Automation of Automation — Definition, components and challenges

The increasing number and range of automation functions along with the decrease of qualified personal makes an upgraded engineering process necessary. This article gives a general overview of one approach, called the automation of automation, i.e. the automated execution of human tasks related to the engineering process of automation systems. Starting with a definition and a model describing the typical engineering process, some solutions for the needed framework are presented. Occurring problems within parts of this process model are discussed and possible solutions are presented.