Continuing in our Implementing Automation Series, we’re giving you essential tips for introducing automation into your facility. Keep reading for more!
Choose Equipment with Your Facility in Mind
There’s a wide variety of different equipment and hardware out there for you to choose from—and that means a wide variety of unique features, parts, and possible applications. Take a good, thorough look at what you’re currently doing in your facility, and be sure you’re obtaining systems that will align accurately with your plant’s current functionality. The key? Finding the right consultant to help you reach your automation goals.
Your consultant can design your new equipment based on this information, as well as on the specific components they offer. Will you need PLCs, custom sensors, cameras, motors or drives, or even human-machine interfaces (HMIs)? One of the most effective ways to find out exactly what you’ll need is to go straight to your engineers and floor workers. Survey them and see exactly how they’re using the current systems in place. This is one of the best and most direct ways to find out what they might need out of something new, or how smoothly what you have in mind will integrate into the current operation. After all, in order to pick a consultant who can accurately choose complicated equipment for you, you need to know what your goals for your project are—for example, do you need someone to do everything for you? Or are you just looking for a partner to help supplement your time or expertise?
This is also the time to think outside of the box—which means thinking outside the walls of your plant. There’s a wide range of tools out there that can help you select, organize, and research all of the various parts and assemblies you might need for a new system. These tools can be invaluable, especially when you want to confirm or double-check compatibility across several different distributors. The right consultant will do all of these things for you and more. Choosing the right automation partner can make or break how smoothly automation is integrated into your current systems—make sure you choose wisely!
Looking for some help automating your facility? Revere Control Systems is just a form fill out away. No pressure, just solutions.
