Oct 07, 2024
Determine How Much Control You’re Comfortable Relinquishing
BY AsphaltPro Staff
I’m not proposing “Rise of the Machines,” but our industry has artificial intelligence (AI) and smart technology learning how to perform all kinds of tasks around the job site and asphalt plant on our behalf. How much control you give your automation depends on how comfortable you are turning those tasks over to the computer and/or how comfortable you are letting the system run of its own accord. That sounds terribly simplistic, but the paranoid side of me wants to play the Luddite this week. I don’t like handing all the control to a machine.
About 13 years ago, we reported on a company from Chicago that installed a Windows-based program to blend mixes at five separate asphalt plants. The system worked “the same” across all five plants so any of their plant operators could move easily from site to site. The owner stated, “We use operators from one plant to operate any of the five plants.” He also made it clear that the operators remained in control, even though the new system was essentially running the plant(s).
The plant operator had the ability to stop (or resume) production at any point, and had direct control of motors, silo selection and mix changes. “We do not allow [the system] to choose which silo to fill,” the owner told us. “The operator chooses the silo.” The system would stop the plant 20 tons after the silo reached its high limit if the plant operator failed to change silos again.
In other words, the company left plant operators in control of operations but had automation and technology in place as a safety backup.
Which way are your controls set up? Depending on the skill level of your new or veteran plant operator, it may make more sense to have automation do the heavy lifting and let the human interface be the backup. Myriad options are available these days and OEMs are lined up to help you decide what to install.
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