Emerging Trends in Process Automation
Published on : Tuesday 01-12-2020
Just as everyone was heaving a collective sigh of relief in the belief that the worst is over regarding the Covid-19 pandemic,
a second wave has gripped several regions of the world – in the case of the US it is the third wave – including many parts of India, where Delhi is also facing a rather strong third wave. This is a warning for everyone not to drop guard, even as the economy needs to open up further to prevent a larger tragedy. People need to be cautious about celebrations and religious gatherings as such occasions run real risks of becoming super spreaders. On the positive side, the example of Dharavi – one of the largest urban slums in the world – gives hope that the pandemic can be controlled with active support of citizens with strict monitoring by government agencies and voluntary bodies.
As the year draws to a close, it is time to take stock of the economic and societal damage caused by the Covid pandemic and review the measures taken by various countries to find out what was right and what was not so right in the responses to this unprecedented crisis faced by the world at a time when science and technology has helped mankind deal with so many disaster, natural and manmade. The fact that the resources of the world are overexploited causing irreparable damage to the environment should worry us all. At least a section of the population is throwing caution to the winds when it comes to food habits as the pandemic is widely believed to have originated in the wet market of Wuhan. The alternate speculation of the virus having been leaked out of a lab – by negligence or design – is even more frightening.
That technology in general, and emerging technologies in particular, have solutions to offer is the theme of the Cover Story this month – Emerging Trends in Process Automation. Process automation is critical to several core sector industries like Oil & Gas, Minerals & Mines at the primary level; and Chemicals & Fertilisers, Food Processing & Packaging at the secondary. While automation has helped these industries scale up efficiencies in the past, now is the time to take that a notch or two higher with the help of emerging technologies in the Industry 4.0 era. The industries need to follow the digital transformation route for reinvention, with the help of IIoT, digital twins, artificial intelligence and machine learning, blockchain, cloud computing, etc., that leads to a connected enterprise where transparency and knowledge sharing is the new mantra of efficiency. This edition of Industrial Automation covers this theme through the cover story as well as several expert viewpoints.
