Building and Cost Analysis of an Industrial Automation System using Industrial Robots and PLC Integration

Abstract

Technology rapidly advances on a daily basis and the resulting changes can provide numerousbenefits for manufacturing methods and machines. Manufacturers who are able to swiftly embrace thesedevelopments can increase their manufacturing output, thereby boosting profitability and gainingcompetitive advantages over their rivals. However, the cost savings which result from new innovationscan vary, depending on the manufacturing model. Consequently, manufacturers need to conduct accurateanalyses for appropriate manufacturing methods in order to ensure that new changes are cost-effective.Nowadays, the use of industrial automation systems is gaining popularity as a method of increasingprofitability for mass production, and these systems utilize control systems, such as industrial robots andprogrammable logic controllers. The use of these elements in the manufacturing process not onlyprovides quality and flexible production methods, which are indispensable considerations, but alsoconserves human effort. The aim of this study was to minimize the cost of a factory-installed industrialautomation system, which produced globe valves with side couplings, through the combined use ofindustrial robots and programmable logic controllers. While calculating returns from the installed system,the differential evolution algorithm was used to predict future unit prices of electricity, and it wasdetermined that the cost of investment would be recovered after a maximum of 2.5 years and that currentyearly production would increase fourfold.