The race is on for process industries to achieve fully autonomous operations within 10 years
02/11/2020 Yokogawa UK Limited
Bert Konings, Executive Director – New Business Development, Yokogawa
Automation is certainly not a new concept for the process industry, but the ongoing pandemic has placed a new impetus on the sector to scale up and become increasingly automated. Due to social distancing guidelines and nervousness among workforces to return to their places of work, a higher priority is being placed on the ability to continue running operations without workers needing to be on site.
Yes, coronavirus has somewhat put the brakes on economic growth this year, but ironically, it is proving one of the biggest stimulations for future innovation. In fact, Yokogawa’s research shows that two thirds of process industry companies across the globe now expect to have fully autonomous operations by the year 2030. But the first question is; to what extent are companies automating, and how?
Reaching level five automation
As process industries embrace automation, both operational technology (OT) and IT professionals are looking at ways to increase productivity through autonomous operations. We’ve recently seen the renewables sector putting a greater emphasis on automation investment as a direct result of COVID-19, for example. With process industries aiming to increase their investment in industrial automation over the next three years – a definite trend is emerging.
And that trend is leading to a race within the industry – a race to what we at Yokogawa refer to as level five automation. Level five is defined as operations being completely autonomous, within the integration of systems for supply chains and process operations, among others. Simply put, they require no human intervention to be operational. As companies count the costs of an absent workforce, a well-designed autonomous system will bring the benefits of remote operations and safer working environments.
Automated technologies which aid decision making
There are four autonomous technologies that have become a top priority for companies in order to achieve level five automation.
AI
AI is the driving force behind autonomous operations, and process industry companies will be investing hugely in AI systems that will allow for decision-making technologies to be implemented.
Cloud analytics and big data
The sheer volume of data required for processes to run autonomously and be instantly shared between many systems and devices, will be tremendous. The distributed edge networks in which this data is created -and the continual cycles of DevOps style software upgrades required to ensure the data integrity and safety of the network - means that without an effective cloud approach, and analytics system, automation systems won’t operate effectively. Cloud analytics, along with big data that provides ways to analyse, systematically extract information from, or otherwise deal with data sets that are too large or complex to be dealt with by traditional data-processing application software.
Intelligent sensors and devices
If systems are to run autonomously, they must be able to diagnose and calibrate independently too. Hence, smart sensors are vital to enable concepts like self-diagnostics, self-calibration, and self-configuration/parameterisation. There is an increasing need to measure quality attributes and raw material attributes, which is enabled by smart sensors such as in digital twin deployment.
Cybersecurity measures
Of course, as the above technologies become connected and autonomous, the wider the cyber threat surface grows. Cybercriminals and hackers are extremely adept at noticing industry trends, and so investment in cutting edge cybersecurity solutions is naturally a top priority.
Addressing the skills gap
As these technologies become ever more complex, they require constant training and development of more staff – leading to the potential for an ever-growing window of human error. Automating, and programming, existing processes makes keeping up with the curve far more time consuming.
One issue that concerns the manufacturing industry is the lack of a skilled workforce to take up these complex operations. While Brexit will end free movement, meaning fewer skilled EU workers will move to the UK, the truth is that a skills shortage already existed before 2016. According to recent reports, approximately 186,000 new engineers and manufacturers are needed every year until 2024, but the industry is facing a deficit of around 20,000 graduates annually. Tackling this issue is key to creating a strong manufacturing base and securing its role in the global economy.
As skilled manufacturers and veterans of the industry reach retirement age, their knowhow and experience are extremely hard to replace. It would be unfair to expect a graduate to perform at the same level as someone who has been in their career for 40 years.
However, new automated technologies that are being implemented in workplaces can help bridge the knowledge gap caused by baby-boomers retiring. People entering the workplace can be taught to use new systems that didn’t exist even ten years ago, ensuring that the skills gap created by retirements isn’t so wide. The management of applications throughout autonomous operations can offset the shortage of skilled labour as people retire.
Why the process control industry is moving to autonomy
Yes, COVID-19 has accelerated the rush to achieve autonomy, such is the need to operate effectively with a smaller human workforce, but there are numerous other benefits to automating as well, that would justify the initial financial outlay. Companies have long considered autonomy as a solution to business challenges, but the pandemic has provided the impetus for them to accelerate their shift to level five autonomy – particularly in improving productivity and efficiency.
Operations becoming automated frees up human workers to focus on more creative, strategic tasks that will continue to drive a company forward. Automating processes also leads to greater worker safety, without the need for people to physically engage with machinery and equipment.
And, with fewer human workers involved in the actual production process, there is less risk for human error, and therefore less opportunity for production to breakdown or instructions to be miscommunicated.
Overall, automation makes workplaces within the process industry sector more efficient, more productive, more profitable and safer for human workers. Over the next three years fully manned tasks will remain largely unchanged, but it is the move from level four - minimally manned tasks - to level five - unattended systems - that will reveal the biggest transformation in process industries. Yokogawa has found that productivity, increased efficiency and optimised staff levels are the key targets for companies in process industry companies.
The race to level five continues – and COVID-19 is the starting pistol
There are many technologies that need to be invested into and implemented, such as AI and cybersecurity solutions, but the move towards level five unattended systems is inevitable. As such, process industry workplaces are set to dramatically change by 2030. With tens of thousands of companies continually adopting increasingly autonomous processes, many in the process industry are set to become fully automated by the end of this decade.
Increasing productivity, reducing costs and addressing the skills shortage are just some of the key solutions to acute challenges that automation can provide, long after the pandemic has come to pass. Coronavirus has meant the industry is having to traverse a troubled path in the short-term, but has dawned a new era of automation for the process industry.
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