What Industries Benefit Most From Industrial Automation?

Automation has transformed and continues to transform people’s lives worldwide. From self-driving vehicles to the manufacturing automation of industrial robots to logistical automation engineering in logistics, custom automation continues to change the world in which we live.

Automation plays a crucial role in modern industry, streamlining processes, improving efficiency, and reducing costs. From manufacturing plants to high-speed transportation systems, automation integrates computerized, electronic, hydraulic, mechanical, and pneumatic controls to enhance productivity. Beyond physical industries, automation also drives digital advancements, powering search engines, virtual assistants, and other online systems. But which industries benefit the most from industrial automation? Let’s explore the sectors where automation is making the most significant impact.

Industrial Automation: Engineering the Future

Modern engineers have envisioned fully automated factories since the mid-20th century. Yet manufacturing automation only took off in the 1980s, when vehicle manufacturers in the United States began replacing human workers with robots. They predicted what is now known as “lights-out” manufacturing, where all work on the factory floor is automated, and humans only play a managing and maintenance role.

Industrial automation refers to using control systems – such as computers and robots – to handle various production activities previously done by human workers. Multiple industries now employ custom manufacturing automation to improve productivity. These applications have become increasingly diverse as more economic sectors embrace automation as a solution.

Industrial automation can be classified into these general types:

Fixed automation – rigid or hard automation – is the least flexible. It’s mainly used for repetitive tasks, and functions only with certain equipment, providing consistency in factories with high output. .
Programmable automation works best for goods manufactured in batches, and requires a new set of instructions to alter the manufacturing process. It works via specifications to control sequencing and similar tasks, usually applied to mid-level production volumes.
Flexible automation is also known as soft automation and can be utilized to fabricate various goods. It allows systems to change more quickly and automatically, reducing time necessary to reconfigure equipment between production runs.
CIM (computer-integrated manufacturing) automation relies on computer systems to control its automated production processes. CIM systems include automated cranes, CAD (computer-aided design) software, CAM (computer-aided manufacturing) platforms, CNC (computer numerical control) machine tools, and robotic systems, along with computerized planning, production, and scheduling capabilities.

As industrial automation has evolved, manufacturing has become more autonomous. New technologies like the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) have additionally revolutionized network architecture, introducing capabilities such as machine vision to monitor products for anomalies.

How Different Industries Benefit from Automation

Manufacturing automation will continue to advance, transforming an increasing number of industries. Regardless of the economic sector, custom automation will be adapted for new uses, replacing human workers, especially those working in dangerous conditions or doing mundane tasks. As such, it will prove a boon to workers, making workplaces safer and their jobs less tedious.

Custom Agriculture Automation

Though it began mechanizing in the late 1800s, the US agricultural industry has only recently turned to utilizing automation as farms become larger and fewer farmers stay in the business. Custom automation technologies now help farmers till, irrigation, and harvest, allowing fewer farmers to feed more people. Automated systems gather data to analyze crops, helping create insights allowing farms to save money using less fertilizers, herbicides, pesticides and water.

With advanced automation, greenhouse engineering utilizes Internet of Things (IoT) technology to track plant growth, much of which is driven by the nascent US cannabis industry. Using artificial intelligence (AI), big data, and smart sensors, high-value crops like herbs can be more economically farmed. Utilizing robotics, such as fertilizing, planting, watering, and weeding crops, can be done more efficiently, along with milking operations and transporting agricultural goods to market. These advances will help feed an ever-growing world population.

Custom Building & Construction Automation

Recent data from the Dodge Construction Network highlights ongoing challenges in the U.S. construction industry due to labor shortages. These labor shortages have significant implications for project timelines and budgets. For instance, in November 2024, total construction starts increased by 5%, yet the industry faced constraints due to a lack of skilled workers.

Automating repetitive labor like bricklaying, sawing or welding allows seasoned construction workers to train new workers to do more complex jobs. In this way, construction companies can create skilled workers rather than have to hire them.

Food & Beverage Processing Automation

Food and beverage processing is an ideal candidate for automation. Engineering automated systems to conduct much of the monotonous work in the industry can save workers from injuries caused by repetitive tasks, while also increasing production. Automated machinery that measures and mixes ingredients and industrial ovens that use conveyancing systems ensure product consistency. Automation also improves quality control and dramatically decreases human contact with foods, reducing contamination and recalls. Custom automation also helps identify where problems occur during production, which helps alleviate inefficiencies.

Automation in Restaurants

Custom automation has been introduced into restaurants to improve efficiency. It’s used for processing food orders, lowering the rate of human error. Automated machinery has also been introduced to spread dough and add toppings to pizza or to cook all burgers precisely the same to ensure consistency.

General Manufacturing Automation

Manufacturers benefit from the increased productivity brought by automation. Engineering robots into their industrial production lines, automakers in the 1960s were some of the first to utilize automated equipment to perform repetitive work. In the electronics industry, robots now also do such jobs as applying sealants to, inspecting, testing and handling PCBs (printed circuit boards), and picking and placing delicate parts. Automated machinery in the manufacturing sector has additionally improved efficiency, decreasing the need for unskilled labor.

Custom Healthcare & Medical Automation

While most other sectors use custom automation to improve efficiency, healthcare utilizes automation to allow medical personnel to focus more on treating patients. A prime use of automation involves mundane tasks like scheduling and paperwork. Some newer technologies also make for quicker, more accurate treatments. For example, AI technology can detect cancers as precisely as a trained radiologist, though it does this more quickly.

Law Enforcement & Military Automation

While automation engineering hasn’t yet developed robotics as sophisticated as those in the movie Robocop, robots in law enforcement are already in use for neighborhood watch functions, firefighting, and other emergencies.

Military uses include functions like:

Combat support
Explosive ordnance disposal
Intelligence activities
Mine clearance
Reconnaissance
Search and rescue missions
Surveillance activities

Many of these military uses also translate well to jobs done by civilian law enforcement.

Mining Engineering Automation

The mining industry used to rely on human workers who often did arduous jobs in dangerous conditions. With technological advances in automation, engineering machinery makes work in hazardous conditions safer for miners. Custom mining automation includes autonomous machinery that provides for haul trucks, blast-hole drills, and bulldozers.

Packaging Industry Automation

Custom automation for the packaging industry helps ensure branding and shipment costs are kept low. Robotic arms add to efficiency, offering higher packaging capacity and better freedom of movement along packing conveying lines. Many packing companies also apply electronic article surveillance (EAS) labels to their products for retail customers. Known as source tagging, these EAS tags act as anti-theft devices, triggering alarms around retail store exits.

Custom Automation in Retail

E-commerce has brought retail to a whole new level. However, some brick-and-mortar stores now utilize automated technology to provide the efficiency of online shopping to physical stores. Amazon Go – Amazon’s in-person retail outlet for groceries – uses monitoring technology that allows customers to pick up products and walk out of the store without going through checkout. Instead, customers’ Amazon accounts are billed.

Engineering Automation into Transportation

Autonomous driving has been touted as a safer way for drivers to use the roads, a product of AI and machine learning technology. An increasing number of vehicles are enabling vehicles to brake and change lanes to avoid potentially fatal crashes automatically. Such technology could make distracted and drunk driving a thing of the past. Autonomous public transport like trains and buses would be able to get people to their destinations more efficiently.