Automation’s Benefits for Industry and the Environment

Automation helps companies operate profitably while using energy as efficiently as possible and reducing the amount of materials needed to create products. End users operate leaner and the environment is cleaner.

Look closely at automation’s specific benefits for where we work and live.

Reducing Factory Waste

Automation systems generate “little waste heat, using the minimum power, and focusing on controlled and precise movements.”

Smart software running robots and capturing images acts as the brain. 

Automation can improve factory performance in specific areas. 

Creating an Eco-Friendly World

Robots are being manufactured to be safe for the environment and they’re also working to create eco-friendly products. They’ve been used in the automotive industry to handle tasks like spraying water-soluble seals on cars, an adhesive that improves the air quality within the vehicle.

Now agriculture is taking a twist. Look for robots on a fully automated lettuce farm in Japan.

A Japanese company, Spread, is automating agriculture “to supply food to all people equally and fairly around the globe.”

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An indoor vegetable factory will yield 30,000 heads of lettuce every day with about 25 people. The robots have been described as “conveyor belts with arms” and will plant seeds, water, and trim lettuce heads after harvest.

Just like automation has benefits through the entire supply chain, it also helps when families toss out what they’ve bought.

Improving Recycling

Household recycling is a normal practice in many communities nationwide. Within the recycling centers themselves there is room for improvement. In North Las Vegas, Republic Services used a variety of technologies to create a smart recycling center. A write-up on Automation World, The Automation Behind North America’s ‘Largest and Smartest’ Recycling Center described how the site can process 2 million pounds of recyclable materials a day, or 70 tons an hour. A load dropped from a truck at one end of the plant can be completely sorted and baled on the other end within 3 minutes.

Discover more innovative applications with automation. Stay on top of developments and best practices with resources through A3.