LOW COST AUTOMATION

(NPC TRAINING MANUAL)

Prepared by
H.S. DWARKANATH
Formerly Chief Consultant, NPC







National Productivity Council
Productivity House, Lodi Road
New Delhi 1100 03






INTRODUCTIORY NOTE
The National Productivity Council, since 1958, has conducted a large number of training
programmes in the fields of Industrial Management, Industrial Relations, and Industrial Engineering.
Its specialists have also 'peen carrying .out an increasing number of consultancy assignments in a
wide variety of organisations using different tools and techniques of productivity improvement. These
experiences are being consolidated in the form of Training Manuals, as they would be of benefit not
only to its own specialists, but also to the Local Productivity Councils, and other training
organisations in the country..
The Training Manuals, numbering 21 in all, are just an attempt at systematising and
consolidating the course contents, which' would undergo progressive improvement from time to time.
It is the experience of the Council that a good Training Manual in the field of productivity should be
essentially practice-oriented, illustrating the applied aspects for effective communication to the
trainees. It is hoped that the experience of the NPC specialists as trainers-cum consultants would
make the Training Manuals useful to the needs of Indian industries and other organisations.




























I. Low Cost Automation
Introduction
India is fast developing industrially. The industrial growth, particularly during the last
decade, has been considerable. This growth, of course, is not free from the attendant problems. In
a country like ours, which has mainly an agricultural based economy, the industrial development is
very likely to change the existing conditions.
In our country, one can come across' factories with outdated and inefficient technology and
also factories with modern and highly sophisticated technology. The main reason for the latter is the
fact that the latest technological developments from the already developed countries have been
transplanted is worth while to remember that the technological advancement that has taken place in
the developed countries has been, achieved in stages, depending upon the changed conditions and
requirements. For example many of the developments in industrially more advanced countries
require minimum lab our force because of the fact that increasing wages, shortage of skilled lab our,
and lower Productivity have made the older technologies~ inadequate to meet the demands,
inefficient, and uneconomical. It is- not necessary to stress here as to what would be the result of
such overnight transplantation of latest technologies from industrially advanced countries to a
developing country like ours where there is abundance of labour and also whose social and
economic conditions are different from those of many of the developed' countries.
Consider, for example, a technology which was discontinued in a developed country because
of high labour involvement, and which (country) went in for an advanced technology which required
lesser labour. There. is no reason why an. industrial organisation in a developing country like ours
should not have that (earlier) technology instead of the latest and highly automated one. In fact, the
former (technology) could be had with lesser capital investment and, in addition, it has the added
advantage that it can provide employment to more number of people. Besides these, the
industrialisation can be spread to rural areas, thereby reducing the concentration, in a small umber of
cities and minimising the social
1
Problems resulting there from. In addition, the demands of the market that is catered to by the industries in
a developing country may not be high. enough to warrant huge investments in a highly sophisticated
technology.
The word Automation has run into bad weather in most of the countries. This is because, generally,
automation is considered as being represented by computerisation, and which is feared as leading to
unemployment. Automation can be without computerisation, and it can be very simple also. This form of
automation, which is popularly known as Low Cost Automation, enables the industrialist to improve his
manufacturing methods and efficiency without going in for costly machinery. Low Cost Automation
should not be regarded in terms of a specified maximum capital outlay, but as an approach to
automation using equipment and control devices that are, in general, both technically and economically,
within the scope of the company concerned.
The main aim of Low Cost Automation is to increase Productivity and
quality of products and reduce the cost of production, and not reduce labour.
Even the lower level technologies can be made highly productive by
automation at low cost and in simple form.
What is Low Cost Automation?
Low Cost Automation (popularly known as LCA), is the introduction of simple
pneumatic, hydraulic, mechanical and electrical devices into the existing production machinery, with a
view to improving their productivity. These would also enable the operation of these equipment by even
semi-skilled and unskilled labour, with a little training. This will involve the use of standardised parts and
devices to mechanise or automate machines, processes and systems. Utilising a human being as a source
of energy is an inefficient method, in addition to being boring and monotonous to the worker. It is
estimated that it costs approximately 400 times as much for a man to supply 1 kwh of energy as it does to
get this from electrical power. Similarly, using an operator as a sensing device is not, only un-economical
but also would result in excessive fatigue.
Misconception About Automation
There has been considerable opposition towards automation. The
very word
itself brings strong reactions. It is considered a new tool in the hands of management to
dispense with the workers. It is feared that introduction of automation would lead to large scale
unemployment and hence, considered as an enemy of the working class. Let us try to find out how far
these are true.
First of all, the concept of automation is not new; only the word is comparatively new. Describing
automation, it is said that its main characteristics are 'feedback' or 'closed loop' system. There is nothing
new about the feedback
system as, long ago, J ames Watt invented the governor, which is
essentially a feed back mechanism, to provide the steam engine with a smooth constant speed control
under changing load conditions. Secondly, automation is also described as numerical control, punched or
magnetic tape control. Again, there is nothing new in this, as in the early 18th century Basil Buchan
designed the punched card control for looms to get the desired pattern woven correctly, without faults due
to human error.
As regards the fear of increased unemployment it is true that indiscriminate application of automation on
a large scale would result in increased unemployment problem. But, it is worth remembering here that it
'is not the automation itself but the application that is to be blamed. Low cost Automation. which
unfortunately has not received as much attention as it deserves, perhaps because of lack of publicity, lack
of knowledge and understanding, does not lead to retrenchment as is feared by many. Low C6St
Automation results in improvements in production processes, systems etc. And any improvements would
result in reduced time for the work being done and, if the quantum of work remains the same,
requirements of labour would reduce. But, looking to a growing economy like ours, the demand for
commodities are rarely met. Therefore, if the amount of time taken to do a job is reduced, more number of
jobs can be done in a day, a month or a year. This means that there would be increased productivity with
attendant reduction in the unit cost of production. No doubt there would be some minor displacement of
workers, but this would not result in retrenchment of workers as. the increased output and increased
market demand would definitely not only absorb whatever workers have been found surplus but also
provide employment opportunities to some more. But shunning away from improvement, thinking that it
would result in displacement of some workers from their existing place, would, in the long run, affect the
company in the smaller sense and the economy as a whole in the broader sense. One should not lose sight
of the long term benefits of increased productivity, which is essential for achieving prosperity.
Another argument one comes across is that 'our labour is cheap; so why go in for LCA? This is a clear
case of misunderstanding between 'cheap labour' and 'low labour costs'. The point that should be
remembered is not how much we pay a person but how much output we get for each rupee we pay.