Tag: Kobus Vermeulen

For decades, Distributed Control Systems (DCS) have served as the backbone of industrial automation. They remain integral to the efficient operation of manufacturing plants worldwide. Yet, these systems have a notable limitation: the high cost and complexity of traditional I/O hardware. However, Edge I/O technology is driving a seismic shift, revolutionising the landscape of industrial automation. This shift is revolutionising DCS with Edge I/O across multiple industries.

Enough cannot be said about both the historical and current importance of distributed control systems and their role in industrial automation. It is therefore only fitting that we talk about their continuous evolution and future too. For years, plants have relied on a mismatch of small Programmable Logic Controllers (PLCs) and proprietary black boxes to manage localised tasks. These systems were extremely effective in their time.

Industrial operations are, like the rest of the world, facing a fundamental generational workforce change. Today, most baby boomers, those experienced operators aged between 61 and 79, are projected to retire by 2035. As a younger, more mobile generation steps in, the traditional model of long apprenticeships and gradual knowledge transfer is no longer sustainable.

Today’s mineral processing companies face almost-universal challenges, including efficiently managing resources and high energy consumption, environmental compliance, barriers to technological adoption and perpetual shortage of skilled labour.

Worldwide, there has been a concerted effort to phase out older network technologies like 2G and 3G. The radio spectrum is finite, and whilst difficult to imagine, these older mobile technologies are literally taking up valuable space.