Search Results

Automation in manufacturing is not a new idea. Automation remained simple until computers became available. The design, deployment, and utilization of cheap, simple automation became a lost art. We have begun to rediscover this art-“low cost automation,” or LCA, at NMMC. There is no textbook definition of LCA. One must consider LCA versus high-cost automation (HCA) from the perspective of the budget approval process, anticipated life cycle, complexity of control mechanism, and whether it is a general- or specific-purpose item. There isn't a specific dollar figure as a cutoff. HCA is a capital spending item. LCA shouldn't be. Low cost also refers to the life cycle maintenance costs of the item. HCA items may fill a wide variety of applications over a long life cycle. An LCA device at the end of its utilization cycle would be recycled for use in next-generation LCA applications. The true LCA device has a very simple guidance or control system, or even none at all.