Prioritize Automation Technology & Talent

• Automation is underpinning increased standard of living for a growing world population since the first industrial revolution
• We need a continuous stream of engineers with an automation career path to sustain this trajectory
• If you love technology and care about a good standard of living including sustainability for all, the recommendation is to consider a career in automation
• The result is self-actualization for you, growth for the company, and progress for society

The new industrial plants that make up the new value chains for hydrogen, lithium EV batteries, carbon capture, green chemical and plastics need massive capacity plants to be built to produce at the scale required to meet the world’s sustainability and decarbonization goals – but also new plants for lifesaving pharmaceuticals and biologics, water, agrichemicals for food, and semiconductors for work, education, and entertainment. These plants need automation systems to produce safely, sustainably, reliably, and on a massive scale. These systems in turn need automation engineers to build them and support them. Since 15 July is the World Youth Skills Day #WYSD by the UN I figured I’d share the importance of companies allocating more of the technology budget to automation and hiring the best automation talent for their plants’ I&C departments. Here are my personal thoughts:

In the past the process industries were seen as less attractive, 4D:

Dull: Monotonous work like routine manual data collection and checking as well as hand operating valves.

Dirty: Hands on heavy machinery testing and troubleshooting.

Dangerous: Potentially flammable or toxic atmosphere, high temperatures, noisy, or heavy vehicles moving.

Distant: Remote locations like offshore installations and oil & gas fields or mines in uninhabited regions, away from family.

?

But with the new automation the process industries become more exciting, 4C:?

Captivating: New technologies like wireless sensor networks automate data collection, advanced sensor systems, mechanistic AI automate the data interpretation and prediction, valve remote control, and digital twin for modeling & simulation. Monotonous routine work is reduced.

Clean: Machinery monitoring is done from computers at your desk. Hands-on work is reduced.

Comfortable: More of the work is done from the control room or office cubicle which is safer. This is autonomous plants of varying degree; normally not manned. It is even possible to work from home.

Close: Your work close to home so you can have dinner with your family every day.

That is, the new automation transforms heavy industry jobs, making them better by removing many of the 4D aspects. Sometimes this is called ‘digital’ transformation, hyper-automation, or Industry 4.0, and includes the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

Therefore it is critical for companies to invest in automation technology, giving a greater share of the technology budget to the I&C teams in the plant. And it is critical for companies to hire automation talent. For individuals with a knack for technology, the recommendation is to consider a career in automation. Well, that’s my personal opinion. If you are interested in digital transformation in the process industries click “Follow” by my photo to not miss future updates. Click “Like” if you found this useful to you and to make sure you keep receiving updates in your feed and “Share” it with others if you think it would be useful to them. Save the link in case you need to refer in the future.