How Automation Can Improve Plant Safety
Published on : Thursday 04-06-2020
The manufacturing industries are primarily investing in robotics and other automated systems to influence the technical aspects of the plant and further enhance the efficiency of the plant, along with the product quality. Also, these companies are focused to hire skilled human manpower to higher levels of efficiency and precision in the plant’s operation.
The Benefits of Automation on Manufacturing
Manufacturing facilities are always at risk, as it carries a different kind of large heavy machines with moving parts capable of damaging the human body. The use of automated robotics in the plant reduces the risk through the following factors –
• It reduces the direct human-hand involvement in the production and delivery of products
• The maintenance and service can be carried out statically and further rectify the damage parts to reduce the accidents in the workplace
• The use of artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) uses the data generated through the running of heavy machines, networks of smart monitoring devices, and human movements to identify and rectification across the production line
In turn, the use of advanced automated technologies and systems is predicted to quickly respond to emergencies and unexpected developments across the service lines based on data generated through predictive and preventative maintenance schedules.
Involvement of Modern components
In the past, robots and humans worked separately to reduce the risk of injury at the workspace through the use of cages and light curtains as a barrier. Nowadays, the manufacturing plant companies created a collaborative robot work alongside humans specifically to make a commonplace in the factory environment.
For instance, ABB’s SafeMove solution primarily intends towards the collaborative safety solutions to allow the simultaneous work of humans and robots on the same task at a common workplace. The solution has a feature of safe position and speed supervision, which enables the litheness and instinctiveness of humans along with the strength and rapidity of robots to enhance the work efficiency to a wide extent. This collaboration is cost-efficient and collaborative works widely increase safety and efficiency during both operations and maintenance in the plant.
In conclusion, the manufacturing and machining firms are widely investing in automation even if safety were not a concern, as they comprehend that the collaboration of automation in terms of robots and other automated systems along with human efforts increases efficiency, productivity, and reliability of the plant. In addition, it also eliminates the long-standing safety concerns and making the workplace of manufacturing plants safer. It is also expected the advancement in the robots based on AI & ML and other automated technologies will able to identify, address, and prevent safety risks that we haven’t even recognized yet in the current scenario.