Automation is the third phase in the development of technology that began with the industrialization of the 18th century. First came mechanization which created the factory system and separated labour and management in production. Mechanization was a technology based on forms and applications of power. Mass production came next. It was a technology based on principles of production and organization. Automation is a technology based on communication, computation and control.
The truly automated devices must possess one or more of the following elements: system approach, programmability, feedback.
With a system approach, factories which make things by passing them through successive stages of manufacturing without people intervening to transfer lines are considered automated systems. These carry components past lines of machine-tools which each cuts them automatically. People are not required; the machines clamp the parts out of themselves without a workman being present. Thus transfer lines are different from assembly lines where people are very much in evidence.
With programmability, a system can do more than one kind of job. An industrial robot is an automated machine. It works automatically and an operator can reprogram the computer that controls it to make the machine do different things.
Finally, feedback makes an automatic device vary its routine according to changes that take place around it. An automatic machine-tool with feedback would have sensors that detect, for example, if the metal it is cutting is wrongly shaped. If it is, the sensors instruct the machine to vary its routine accordingly. Other examples of devices with feedback are robots with vision or other sensors that can see or feel what they are doing.
Most examples of automation in factories today are not programmable; neither do they work with feedback. They are simply sets of machine-tools linked together according to systems approach. These mechanisms are inflexible. They turn out only one kind of part, which is all very well if the manufacturer wants to make thousands of identical components. But if he wants to change his routine, the machinery is not very useful. This is the case while automation is inflexible, flexible automation is on the way. Here, automated machinery has programmability and feedback and can turn out different kinds of components. The equipment will make a tremendous difference to factory floors throughout the world. Flexible automation adds up to a new industrial era.
Topical Vocabulary
to separate - ,
computation ,
successive stages -
approach
feedback
to intervene -
machine-tool -
clamp ,
transfer line
assembly line
in evidence
routine
sensor -
detect ,
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instruct ,
inflexible -
to count - ,
to carry -
to cut -
routine - .
a set of - ,
to turn out - ,
Answer the questions:
1. What is automation based on?
2. What is mechanization based on?
3. What elements must the automated devices possess?
4. What is an industrial robot?
5. Are the mechanisms inflexible or flexible today?
18. Todays Astonishing Computers
We know a computer to be a complex electronic device that can store and process vast quantities of information. Following instructions, computing equipment will perform calculations such as addition, subtraction, multiplication and division, and provide the answers to a large variety of problems in a tiny fraction of time.
There are two main types of computing equipment digital and analogue. They work differently and yield different results. The digital computer is performing a much broader range of functions than the analogue one.
The analogue computer, as its name implies, produces analogues or parallels of the process to be described or the problem to be solved. Both the digital and the analogue computers must be programmed. This means they must be set up in such a way that they can produce a result from the information fed into them, and the information itself must be organized so that it can be handled by the machines. These devices working by electronic impulses perform at fantastic speed and with great precision.
Nowadays computer makers are working at the problem of introducing small computers into our everyday life making them personal. They are trying to develop a computer that will understand human language. Each new generation of computers opens up new possibilities for basic and applied research.
An entirely new microcomputer has been developed in our country. The microcomputer is equipped with an arithmetical logical device which carries pre-set programs. Because of this the microcomputer can perform various logical functions. In other words, it possesses a solving field for various commands. It is comparatively easy to change commands or add new ones.
The new computer is very small in size and weight, resistant to temperature fluctuations, reliable and easy to perate, it does not require special ventilation. It can be used in computer control complexes as an information-processing unit and also as a built-in computer in various analysing and display devices. It receives data, calculates the optimum conditions and supplies signals for the control of technological processes. For example, in pressure-die casting the microcomputer receives information about the temperature in the furnace, the speed of the liquid metal movements, location of the various devices, etc. The computer processes the data and controls the casting, i. e. keeps the temperature and the pressure within required limits, and commands the beginning of the casting operation. The program is written by technicians, and the operator inserts the required data.
The field of application of the new computer appears to be vast. It can analyse various substances in oil, gas, chemical and food industries, as well as soil and plants. It can also be used for processing information about conditions in the environment, for control of conveyors and other equipment.
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Topical Vocabulary
astonishing -
store ,
addition -
subtraction -
multiplication -
division -
in tiny fraction of time
data processing system
accomplish
data ,
describe
analogue
digital
generation
plant
precision
process
range
reliable
set up(set)
yield ,
add
entirely
environment ,
fluctuation
food
furnace
casting ,
insert
pre-set
pressure-die casting ,
soil
unit
unplug
vast
Answer the questions:
1. What is a computer?
2. What calculations can a computer perform?
3. How many types of computing equipment are there?
4. What work does the digital computing equipment perform?
5. What work does the analogue computing equipment perform?
6. How can you describe the microcomputer?
Management
All organizations, whether small or large, have to be managed. Management means the planning, controlling, directing and coordinating of various ideas, activities and programs in order to achieve a stated objective. This means that there is a need for people with special abilities and skills.
The main responsibility of the senior managers of any business is decision-making. These decisions are connected with planning, organizing, directing and controlling the work to be done.
Planning has to be undertaken at all levels of management. An organization without proper plans is like a ship without a rudder.
Managers have to decide what to produce, how it should be produced, and for whom. This is at the centre of the planning process. The operation also involves:
1. estimating what resources will be needed,
2. considering what problems are likely to arise,
3. deciding how these can best be overcome.
Plans may be long-term or short-term, depending upon the time period they are designed to cover. Long-term plans are mainly concerned with the main broad objectives which a business or a department hopes ultimately to achieve. These plans take the form of either strategic or tactical plans.
Short-term plans are concerned with the specific activities necessary to achieve the long-term aims. They are usually operational plans prepared by departmental managers and senior supervisors. They set out in detail, for each department, the working plans for the immediate future.
The ultimate responsibility of management is to direct. This means making decisions and issuing the necessary commands through the management structure.
A business is usually divided into a number of departments, each being responsible for a specific range of work (such as production, finance, personnel, marketing). The structure of the departments and sub-departments can be shown in an organization chart. This shows the departments how they are related to each other, and the lines of communication between them.
Organization charts differ from personnel charts. These show the posts held by individuals, their job titles and, sometimes, the span of control. The charts, therefore, indicate how responsibilities are divided between different individuals, and who is responsible to whom.
Plans are pointless unless there is a periodic check a control on what is being achieved. Whereas planning is concerned with the future, control is concerned with the (immediate) past. Problems can arise at any point during the implementation of a plan. Furthermore, unless a specific check is made on them, they can go unnoticed for so long that they become impossible to remedy.
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There are several different types of control. Some can be measured in specific quantity terms. With these, an actual figure proposed in the plan (often known as the budgeted or standard figure) can be compared with the figure actually achieved. For example, the planned quantity of raw material expected to be used, together with its anticipated cost, can be compared with the actual quantity used and the actual cost. Similarly, the standard (i.e. anticipated) wage rates and the time a job is expected to take can be compared with the actual.
Topical Vocabulary
management -
objective ,
ability ,
undertake
rudder -
overcome -
ultimately
concern ,
supervisor -
set out -
chart , ,
span ,
pointless -
implementation of a plan
remedy
anticipate ,
wage
rate , .
Answer the questions:
1. What are the main functions of management?
2. What are the senior managers responsible for?
3. Who decides what to produce, how it should be produced, and for whom?
4. What are the long-term plans are concerned with?
5 What are the short-term plans concerned with?
6. What is a control?
Marketing
If production is to meet needs efficiently, two things are necessary.
These are:
Producers must know what to produce.
Consumers must know that it is being produced.
Linking these two factors together is the task and responsibility of the marketing staff.
Marketing involves keeping producers aware of consumers and ensuring that their products are made available to consumers in the way and from they want.
Note the emphasis on meeting the needs of consumers. Any firm which accepts this need as its main responsibility is said to be dominated by the marketing concept. This attitude distinguishes firms in free-market economies from those in centrally-planned economies where central government dictates what should be produced and supplied to consumers.
The marketing function involves:
Market research
This involves finding out:
a) what consumers want and advising producers accordingly, and
b) recommending the standard of quality, style of packaging, choice of brand-name and general design of the products concerned.
Distribution
Products can be distributed to consumers in different ways. Some are best distributed through the manufacturers own retail outlet, some through a network of wholesalers and retailers, others by direct mail-order.
Pricing
Marketing managers should always be in close touch with market conditions so that they can advise on the best price (not necessarily the highest) to charge for products.
Advertising
If customers do not know about new products, they will never buy them. They also need to be reminded, from time to time, of the existence of established products. Marketing managers are expected to know the best ways to advertise products. This involves choice of media (for example, radio, television, press, hoardings). It also involves knowing the best form advertisements should take, and the advertising slogan to be used.
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Selling
This involves the skills of personal selling, together with display and presentation skills such as those involved in window displays, exhibitions, news releases, and product promotions.
Topical Vocabulary
meeting the needs
involve -
producer -
consumer -
ensure -
emphasis -
distribution -
retail
outlet
mail-order
wholesale
charge
advertise -
release
promotion -
Answer the questions:
1.What does marketing involve?
2. What is the purpose ofmarket research?
3. What does distributing involve?
4. How are products advertised?
5. What is meant by pricing?
1 .., .., .. . .: , 2002. 463 .
2 .., .., .., .. . .: , 1990. 416 .
3 . 95 . .: ., 2002. 300 .
4 - .., .. . . .: . .: , 2005. 94 .
5 .., .., .., .. . .: , 2002. 463 .
6 .. . . .: -. 1997. 244 .
Problems of the Modern World......................................... 1
Human Rights....................................................... 1
Problems of the Youth.................................................2
Environmental Potection............................................... 5
Advantages and Disadvantages of TV.....................................8
Problems of City and Country Life.......................................10
Youth and Unemployment............................................. 12
Business Correspondence...........................................13
Etiquette............................................................ 17
Applying for a Job...................................................20
What a Businessman Should Know...................................... 26
Science and Technology.............................................. 28
Space Exploration....................................................30
The Oil Industry..................................................... 32
Outstanding Personalities.............................................. 34
The Mass Media..................................................... 37
The Engineering Profession.............................................39
The Role of Automation in Industry...................................... 40
Todays Astonishing Computers.........................................42
Management........................................................ 44
Marketing.......................................................... 45
................................................. 47
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