Introduction

In todays fast-moving, highly competitive industrial world, a company must be

flexible, cost effective and efficient if it wishes to survive. In the process and
manufacturing industries, this has resulted in a great demand for industrial
control systems/ automation in order to streamline operations in terms of speed,
reliability and product output. Automation plays an increasingly important role in
the world economy and in daily experience.
Automation is the use of control systems and information technologies to reduce
the need for human work in the production of goods and services. In the scope of
industrialization, automation is a step beyond mechanization. Whereas
mechanization provided human operators with machinery to assist them with the
muscular requirements of work, automation greatly decreases the need for
human sensory and mental requirements as well.

Older History of Automation

Rockwell Automation traces its history to 1903 and the formation of the Compression Rheostat
Company, founded by Lynde Bradley and Dr. Stanton Allen with an initial investment of $1000.
In 1904, 19-year-old Harry Bradley joined his brother in the business.

Lynde Bradley, Dr. Stanton Allen and Harry Bradley.

The companys first patented product was a carbon disc compression-type motor controller for
industrial cranes. The crane controller was demonstrated at the St. Louis Worlds Fair in 1904.
In 1909, the company was renamed the Allen-Bradley Company.
Allen-Bradley expanded rapidly during World War I in response to government-contracted work.
Its product line grew to include automatic starters and switches, circuit breakers, relays and other
electric equipment. In 1914, Fred Loock established the companys first sales office in New York.

Upon co-founder Stanton Allens death in 1916, Lynde Bradley became president. Harry Bradley
was appointed vice president and attorney Louis Quarles was named corporate secretary.
In 1918 Allen-Bradley hired its first female factory worker, Julia Bizewski Polczynski, who was
promoted to foreman the following year.

During the 1920s, the company grew its miniature rheostat business to support the burgeoning
radio industry. By the middle of this decade, nearly 50 percent of the companys sales were
attributed to the radio department. The decade closed with record company sales of $3 million.
By 1932, the Great Depression had taken its toll and the company posted record losses. Amid
growing economic pressure, Allen-Bradley reduced its workforce from 800 to 550 and cut wages
by 50 percent. To lessen the financial burden, Lynde and Harry Bradley implemented a unique
program: the company replaced employees lost wages with preferred stock. Eventually, the
company bought back all stock at six percent interest.
Throughout this period, Lynde Bradley supported an aggressive research and development
approach intended to develop the company out of the Depression. Lynde Bradleys R&D
strategy was successful. By 1937, Allen-Bradley employment had rebounded to pre-Depression
levels and company sales reached an all-time high of nearly $4 million.

Julia Polczynski was the first female to work at Rockwell Automation.

Mid-20th century

The Allen-Bradley/Rockwell Automation clock tower under construction.

Following the death of Lynde Bradley in 1942, Harry Bradley became company president and
Fred Loock was promoted to vice president. The Lynde Bradley Foundation, a charitable trust,
was established with Lynde Bradleys assets. The foundations first gift of $12,500 was made to
Milwaukees Community Fund, predecessor of the United Way.
World War II fueled unprecedented levels of production, with 80 percent of the companys orders
being war-related. Wartime orders were centered on two broad lines of products industrial
controls to speed production and electrical components or radio parts used in a wide range of
military equipment.
Allen-Bradley expanded its facilities numerous times during the 1940s to meet war-time
production needs. With Fred Loock serving as president and Harry Bradley as chairman, the
company began a major $1 million, two-year expansion project in 1947. The company completed
additional expansions at its Milwaukee facilities in the 1950s and 1960s, including the AllenBradley clock tower. The clock tower has since been renamed, and is known today as
the Rockwell Automation clock tower.

Harry Bradley died in 1965. Fred Loock retired in 1967 and died in 1973.

Late 20th century

During the 1970s, the company expanded its production facilities and markets and entered the
1980s as a global company. With president J. Tracy O'Rourke (1981-89) at the helm, the
company introduced a new line of programmable logic controllers, the PLC-3, in 1981.
In 1985 privately owned Allen-Bradley set a new fiscal record with sales of $1 billion. On
February 20, 1985 Rockwell International purchased Allen-Bradley for $1.651 billion. This was
the largest acquisition in Wisconsin's history to date.
The 1990s featured continued technology development, including the companys launch of its
software business, Rockwell Software (1994), the Logix control platform (1997) and the
Integrated Architecture system (1999).
During this decade, Rockwell International also acquired a power systems business, composed
of Reliance Electric and Dodge. These two brands, combined with control systems brands AllenBradley and Rockwell Software, were marketed as Rockwell Automation.
In 1998, Keith Nosbusch was named president of Rockwell Automation Control Systems.
Rockwell International Corporation headquarters was moved to Milwaukee, Wisconsin the same
year.

21st century
Rockwell International Corporation changed its name to Rockwell Automation in 2002 and
continues to trade on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol ROK.
Keith Nosbusch was named chief executive officer in 2004.
In 2007, Rockwell Automation sold the Power Systems division to focus on its core competencies
in automation and information technology.

The current Rockwell Automation headquarters in Milwaukee, Wis.

Current of Automation

Industrial Automation Solution Layers

Most industrial automation networks are divided into three solution layers the
supervisor level, the control level and the field level. The first focuses mainly on
PC-based systems (desktop, rack-mounted and panel PCs), equipped with
standard operating systems (such as Microsoft Windows) and supplier-specific
industrial process control software for process parameterization and
visualization.
The control level refers to the automation systems (programmable logic
controllers or PLCs) where automation programs are executed. Control systems
require robust real-time capability and usually have their own controller
architecture and proprietary operating system.
Last but not least, the field level encompasses all terminal equipment such as
sensors (optical, magnetic, thermal, etc.) and actuators (magnetic valves, power
switches, motor starters, etc.) which work with a peripheral PLC or remote I/O
system, collecting data and communicating it to the main PLC via a field bus.

Single-source Answer to all your Design Needs

Our portfolio gives manufacturers one-stop access to all the devices and
solutions they need across all three solution layers. At the supervisor level, our
semiconductor devices are designed to provide the necessary levels of
robustness and security. For control applications, you will find our products in
PLCs, human machine interfaces and field bus devices. And at the field level,
customers can rely on our rich portfolio for micro PLCs, motor control devices,
sensors and actuator drives.
As the leader in hardware-based embedded security, we also provide robust
protection across software and hardware layers at all three levels.
Complementing our OPTIGA TPM (Trusted Platform Module) security controllers
to protect the integrity and authenticity of automation devices and systems in
automation networks, our OPTIGA authentication solutions help you protect IP
and avoid counterfeits.
Fuji Electronic (for current example of automation)

Fuji Electrics automation business activities

Fuji Electrics activities for automation technology

Safety technology Fuji Electric has long been engaged in efforts to increase the
reliability of plant safety control systems for power utilities, public utilities,
factories and the like, and has also been involved in many efforts including plant
and device fault diagnosis based on sensor technology. Fuji Electric has also
achieved many successful results with security management for information
control systems and the like. Additionally, Fuji Electric is stepping up efforts to
train engineers and provide products so as to comply with standards and
regulations for safety of machinery and functional safety. In all its products, Fuji
Electric endeavours to incorporate safety system design principles based on risk
assessment and on development using safety techniques that conform to
international standards.

Platform development
Previously, development was performed uniquely according to the industry
sector, organizational structure and type of equipment, and as a result, the
development period would be prolonged, and technology would stagnate and
efficiency would decrease due to the individual development. Therefore, Fuji
Electric is moving ahead with efforts to establish a common platform (crosssectional development and establishment of infrastructure technology) that
would provide a technical foundation. The establishment of a platform enables
development processes and technology to be shared and standardized, software
and hardware components to be standardized, and efforts to develop leading
edge technology to be shared and the technology accumulated. Consequently,
the development period can be shortened, technical sophistication enhanced,
and quality improved.

Embedded system technology

Software is embedded in all sorts of electronic devices. Moreover, as the scale of
development work continues to increase, it is important that the development
work be more efficient and result in higher quality products. For this purpose,
hardware and software platforms have also been established for embedded
systems, and the standardization and modularization of development techniques
and development processes are being advanced.

3R Engineering
Fuji Electric is advancing the use of common platforms for software development
and for engineering work involving the controller, computer and HMI (human
machine interface) devices that configure a control system, and the use of an
integrated engineering environment to improve work efficiency. The result

promotes the reducing of design and development work, the reusing of design
assets, and the recycling of components. Fuji Electric calls this 3R (Reduce,
Reuse, Recycle) engineering.

Control technology
Control technology is the core technology for realizing optimization and
prediction and diagnosis capabilities in order to improve the energy savings and
safety of devices and plants, and Fuji Electric has long been involved in this core
technology. By engaging in efforts to establish platforms for single-input-singleoutput PID control and multivariable model predictive control, and to train control
engineers, Fuji Electric aims to raise the level of applied technology. Fuji Electric
is also heavily involved in non-linear optimization technology and multi-variable
statistical process control technology

Configuration of next-generation automation system

Future Generation of Automation

Although industrial automation in manufacturing in not without its detractors
(such as an unsubstantiated claim that it will lead to mass unemployment), its
future looks very bright. Industrial robots of the future will be multi-functional so
that the same machine can be put to several different uses. They will have many
capabilities associated with human workers, such as the ability to make decisions
and to work autonomously. They will also have self-diagnostic and predictive
maintenance capabilities.

Thanks to industrial automation of manufacturing, the factory of the future will

be more efficient in the utilization of energy, raw material and human resources.
Also, contrary to popular belief, the experience so far has shown that automation
will not cause mass unemployment. On the contrary, the mass use of robots will
create more jobs. Humans and robots will work together to create a more
efficient and productive workspace.

Home automation

Future trends for control and process

The Siemens Exide train was a roadshow concept developed for Siemens
Automation & Drives to showcase the future of automation.