Automation & Controls definition

Richard Electronics, one of the most electrical parts distributors, encompasses a wide variety of products used for industrial automation and Industrial controls, monitoring, and operator interface applications. These Electronic Components typically feature a higher level of integration than similar component-level products, and are designed to be usable as functional building blocks without further manufacturing steps, such as assembly onto a printed circuit board.

What are Industrial Automation and Controls used for?

As the automation control system takes care of repetitive tasks, you can optimize the use of resources in your production lines. Those repetitive tasks cover everything from batch changeovers to recording batch information to scheduling routine machine maintenance and more. Automation control systems also increase flexibility and scalability.

For example, introducing new products to the production line is a smoother and faster process. It is also much easier to scale production up or down as the needs of the business dictate. You will see improved accuracy of data collection leading to significant improvements in batch and individual product traceability. This saves you money as you need to allocate fewer resources to this process, plus it improves standards of customer service.

It improves compliance in regulated industries Industrial automation and control systems also improve accuracy in your factory operations overall. This is because a programmed controller, such as a PLC (Programmable Logic Controller) will perform a task to the same standard and within the same parameters every time. Your production facility will experience reduced downtime as automatic processes can predict failures, schedule the most efficient times for maintenance, and more. Finally, automation control systems result in fewer production errors saving time and money while also improving customer satisfaction.

Types of Industrial Control Systems

There are 8 main Industrial Control Systems types available in marketplace: Distributed Control Systems, SCADA (Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition), IACS (Industrial Automation and Control Systems), IEDs (Intelligent Electronic Devices), HMI (Human-Machine Interface), PACs (Programmable Automation Controllers), PLCs (Programmable Logic Controllers), RTUs (Remote Terminal Units).