It's Time for Engineering to Automate Itself

From Manual Labour to Automation

Technology has advanced rapidly in the last decade; with electronics and the internet being two of the largest technical developments, because of the impact they have had on industrial automation. Processing plants and production machinery have become extremely complex objects. We are also continuously inventing solutions that are more efficient. This increased complexity requires a transparent, expanding data stream; however, it appears to be difficult to keep the data stream both comprehensive and manageable for everyone.

As engineers, we offer state-of-the-art technical solutions our customers, even though we ourselves don’t always utilise the technical capabilities that are available to us to their full potential. Most designs are created from scratch and are full of the knowledge that’s stored in our heads. Customising machines from scratch is also common because engineering is still manual work, right?

Wrong! It’s time to automate the engineering process. Automating the engineering process will enable us to develop the complex solutions that the current industrial revolution is demanding – thus helping us to keep with the times and become more productive. It’s time to replace the old way of working with the new – just as has happened in previous industrial revolutions!

What can we learn from the past? 

During the 18th century’s industrialisation, we wanted to produce for as little as possible and in mass – which was possible with mechanisation. Mechanisation started in agriculture with windmills and threshing machines, with which less people were able to produce more food for less. The consequence of this was that the prices decreased whilst the demand increased. The farmers migrated to the cities and became factory workers and manual labour was replaced with industrial production methods like the loom. Thus, machines replaced the manual worker.

In the 19th century, a more scientific approach to production arose: manufacturing processes were divided into small tasks and shared out amongst the workers. This led to the production line, which resulted in less people being able to produce more products for less. Once again, the prices decreased and demand increased.

Just after the Second World War, computer technology advanced and it became possible to automatically control machines with programmes. This meant that machines could be controlled from a central location, once the current modular mechanical and pneumatic system was connected to electrical control. As a result, the workers’ jobs changed from operating to controls and coordinating the different automated tasks.

The introduction of process control systems made it possible to connect and automate computerised tasks. Mass goods could be produced without the need for workers to intervene. This meant that workers could focus their time on planning, controlling and maintaining the machines.

The Current Industrial Revolution 

We are now in the middle of another industrial revolution: Smart Industry or Industry 4.0 focuses on having a comprehensive digitalisation and connecting devices, production resources and organisations. The new revolution calls for companies to be flexible in their production process when it comes to product, volume, timing, raw materials and cost efficiency. This requires a large amount of data and hence increases the complexity.

In the past, the aim was to make the machines more efficient so that they could produce goods in mass, whereas now the aim is to make the production process more flexible and to use the data more efficiently.

More knowledge is being produced by less people, which means that more products are being produced even cheaper. However, unlike the previous century, the workers can’t move to the next phase in the industrial revolution, because they need to have specialist skills. This has resulted in a shortage of engineers, which is another reason to automate engineering.

What does this mean for your engineering? 

Whilst other business processes have been supported by ERP or PDM systems, which managed, processed and controlled data, engineering has been deprived. This could be because it was felt that it was important to improve the efficiency in the purchasing and sales department. Alternatively, because engineering was seen as too complex (and wasn’t automated). So now, it’s time to do something about it.

Imagine that your engineering department is a machine. You make a complete product with this machine: a lengthy and complex task that is impossible to automate. Consequently, engineering remains manual.

The problem is that clients are demanding a higher degree of efficiency and their requirements are becoming more complex. We’ve learnt from the past: the solution to producing more efficiently isn’t deploying more workers, but breaking the procedures down into manageable tasks.

Now imagine that your engineering department is a factory. There are machines for making different semi-manufactured products (i.e. partial designs) and there are other machines, which put these semi-manufactured products together to make different finished products (the complete design). It’s possible to produce a large variety of series and models with different options from a relatively small variety of semi-manufactured products. Could an employee operate such a machine? Or should the employee only set up, control and maintain the machine?

Technology is Ready 

Industrial technology advancements are a result of an ongoing wave. The hurdles from the first industrial revolution have been overcome, meaning that production is now more efficient. In overcoming these hurdles, vision, standardisation, division, integration and the development of technology has fulfilled a key role. The engineering department hasn’t implemented these developments yet. The difference between then and now is that the technology needed to automate engineering is available!