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This is a paper I wrote for a presentation I just gave in Lima, Peru to a group of Automation Professionals sponsored by TECSUP. It is also my first blog update using the MS Word tool so the formatting is a little off. More practice needed there. One thing of note is that it killed all of my references which I have pasted at the bottom. Enjoy!! Abstract Abstract Automation as a profession has suffered from a long overdue lack of recognition. As our manufacturing plants continue their path to efficiency and productivity, automation will play an increasingly critical role. Fortunately, many things are converging to elevate the profession to the prominence it needs and deserves to be the player in shaping the factory of the future. This paper is a compilation of many sources of information and describes the many efforts underway to accomplish the important task of promoting the profession.
Disclaimer Many portions of this paper are direct copies from other sources and the author has made every attempt to credit these sources. The author acknowledges that this paper is compilation of the information available. The reasoning for this copy is to maintain consistency of the message and acknowledge the great work that has gone on before this paper was written.
For automation, it takes an expanded meaning still as the profession is so vast. It encompasses professionals from many different backgrounds, specialties, training, education, roles and experience. All of these careers are interwoven into the fabric of the automation profession.
Automation involves technicians, engineers, scientists and other professionals. These highly skilled individuals come from industry, academia, and government around the world. It is our job to bring them all together and advance the efforts in a collaborative and efficient way to benefit all mankind. It is our responsibility to provide good stewardship for the profession!
Another challenge comes from the fact that there are many specific subsets of automation, from technicians to researchers to sales. In many cases, these jobs look very different to the outsider but are actually all part of the same overall profession. In manufacturing, we dont actually build the product but the plant could not produce the product without us. The term manufacturing is used in this paper in the broadest of meanings encompassing all industries (Process, Oil and Gas, Chemical, Food, Beverage, Pharmaceuticals, Batch, Continuous, Discrete, Robotics, etc). We operate in the background. In fact, nothing can be made in todays global economy without some form of automation. Unfortunately, we still suffer from an identity crisis.
Combine these items with an inaccurate and negative perception of manufacturing being a dirty place to work with dead end careers, and the profession suffers another blow.
Further evidence of this occurred in the early 2000s, when the International Society of Automation (ISA) con ducted market research into the recognition of the automation profession. The findings were good and bad. The good message was that automation did not have a bad reputation. However, the bad message was that automation had no reputation. The overwhelming majority of the public does not know who we are and does not understand what we do.
As budgets tighten and staffs reduce, many firms are no longer able to train and mentor new workers in the ways of automation. They are no longer able to fund trips to conferences and supplier shows to learn new technologies and stay abreast of trends in the industry. The time commitment required of these folks to perform their primary jobs prevents them from being able to learn, volunteer in professional societies, network and and stay connected on their own.
Many issues converge to prevent the profession from becoming well known and a choice career for young people. Without the time to promote the profession individually, we all suffer as our workloads continue to get larger as our management does not understand the value we bring to bear. But we must not let the urgent continue to take priority over the important.
involved in the creation and application of technology to monitor and control the production and delivery of products and services. Automation encompasses many vital elements, systems, and job functions. Automation provides benefits to virtually all of industry. Here are a few examples:
Manufacturing including food and pharmaceutical, chemical and petroleum, pulp and paper Transportation including automotive, aerospace, and rail Utilities including water and wastewater, oil and gas, electric power, and telecommunications Defense including logistics, unmanned aircraft, communications, electronics, etc Facility operations including security, environmental control, energy management, safety, and other building automation And many others Automation crosses all functions within industry from installation, integration, and maintenance to design, procurement, and management. Automation even reaches into the other functions such as health, safety, marketing, sales and more. Automation involves a very broad range of technologies including instrumentation, control systems engineering, robotics and expert systems, telemetry and communications, electro-optics, Cybersecurity, process measurement and control, sensors, wireless applications, systems integration, test measurement, and many, many more.
A Competency Model is a formal federal document that clearly defines what a person needs to know and be able to do to perform well in an occupationthe knowledge, skills, and abilities required. Competency models are developed through research and industry validation; and, once completed, are promoted, maintained, and updated.
In 2009, the Automation Federation, in collaboration with the Employment and Training Administration (ETA) of the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), completed the Automation Competency Model (the first produced by the DOL). Automation industry leaders and ETA staff worked together to develop this comprehensive competency model for careers in automation with the intent of aiding and increasing the number of individuals pursuing careers in this vital profession. In addition to the expertise contributed by industry leaders, A Guide to the Automation Body of nd Knowledge, 2 Edition, Vernon L. Trevathan, editor, served as the basis for the technical competencies portions of the model. The model also incorporates all of the technical domains of a Certified Control Systems Technician (CCST) and Certified Automation Professional (CAP) as explained later in this paper.
The model is a web-based, interactive tool describing the competencies required for a career in automation. The user should access the model online and take advantage of the tools built into it. If that is not feasible, one can download additional tools including a spreadsheet and a paper from the website that fully describes all of the pieces of the model. The following is an excerpt from that document.
ABOUT THE MODEL The Automation Competency Model is depicted in a pyramid graphic with nine tiers. This shape illustrates how occupational and industry competencies build on a foundation of personal effectiveness, academic, and workplace competencies. Each tier is comprised of blocks representing the skills, knowledge, and
abilities essential for successful performance in the industry or occupation represented by the model. At the base of the model, the competencies apply to a large number of occupations and industries. As a user moves up the model, the competencies become industry and occupation specific. However, the graphic is not intended to represent a sequence of competency attainment or suggest that certain competencies are of greater value or higher skill than others. The graphic is accompanied by a table which contains definitions and associated key behaviors for each competency block.
COMPETENCY MODEL TIERS Tiers 1 through 3, called Foundation Competencies, form the foundation needed to be ready to enter the workplace.
Tier 1 Personal Effectiveness Competencies are shown as hovering below the pyramid because they represent personal attributes or soft skills that may present some challenges to teach or assess. Essential for all life roles, personal effectiveness competencies generally are learned in the home or community and reinforced at school and in the workplace. Tier 2 Academic Competencies are critical competencies primarily learned in a school setting. They include cognitive functions and thinking styles, and are likely to apply to most industries and occupations. Tier 3 Workplace Competencies represent motives and traits, as well as interpersonal and selfmanagement styles honed in the workplace. They generally are applicable to a large number of occupations and industries.
Tiers 4 and 5, called Industry Competencies, show competencies that are specific to the industry or industry sector. The cross-cutting industry-wide technical competencies make it possible to show career lattices within an industry wherein a worker can move easily across industry sub-sectors. As a result, this model supports the development of an agile workforce, rather than narrowly following a single occupational career ladder. Tier 4 Industry-Wide Technical Competencies represent the knowledge and skills that are common across the sectors within a broader industry. These technical competencies build on, but are more specific than, a competency represented on a lower tier. Tier 5 Industry-Sector Technical Competencies represent a sub-set of industry technical competencies that are specific to an industry sector, in this case Automation. Development of the technical competencies relied heavily on A Guide to the Automation Body of Knowledge, 2nd Edition, Vernon L. Trevathan, Editor.
Tiers 6 through 9 represent the specialization that occurs within specific occupations within an industry. Information on occupational competencies is available through O*NET OnLine (http://online.onetcenter.org/).
Sample job descriptions can also be found through the website which links the user back to the Automation Federation website. The following sample job descriptions are located there:
Automation Technician Control Software Engineer Control Systems Engineer Enterprise Integration Engineer Automation Network Engineer Automation Sales-Marketing Professional
A three year update occurred in June, 2011 and the additional job description for Advanced Process Control Engineer was added. In order to maintain the model, a review is required every three years at a minimum. These reviews look at the current status of the profession and ensure the model fits. Where it is lacking, it is improved. Professionals from all over the automation profession are solicited for input such that a good cross section of knowledge is accounted for.
EuropeanUnion. Brazil is looking at the model and the certifications to be a regulatory requirement for automation professionals.
By having a profession defined, the quality of the professionals we must interact with increases and the quality and impact of the solutions developed will also increase. Some of the worlds toughest problems will be solved by automation professionals. With a profession, the ability to network and communicate with other peers becomes easier. Identifying technology trends and driving those trends to meet industry need becomes less challenging. Influencing manufacturing policy as it relates to safety, quality, productivity and technology becomes easier. More importantly, automation is invited to the table when important discussions take place. We become a legitimate force in the multidisciplinary engineering effort to solve the Grand Challenges of the world. Automation will get involved much earlier in projects as it can single handedly impact the success or failure of a project more than any other discipline. Since automation is often seen as a solution where other efforts fail, it only makes sense that we get involved earlier in the project Our hope is that one day we will see Chief Automation Officers driving global automation initiatives within manufactures yielding the promised returns on investment. We will stop implementing technology for the sake of technology and as Peter Martin says in his book, Bottom Line Automation, we will start implementing technology for the bottom line. We will develop automatic processes instead of automating manual ones As our prominence elevates, the value of what we can do for our manufacturers will come to light. We will finally be recognized for producing the results automation promises.
Moving Forward
Moving the profession forward requires assistance from all automation professionals. We are gaining momentum at many levels of the government and in the public discourse. We need your help as we continue to promote the profession. We need regional contacts for government, academia, companies and others that can impact the profession. We need you to drive certification and the Automation Competency Model in your companies. Most of all, we need you to be involved in building your profession. There are many ways to get involved. The International Society of Automation has Sections all over the world. If there is not one near you, think about starting one. Look at becoming certified and/or developing a training program. Mentor a group of young people. The opportunities are endless. It is time we as automation professional become proud of our profession. We need to mentor young people to stay interested in math and science and look at becoming automation professionals. We need to tap our military veterans that have highly specialized training and can be easily redeployed into automation careers with a small amount of training. We need to stand up and be heard. The task looks daunting but it must start somewhere. A small group of us started just a few years ago and we have accomplished a great deal. Just think of the possibilities when more people get involved.