Impact Of Automation On Industrial Processes
Automation impacts industrial processes primarily by shifting work from direct human action to systems of automatic control and preplanning , which changes how large scale industrial operations are executed and optimi...
Automation impacts industrial processes primarily by shifting work from direct human action to systems of automatic control and preplanning , which changes how large scale industrial operations are executed and optimized.[:cite[1]{ln=1}], [:cite[3]{ln=2}], [:cite[2]{ln=2}] It deepens the “control” dimension of industrial activity. Von Neumann frames the industrial revolution as involving not only “more and cheaper energy” but also “more and easier controls of human actions and reactions,” implying that industrial progress is tightly linked to improving control mechanisms over operations and people.[:cite[1]{ln=1}] It enables larger scale industrial operations without reducing human time scales. He argues that technological speed historically did not primarily “shorten time requirements of processes,” but instead enabled “larger scale operations” to be performed “in the same time,” which is a key way automation alters industrial processes (scaling throughput and scope rather than simply speeding up a single task). [:cite[1]{ln=4}], [:cite[4]{ln=2}] It expands industrial process control via computing machines and planning. Von Neumann states there is “no doubt” computing machines will be used for “elaborate industrial process control” as well as “logistical, economic, and other planning,” tying automation to both real time control and higher level industrial decision making and coordination.[:cite[3]{ln=2}] It is accelerated by electronic amplifying and switching devices. He describes automation as “likely to evolve fast,” noting that while automatic control dates back to Watt’s steam engine governor, modern automation is placed “on an entirely new footing” by “small electric amplifying and switching devices,” evolving from relays to vacuum tubes and accelerating further with solid state devices.[:cite[5]{ln=1}], [:cite[5]{ln=3}], [:cite[5]{ln=4}] It increases efficiency in key industrial branches and is expected to improve further. He reports that “simplified forms of automatic or semi automatic control” have already increased the “efficiency of some important branches of industry” in recent decades, and he expects “considerably elaborated newer forms” to achieve “much more along these lines.”[:cite[2]{ln=3}], [:cite[2]{ln=4}]