The decades between 1970 and 2000 were witness to an innovation explosion in the machine tool industry. Designers of that period will tell you that rarely were two machines built with the same controls architecture. PLCs, HMIs, and Servo controllers were all evolving rapidly, and Controls Designers were constantly inundated with new technologies. Change was being thrust upon them.
Machinery build specifications of the day reflected the innovative spirit of most customers. The Foreword statement in these documents invariably stated: “This specification is not intended to limit innovation in any way.” Electrical specifications were based on the Joint Industrial Committee (JIC) recommendations and dealt primarily with equipment assembly.
JIC specifications were mainly a collection of bad ideas that end users did not want to be repeated. Routing hydraulic lines through electrical enclosures and tack welding relays to enclosure backplates are a couple of examples of build practices that the committee frowned on. Electrical specifications were focused on build quality and were not intended to handcuff designers with rigid rules.
As machinery grew. in complexity so did the documentation required to build them. New ways of presenting information were forcing their way into design offices. Pencils gave way to keyboards, and blueprint machines with their smell of ammonia faded away in favor of floppy discs and hard drives.
In this chaotic environment, technology was advancing so quickly that experience beyond a few years was of little value. It seemed that nothing that you were working on today would still be relevant a year from now. Imagination and initiative and the ability to work outside of your comfort zone were the greatest assets a designer could possess.
Many companies that entered the 1970s as strong, healthy organizations were unable to withstand the relentless changes of the period and faded from view. It wasn’t just the way machinery was controlled that was changing. The machines themselves were adapting to new technologies. Transfer machines gave way to CNC machines, and walking beams were replaced by robots. By the end of the 20th-century automotive manufacturing had been completely transformed.
The Death of Innovation for Machine Designers
And then it stopped! The automotive sector had reached an innovative plateau. Manufacturers were no longer looking for inventive new ideas. Machinery specifications gradually became more rigid, and the imaginative leaders of the past found themselves in a strange new situation. Hemmed in by strict standards that favored uniformity over all else their greatest attributes were becoming useless.
In this new world of standard panels, standard logic, and standard HMI screens the answer to every new problem was the same: more standards, tighter controls and greater alienation for the free spirits of the past. Gradually, without anyone taking notice, those companies that had survived the rigors of the previous three decades began to show their age.
When innovation and initiative are discouraged degeneration sets in, companies stop investing money into new ventures. Growth can continue for a time by the acquisition of smaller, more energetic firms, but this only temporarily masks the problem. As companies become more reliant on increasingly elaborate build specifications, acrimony grows, and people begin to leave.
Can the survivors of the last innovative tsunami withstand the next wave? Machine tool companies outwardly appear healthy. There is plenty of work on the books, but there are whispers in the hallways. Heavy top-down bureaucracy is straining relations between departments. Procedures and policies are proving to be poor substitutes for creativity.
Of course, there will still be a machine tool industry ten years from now and many of the people currently active will still be involved. Will the company name on their paycheck still be the same or will they have moved on to a younger company with a clearer vision of the future? To stay relevant machine tool companies will have to change their ways. Yes, they need to give current customers what they want, but they must also search for new customers, new ideas, and new products to build.
Do you agree with this machine designer's opinion? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.