We hear the words and phrases automation, digitalisation and mechanical engineering used in association with one another a lot these days. But do you ever stop to think about the effects they are having one another, and more importantly how they will evolve together into the future?
First off, let’s have a look at digitalisation…
Digitalisation refers to the conversion of physical information into digital information in order to improve your business processes. We have seen widespread digitalisation across many industries in the last decade and mechanical engineering is no different.
What are the main ways in which mechanical engineering and digitalisation are evolving together?
Cloud-Based Services
In recent years there has been a shift within mechanical engineering away from computer-aided design, commonly referred to as CAD, and more towards cloud-based engineering applications. As these technologies evolve, we will likely see all mechanical engineers make this transition in the future which is great as cloud-based services save time, money, flexibility and they can provide a higher level of security.
Data
Mechanical engineers now have access to information on all aspects of a product or project due to the sheer amounts of valuable data that are curated and analysed across a product’s entire lifespan. This allows us to optimise our creations and processes based on an overall bigger picture rather than just the immediate physical assets. In the future, this will lead data scientists and mechanical engineers to work very closely together in order to achieve groundbreaking success and create innovative solutions.
Now, where does automation come into the picture…
Automation is the process of introducing automatic equipment or machinery in order to streamline a process or manufacturing facility. We have seen automation introduced to the engineering industry in phases throughout the decades and one of the most recent ways in which it’s changing the industry is through Automation Engineers.
Automation Engineers
In the last few years ‘Automation Engineers’ have become increasingly common and more necessary and what’s more, in the future they will be absolutely essential. An Automation Engineer is someone who streamlines a manufacturing or an engineering process with the use of the latest automation technology- something which we are seeing more and more within the mechanical engineering industry. They essentially seek out and design ways in which a company or product can be made more effective and efficient.
For example, if you consider a car manufacturing company the first thing that comes to mind is likely no longer a Ford-style, manual assembly line. Instead, car parts are manufactured and assembled by extremely intelligent machines. This is the perfect example of automation.
Automation is a huge asset to engineering as it means companies can produce products faster, more efficiently and with higher levels of accuracy. However, what’s even more beneficial is that this opens the door to large scale innovation. Not only does this make us more capable today than ever before but it also allows businesses to invest more time, energy and money into brain power which is geared towards invention and engineering progress.
At Prime Engineering, we are dedicated to designing and building products that will boost the revenue of our clients, fabricating machine parts that are guaranteed to stand the test of time and creating engineering solutions to overcome your problem. To learn more about our services, get in touch with us today!
