The Industrial Revolution was the midwife of automation technology. It was the needs of the Industrial Revolution that spurred automation technology to break free of its chrysalis and flourish. Simultaneously, automation technology has also promoted industrial progress. Today, it is widely used in fields such as machinery manufacturing, power, construction, transportation, and information technology, becoming a major means of improving labor productivity.
What are the different stages in the development of industrial automation?
Phase 1
The transportation, storage, management, and control of materials are mainly carried out manually, which has obvious advantages in terms of real-time performance and intuitiveness. Manual warehousing technology also has superior economic indicators in terms of initial equipment investment.
Phase Two
Materials can be moved and handled using various conveyor belts, industrial transport vehicles, robotic arms, cranes, stacker cranes, and elevators. Materials are stored using pallets and mobile shelving. Mechanical storage and retrieval equipment is operated manually, and its operation is controlled by limit switches, helical mechanical brakes, and mechanical monitors. Mechanization meets people's requirements for speed, precision, height, weight, and repetitive storage and handling.
Phase Three
This is the stage of automated warehousing technology, in which automation technology has played a significant role in promoting warehousing technology and its development. In the late 1950s and 1960s, automated guided vehicles (AGVs), automated storage and retrieval systems (AS/RS), automated storage and retrieval robots (AS/RS), automatic identification systems, and automated sorting systems were successively developed and adopted. In the 1970s and 1980s, rotating racks, mobile racks, aisle stacker cranes, and other handling equipment joined the ranks of automated control, but at this time, automation was only partial and applied independently by each piece of equipment, referred to as "automation islands." With the development of computer technology, the focus shifted to the control and management of materials, requiring real-time, coordinated, and integrated operations. Communication between computers, data acquisition points, machine controllers, and between them and the main computer allows for timely information aggregation. Warehouse computers record order and delivery times in a timely manner, display inventory levels, and planners can easily make supply decisions. They know what is being produced, what is being ordered, and when to ship goods, while managers can monitor supply and demand at any time. The application of information technology has become a crucial pillar of warehousing technology.
Phase 4
The fourth stage is the stage of integrated automated warehousing technology. In the late 1970s and 1980s, automation technology was increasingly used in production and distribution. Obviously, the "islands of automation" needed to be integrated, thus forming the concept of "integrated systems". In integrated systems, the organic cooperation of the entire system makes the overall efficiency and production responsiveness far exceed the sum of the individual benefits of each part.
Integrated warehousing technology has gained attention as the central element of material storage in Computer Integrated Manufacturing Systems (CIMS). Although system integration was recognized in the 1980s, relatively few integrated warehousing systems have been built in China to date. An integrated system comprises people, equipment, and control systems; these three stages form the foundation.
In the early 1970s, China began researching automated warehouses using stacker cranes. According to incomplete statistics, nearly 300 automated warehouses have been built in China, including more than 30 fully automated ones. China's automated warehouse technology has been integrated with other information decision-making systems, and research on intelligent control and fuzzy control is underway.
Phase 5
The fifth stage is intelligent automated warehousing technology. The development of artificial intelligence has propelled automation technology towards a more advanced stage—intelligent automation. Intelligent automated warehousing technology is still in its early stages of development, but by the 20th century, intelligent warehousing technology will have broad application prospects.
