Industrial automation beyond 2014: Rockwell Automation discusses the challenges and opportunities

The challenging mining and manufacturing landscape in Australia is seeing companies adapt to changing needs through automation of their systems. David Hegarty and Mauro DelleMonache of Rockwell Automation discuss their company’s view of the situation.

Throughout 2013, Australia’s economy showed limited growth and commodity prices stagnated. While a high cost base continues to hurt the country’s competitiveness, boosting productivity continues to drive strategy for both the mining and manufacturing sectors in 2014. “This generates a series of challenges and opportunities aided by rapidly advancing technologies that surround the productivity issue,” said David Hegarty, Managing Director Australia and New Zealand, Rockwell Automation.

Boosting productivity

“A high manufacturing cost base calls out for productivity, and improving productivity has always been a priority for organisations, but it’s likely that this will become more important in 2014,” said Mauro DelleMonache, Marketing Director, Rockwell Automation.

Companies are moving towards integrating automation with mobility, big data and analytics to create connected enterprises and help enhance productivity. Mining companies are no longer able to rely on bulk exports at surging commodity prices and have become more open to incorporating different technologies into their business; often technologies already utilised in other industries, such as manufacturing. Rockwell believes this overlap in technology extends to moves by both industries to common infrastructure systems through increasing demand for Ethernet and associated technologies. However, as these strategies to improve technology prove successful, they also expose miners and manufacturers to new security concerns that must also be addressed.

Ethernet explosion

According to Hegarty, “The proliferation of Ethernet technologies into manufacturing and mining has enabled significant technological advance for these industries in recent years, and we are already seeing the flow-on effect with technologies such as wireless, and cloud computing.”

Industrial Ethernet provides companies with a way to help improve processes and productivity while reducing expenses, which is crucial for success in today’s competitive marketplace. Companies that are not currently using a common network infrastructure stand to miss out on several advantages of this modern-day commercial tool.

“The increased uptake of Ethernet technologies is part of a change from within these industries related to network infrastructure, data availability and network investment. I would expect that this trend will continue in the coming years, if not accelerate,” said Hegarty.

Growing security concerns

Hegarty is the first to admit that although Ethernet is paramount for achieving the flexibility, visibility and efficiency required for a competitive industrial environment, security has becomes a key issue that requires consideration. “Usage of Ethernet is growing rapidly and many users aren’t on top of the evolving security requirements that come with it,” he said. The need to provide reliable security around network infrastructure is viewed by Rockwell Automation as a key growth market in 2014. Through a partnership with network manufacturer Cisco Systems, Rockwell Automation intends to expand its capability for providing solutions for network security. Further investigation into the use of mobile devices, such as iPhones and tablets, and their ability to enhance productivity will be targeted in line with this focus.

“New mobile applications are being released at a rapid pace and we are becoming more aware of how they are adaptable to process automation,” said Hegarty. “At the same time this opens up more security issues where a new breed of innovation will be required.”

Innovation and the economic environment

The pursuit of productivity has largely been in response to Australia’s challenging economic environment, which has remained an issue for industry during the 2014 financial year. Although the Australian dollar has fallen during late 2013 a further drop would aid improvement in the local manufacturing industry.

Australia’s mining industry has also softened, and raising capital to fund new projects is proving difficult for companies around the country. However, in spite of a high cost base in Australia, Hegarty is optimistic of a higher level of capital investment in the coming quarters. While these economic challenges impact the services provided by Rockwell Automation they also create opportunities for the company, related to productivity improvements.

“The capital expansion phase may be tough at the moment, but looking at the productivity side of business it’s expected that a lot of opportunities will appear - our focus is on process automation and productivity and we believe a lot of the answers in these areas rest with us,” said Hegarty.

Industrial automation in 2014 and beyond

According to Mauro DelleMonache, “Australia needs to support innovation - and we are currently seeing pockets of tremendous innovation in the country, as well as in New Zealand. The growing trend of Australian companies implementing remote operations is an ideal way of overcoming some of the common issues documented in the country, such as the skills shortage.”

With Australia’s geography, having the right people in the right places has always been a major challenge, but now with the growth in technology for remote operations, particularly in the mining industry, it opens the door for technological opportunities that come with it.”

Rockwell Automation also plans to maintain a strong focus on the mining industry, a sector that has softened but still provides the company with a solid opportunity base for growth. 

“Throughout 2014 we plan to continue to expand our capability around process automation, which has been a key area of growth in the past decade through acquisitions and architecture development,” said Hegarty.

Another area of focus will be developing architecture for machine builders where Rockwell Automation is planning to release new products in the coming year.

“We will continue to focus on innovation to help our customers improve productivity and competitiveness in the current challenging marketplace,” concludes Hegarty