PESHAWAR: Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Frontier Foundry (FF-Steel), Zarak Khan has said that despite odds, Pakistan's Iron and Steel industry has shown a consistent growth, adding an increase in public spending on infrastructure projects has pushed the industry to adopt automation to keep up with the demand; resulting in the promising growth pattern.
In a statement issued here Sunday, he acknowledged that rise of robots and the potential impact of automation on the economy and labour force is an issue that has long been under debate, globally. On the basis of World Bank data, he said the risks of job automation to developing countries is estimated to range from 55% in Uzbekistan to 85% in Ethiopia, with a substantial share of jobs being at high risk of automation in major emerging economies including China and India (77% and 69% respectively). The automation will affect the humans that are replaced by machines, remains. The large population of labor class said that this automation threatens to replace that are not educated and skilled enough to take up other jobs; is a pressing issue that needs to be addressed. However, Frontier Foundry Steel (FF Steel) claimed that it might be on the path to finding the right model for the developing world.
FF-STEEL, the largest and fastest re-rolling mill in Pakistan in terms of production capacity and rolling speed, is addressing the issue at hand by adopting the latest technology/automation and being ahead in the race to increase production/efficiency and quality yet retaining the workforce. The company has adopted the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA Level-2) instrumentation with the latest Human/ Machine interface to ensure high productivity and Steel Bars that meet international standards.
A vast team of engineers controls the manufacturing process through the world's latest available technology, the Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system (SCADA). The main feature of the SCADA system is its ability to perform a supervisory operation over a variety of other propriety devices. The software processes, distributes and displays the data, helping operators and other employees analyze the data and make important decisions.
This coexists with labor intensive processes in certain departments where quality or productivity are not affected by retaining the workforce and the jobs remain. This might just be the model for Industrialization and automation in Pakistan. Combining latest technology and automation, where required with labor intensive non-automated processes; where it does not affect quality or productivity, is the winning model for third world and developing countries.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021