group.

Numerically controlled (NC) machines are programmed versions of machine tools that execute operations in sequence on parts or products. Individual machines may have their own computers for that purpose; such tools are commonly referred to as computerized numerical controlled (CNC) machines. In other cases, many machines may share the same computer; these are called direct numerical controlled machines.

Robots are a type of automated equipment that may execute different tasks that are normally handled by a human operator. In manufacturing, robots are used to handle a wide range of tasks, including assembly, welding, painting, loading and unloading of heavy or hazardous materials, inspection and testing, and finishing operations.

Flexible manufacturing systems (FMS) are comprehensive systems that may include numerically controlled machine tools, robots, and automated material handling systems in the manufacture of similar products or components using different routings among the machines.

A computer-integrated manufacturing (CIM) system is one in which many manufacturing functions are linked through an integrated computer network. These manufacturing or manufacturing-related functions include production planning and control, shop floor control, quality control, computer-aided manufacturing, computer-aided design, purchasing, marketing, and other functions. The objective of a computer-integrated manufacturing system is to allow changes in product design, to reduce costs, and to optimize production requirements.

Automation and the Small Business Owner

Understanding and making use of automation-oriented strategic alternatives is essential for manufacturing firms of all shapes and sizes. It is particularly important for smaller companies, which often enjoy inherent advantages in terms of operational nimbleness. But experts note that whatever your company's size, automation of production processes is no longer sufficient in many industries.

"The computer, in its hardened and non-hardened forms, has made it possible to control manufacturing more precisely and to assemble more quickly, factors which have increased competition and forced companies to move faster in today's market," wrote Leslie C. Jasany in Automation. "But now, with the aid of the computer, companies will have to move to the next logical step in automation—the automatic analysis of data into information which empowers employees to immediately use that information to control and run the factory as if they were running their own business." Indeed, industry analyst Scott Flaig proclaimed to Jasany that "automation of information is clearly where the opportunity is, not in automation of labor. The work that is being done now in advanced manufacturing is work to manage and control the process, not the automation of the added-value aspect of the process."

Small business owners face challenges in several distinct areas as they prepare their enterprises for the technology-oriented environment in which the vast majority of them will operate. Three primary issues are employee training, management philosophy, and financial issues.

EMPLOYEE TRAINING. Many business owners and managers operate under the assumption that acquisition of fancy automated production equipment or data processing systems will instantaneously bring about measurable improvements in company performance. But as countless consultants and industry experts have noted, even if these systems eliminate work previously done by employees, they ultimately function in accordance with the instructions and guidance of other employees. Therefore, if those latter workers receive inadequate training in system operation, the business will not be successful. All too often, wrote Lura K. Romei in Modern Office Technology, "the information specialists who designed the software and installed the systems say that the employees are either unfamiliar with technology or unwilling to learn. The employees' side is that they were not instructed in how to use the system, or that the system is so sophisticated that it is unsuited to the tasks at hand. All the managers see are systems that are not doing the job, and senior management wonders why all that money was spent for systems that are not being used."

An essential key to automation success for small business owners, then, is to establish a quality education program for employees, and to set up a framework in which workers can provide input on the positive and negative aspects of new automation technology. As John Hawley commented in Quality Progress, the applications of automation technology may be growing, but the human factor still remains paramount in determining organizational effectiveness.

MANAGEMENT PHILOSOPHY. Many productive business automation systems, whether in the realm of manufacturing or data processing, call for a high degree of decision-making responsibility on the part of those who operate the systems. As both processes and equipment become more automatically controlled, claimed Jasany, "employees will be watching them to make sure they stay in control, and fine tune the process as need. These enabler tools are changing the employee's job from one of adding touch labor to products to one of monitoring and supervising an entire process."

But many organizations are reluctant to empower employees to this degree, either because of legitimate concerns about worker capabilities or a simple inability to relinquish power. In the former instance, training and/or workforce additions may be necessary; in the latter, management needs to recognize that such practices ultimately hinder the effectiveness of the company. "The people aspect, the education, the training, the empowerment is now the management issue," Flaig told Jasany. "Management is confronted today with the decision as to whether or not they will give up perceived power, whether they will make knowledge workers of these employees."

FINANCIAL ISSUES. It is essential for small businesses to anticipate and plan for the various ways in which new automation systems can impact on bottom-line financial figures. Factors that need to be weighed include tax laws, long-term budgeting, and current financial health.

Depreciation tax laws for software and hardware are complex, which leads many consultants to recommend that business owners use appropriate accounting assistance in investigating their impact. Budgeting for automation costs can be complex as well, but as with tax matters, business owners are encouraged to educate themselves. By doing so, wrote Best's Review's Janice L. Scites, "you can ensure that you are investing your money wisely and can bring some predictability to your financial planning. With the shortened life of most new technology, especially at the desktop, it is critical that you plan on annually reinvesting in your technology. Spikes in spending can be difficult to manage and can wreak havoc with your budgets. You'll also need to decide what is an appropriate level of spending for your company, or for yourself if it's a personal decision. Arriving at that affordable spending level requires a strategic look at your company to assess how vital a contributor technology is to the success of your business."

Scites notes that "hardware decisions are generally complex, with long-term implications" in such areas as stream of payments, maintenance costs, and additional support expenses. But she adds that business owners can reduce risks by "having a clear understanding of business plans, establishing a sound technology architecture, selecting hardware in the context of this architecture, building strong vendor alliances, and adopting standard software interfaces."

Once new automation systems are in operation, business owners and managers should closely monitor financial performance for clues about their impact on operations. "Unused technology or underused technology is a big tipoff that something is wrong," wrote Romei. "Many ideas for applications with few in actual operation is another. Watch for cost overruns on new systems, and look out when new systems are brought in predictably late."

The accelerating pace of automation in various areas of business can be dizzying. As James Pinto observed in Automation, "technology is causing ever faster movement, with cost variations and fluctuations that defy even contemporary financial tracking." It will be a challenge for small businesses to keep pace—or stay ahead—of such changes. But the forward-thinking business owner will plan ahead, both strategically and financially, to ensure that the evermore automated world of business does not leave him or her behind.

Further Reading:

Bartholomew, Doug. "Automation Advance." Industry Week. May 15, 2000.

Bradbury, Danny. "Through the Looking Glass." Computing. April 3, 1997.

Hawley, John K. "Automation Doesn't Automatically Solve Problems." Quality Progress. May 1996.

Jasany, Leslie C. "Knowledge (and Power) to the People." Automation. July 1990.

Moore, Walt. "Working Smarter with Automation." Construction Equipment. April 1999.

Partch, Ken. "The Coming Impact of Information Technology." Supermarket Business. February 1997.

Pedone, Rose-Robin. "Sales Automation—Changing the Way Business Is Done." LI Business News. September 22, 1997.

Pascarella, Perry. "Unlearn the 'Truths' about Automation." Industry Week. May 26, 1986.

Pinto, James J. "If It Ain't Broke—Fix It Anyway!" Automation. September 1991.

Romei, Lura K. "Take a Nice, Easy Backswing and Then Just Follow Through." Modern Office Technology. October 1987.

Scites, Janice L. "How Can I Successfully Budget for Automation?" Best's Review—Life-Health Insurance Edition. May 1995.

Stasko, Linda. "Computers Alone Are Not Always a Solution." Machine Design. September 28, 1995.

See also: Robotics

The use of a machine designed to follow repeatedly and automatically a predetermined sequence of individual operations. Automation is used extensively in preparing tissue for microscopic examination.

For more information on automation, visit Britannica.com.

Roots of Automation

"Automation" refers more to an ideal for industrial production than any one set of technologies or practices. The word was coined in 1946 by the Ford Motor Company's vice president, Dale S. Harder, who used it to describe the automatic or semiautomatic mechanical equipment then coming into use for the assembly of automobiles, the machining of automobile parts, and the stamping of sheet metal items such as fenders. While the popular press sometimes described these machines as "robots," implying a humanlike flexibility of application, the technologies Harder described were designed to perform a single task. Later, the term automation was often used to describe computer-controlled (usually programmable) machines that did include the potential to work on various different tasks. What Harder described was the culmination of the evolution of machine production underway for at least a century and was an extension of what had previously called "mechanization." This mechanization was largely a nineteenth-century phenomenon, involving the deskilling of work or the outright replacement of craft workers with machines. This movement was reaching its limits at Ford and elsewhere by 1950, just at the time when university and military researchers were investigating a new technology that combined traditional production machinery, especially machine tools, and the newly developed electronic computer. By the early 1950s, there would be a distinction in engineering circles between "Detroit auto-mation," relying on purely mechanical means, and computer automation.

The impetus for this development was the military's desire to produce aircraft parts at a high rate of speed and with high quality control. Also, aircraft and missiles were then being developed which used parts that were extremely difficult to make, and it was believed that a machine could do a better job than even the most skilled machinist. The U.S. Air Force, working closely with engineers at MIT and elsewhere, introduced the first "numerically controlled" (NC) machine tools in the late 1940s. These machine tools used technologies derived from the computer to control the motions of the machine in accordance with a predetermined program. An NC-equipped machine tool could be conveniently reprogrammed whenever necessary, avoiding the inflexibility that was seen as the major pitfall of Detroit automation. Although the early machines did not completely eliminate human labor, they approached the ideal. Later, engineers distinguished these NC tools from so-called computer numerical control (CNC), which received instructions from a general-purpose computer, often linked to the tool by wires. CNC is the standard technology used today, although its commercial success was slow in coming. While the aircraft industry, largely because of military support, widely adopted NC and CNC machine tools by the 1960s, few other industries followed suit. Few consumer products were as profitable as aircraft parts, making NC/CNC tools too expensive to justify.

Reaction in 1950s

There was sustained resistance to the adoption of NC and CNC tools for other reasons as well. Labor unions saw these technologies as a threat and forecasted massive technological unemployment. The public's reaction to the threat of automated factories was generally unfavorable, despite attempts by industrialists to provide reassurances. One of the most influential books of the era was John Diebold's Automation (1952), which explained the alleged advantages of the technology to the nonexpert. Countering Diebold, Kurt Vonnegut's 1952 novel Player Piano was a dystopic vision of what might happen if automation succeeded. So powerful was the idea of automation that the image of the "push button factory" of the near future became a cliché in movies and the popular press in the 1950s. In the auto industry and elsewhere, unions were able to reach a compromise with managers, allowing automated equipment to be installed in factories while preserving the wages and hours of most workers. The new factories qualitatively degraded the work experience for many highly skilled machinists and greatly reduced the need for them over the long term. Other types of automated equipment did eliminate some of the simplest assembly and materials-handling tasks, leading to some loss of jobs. However, automated production machinery eventually reduced costs and improved the quality of many items.

Other Forms of Automation

Outside the automobile and aircraft industries, automation of another sort also began to emerge in the early twentieth century. Engineers in the chemical industries, where it was common to employ complex, continuously operating processes, developed a form of automation beginning in the 1930s. There large-scale reactions such as the "cracking" of petroleum were monitored and controlled from centralized control rooms. Sensors and actuators, often in the form of pneumatically operated devices, connected the control room to the plant itself. Despite great differences between the chemical and metalworking industries, engineers by the 1940s also described this as part of the same general automation movement. Similarly, the growing size and complexity of electric power plants in the post-1945 period stimulated experiments with centralized control of the boilers, steam turbines, generators, and switch gear associated with the stations. Relying on pneumatic or electrical controls, the power industry thus also developed a distinctive variety of automation. With the advent of nuclear power in the 1950s, the design of this type of centralized automation reached a high state. The control room of a nuclear plant, filled with switches and dials, became an easily recognized symbol of the industry by the 1970s, when many such plants were in operation. There were also nonindustrial applications of automation. A prime example is the sorting of mail, which was done almost entirely by hand until the 1950s. The Post Office sponsored a far-reaching program to automate sorting processes, installing its first semiautomatic mail sorter in Baltimore in 1956. By 1965, the Post Office had installed its first optical character recognition device, which allowed a machine to sort some letters according to their city, state, and ZIP code.

Robotics

An example of the eventual convergence of Detroit-style automation and electronic computing is the development of the industrial robot. Long a feature of science fiction, the first robots were merely armlike mechanical devices, specially designed to handle one particular task. Their utility was limited to applications where high temperature or other factors made it impossible or dangerous for people to perform the same tasks. However, programmable robots appeared as early as 1954, when Universal Automation offered its first product, the Unimation robot. Although General Motors installed such a robot on a production line in 1962, sales of robots were quite limited until the 1970s. During the 1960s, many universities participated in the development of robots, and although many concepts carried over into the industrial robotics field, these did not immediately result in commercial adoption.

It was Japanese companies that moved rapidly into robot utilization in the 1970s. Kawasaki Corporation purchased the Unimation robot technology, and by 1990 forty companies in Japan were manufacturing industrial robots. The shock accompanying the rapid penetration of the domestic auto market by Japanese auto companies led American corporate leaders to adopt Japanese methods, speeding up the diffusion of industrial robotics in the United States.

The Microchip's Role in the Success of Automation

A key technical and economic factor in the widespread success of various forms of automation technologies in the 1980s and 1990s was the development of the microprocessor.

This tiny electronic device was invented in the United States in the late 1970s, intended for use in calculators and computers. However, its utility as an industrial process controller was almost immediately exploited. Less well known to the public than the microprocessor, a similar device called the microcontroller outsells the microprocessor today. The original applications for the microcontroller were as an electronic replacement for electromechanical devices called process controllers, such as the ones used in chemical plants. Process controllers incorporated logic circuits that were usually not programmable. They were used to regulate multistep industrial processes using a timed cycle. A familiar example of such a device is the electromechanical switch/timer used on home washing machines for many years. Process controllers using microprocessors or microcontrollers allowed convenient reprogramming, and eventually these were linked together to provide overall monitoring and control of plant activities from a remote central computer or control room.

The Electronics Industry As Automation's Prophet

At the beginning of the twenty-first century, American industries were still in the process of implementing automated production systems. The highest overall level of automation was in the manufacturing of microelectronic devices such as microprocessors and memory chips. The microelectronics industry builds devices on such a small scale and requires such high levels of cleanliness that some kind of mechanical handling is necessary if only to keep levels of contamination and breakage to a minimum. Microelectronics companies have pushed forward the development of specialized, computer-controlled equipment for manufacturing, inspecting, and handling chips.

The Institute of Radio Engineers held its first conference on the use of automated equipment in the manufacture of electronic parts in 1954. By 1960, the Western Electric Corporation had constructed a highly automated plant for assembling electrical components called resistors in North Carolina, which became a showpiece for automated production. Yet after the invention of the integrated circuit in 1958, the scale of chip production did not justify robotic handling of the chips, which were simply carried from machine to machine by hand or placed on conveyor belts. Chip manufacturers actually preferred hand labor to automated equipment until the diminishing size of the chips and the extreme level of attention paid to particulate contamination compelled them to isolate the manufacturing process inside closed "microenvironments" in the 1980s. By this time, the cost of robotic arms and similar products had dropped, and the reliability of the systems had risen from a few thousand average hours between failures to over 80,000 hours. While in the 1980s there was considerable talk about "lights out" chip fabrication facilities completely devoid of humans, that goal has proven less attractive over time, as corporations have continued to rely on some operators even in this highly automated industry.

Bibliography

Adler, Paul S., and Bryan Borys. "Automation and Skill: Three Generations of Research on the NC Case." Politics and Society 17 (September 1989): 377–402.

Beniger, James R. The Control Revolution: Technological and Pronomic Origins of the Information Society. Cambridge, Mass.: Harvard University Press, 1986.

Bennett, Stuart. A History of Control Engineering, 1930–1955. Stevenage, U.K.: Institute of Electrical Engineers, 1993.

Noble, David F. Forces of Production: A Social History of Industrial Automation. New York: Knopf, 1984.

—David Morton

Tutor's tip: "Automation" (use of automatic or mechanical machinery to do work previously done by humans) can make our jobs easier, but we do not want to become "automatons" (robots) ourselves.

Dansk (Danish)
n. - automation, automatisering

Nederlands (Dutch)
automatisering, vervanging van mankracht (door machines)

Français (French)
n. - (Tech) automatisation, automation

Deutsch (German)
n. - Automation, automatische Steuerung

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - αυτοματισμός, εκμηχανισμός

Italiano (Italian)
automazione

Português (Portuguese)
n. - automação (f) (Téc.)

Русский (Russian)
автомат, перевод на автоматическую работу

Español (Spanish)
n. - automatización

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - automatisering

中文（简体） (Chinese (Simplified))
自动控制, 自动操作

中文（繁體） (Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 自動控制, 自動操作

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 자동 조작(오토메이션)

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 自動化, オートメーション, 機械使用

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) إدارة الأجهزه بالطرق الميكانيه أو الألكترونيه‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮שימוש בציוד אוטומטי לחיסכון בעבודה שכלית וידנית, הבקרה האוטומטית על תהליכי ייצור, התקנת מערכת מחשבים והכנסתה לפעולה, מיכון, אוטומציה‬

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