Industrial electronics: to boost productivity

Recession, curtailment in natural gas and oil supplies, and increased pressures for improving productivity characterized the general industrial activity in the U.S. in 1975, and were accordingly reflected in the industrial electronics field. For example, motor-drive manufacturers have emphasized more efficient drives. And another area, computer-aided manufacturing (CAM), also has attracted attention in the U.S. as the ultimate means of attaining increased productivity goals (although the rate of increase of production in industrial electronics was down in 1975, as indicated in the table below). In the meantime, the microprocessor has been penetrating almost every area of industrial application, and computer numerical control (CNC), a powerful production automation tool, is being implemented on a wide scale, improved both in hardware and software. Successful industrial application of systems that recognize spoken commands by a human voice has brought a new dimension into man-machine communication. In metalworking, high reliability and precision have been demonstrated through use of a new, powerful gas laser. And the implementation of optical fibers, along with sophisticated coding methods, has opened new avenues for industrial application of infrared radiometry.