EDWartens Team
The EDWartens instructional team brings together UK-based automation engineers, certified Siemens and Rockwell specialists, and industry practitioners with decades of combined experience in PLC programming, SCADA engineering, and industrial AI.
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Articles by EDWartens(139 posts)
Net Zero Jobs UK: Where Automation Engineers Fit In
Net zero jobs in the UK are growing, but adverts rarely label automation roles as green. Skills England says clean energy direct jobs need to rise by 230,000 between 2023 and 2030. This guide shows where PLC and SCADA skills fit in wind, hydrogen, storage and grid work.
AI in Manufacturing: UK Use Cases and Skills to Learn
AI in manufacturing means software that learns from plant data to predict failures, spot defects, plan schedules and cut waste. Here are the UK use cases that work, the data they need, and the skills engineers should learn first.
Machine Learning for Quality Control in Manufacturing
Machine learning for quality control uses trained models to classify defects, flag anomalies and predict out-of-spec parts from images and process data. This guide covers the three approaches, how to measure them honestly, and a UK worked example.
Machine Vision Inspection: Computer Vision Guide
Machine vision inspection uses cameras, lighting and software to check parts automatically. This guide explains how classic and deep-learning inspection differ, what a system contains, how it talks to the PLC, and how to learn the skills in the UK.
Industry 4.0 Explained: Technologies and UK Skills
Industry 4.0 is the idea that connected machines, data and AI are changing how factories work. This guide explains what it means, the technologies involved, how critics see it, what Industry 5.0 adds, and the practical skills UK engineers should learn.
What Is a Smart Factory? A Practical UK Guide
A smart factory uses connected machines, sensors and software to see what is happening on the shop floor and respond to it quickly. This guide explains the layers, the technologies, a realistic roadmap for UK manufacturers, and the skills engineers need.
IIoT in Industrial Automation: Examples and Skills
The Industrial Internet of Things connects machines, sensors and PLCs to software that analyses their data. This guide explains how IIoT differs from consumer IoT, the OPC UA and MQTT architecture behind it, practical examples, security, and the skills UK engineers need.
Edge Computing in Manufacturing: Use Cases and Skills
Edge computing in manufacturing runs software and AI models on hardware next to the machine instead of in a distant data centre. This guide covers when edge beats cloud, the typical architecture, hardware options, security, and the skills UK engineers need.
TensorFlow Lite in Manufacturing: Edge Models Guide
TensorFlow Lite, now called LiteRT, lets engineers shrink a trained model and run it on an edge device beside the machine. This guide covers the workflow from data to deployment, quantisation, TensorFlow versus PyTorch, and the monitoring that keeps a model honest.
AI SCADA: How Intelligent Process Control Works
AI SCADA adds machine learning and language models to supervisory control: smarter alarms, anomaly detection, forecasts and natural-language access to plant data. This guide shows where AI fits, what stays with the operator and PLC, and how SCADA engineers can prepare.
Neural Network PID Control: From PID to AI Optimisation
PID still runs most control loops, but neural networks now help where PID struggles: nonlinear plants, long delays and many interacting variables. This guide explains where neural networks fit, where they do not, and how to use them safely beside a PLC.
ChatGPT for Engineers: Technical Documentation Guide
ChatGPT and other large language models can draft, summarise and check engineering documents in minutes, if you control what you paste in and verify every line. This guide covers safe use, prompts, retrieval over your own manuals, and what to learn next.
Generative Design in Manufacturing: Concept to Part
Generative design software explores hundreds of part shapes against your loads, materials and manufacturing method, then hands you ranked options to validate. This guide explains how it differs from topology optimisation and generative AI, with the Airbus bionic partition as a worked example.
RPA in Manufacturing: Use Cases and Limits
RPA in manufacturing means software bots that copy data between business systems such as ERP, email and spreadsheets. It is not factory robotics. This guide covers the back-office use cases that work, where RPA fails, and how it differs from PLC automation and AI.
AI Energy Optimisation in UK Manufacturing
AI energy optimisation uses machine learning on meter, process and weather data to find waste, shift loads and recommend setpoints. This guide covers where savings come from, the UK rules that make them matter, how to start, and the skills you need.
ICS Cyber Security and AI: Protecting Smart Factories
ICS cyber security protects the PLCs, SCADA and networks that run physical plant. This guide explains how it differs from IT security, where AI helps defenders, where AI adds new risk, and which UK and international standards to follow.
UK Manufacturing Trends 2026: Automation and Skills
UK manufacturing trends in 2026 point two ways: firms plan to invest in technology and automation, yet recruitment has slowed and skills gaps persist. This guide sets out what Make UK, BDO and the IET found, what it means for automation engineers, and where to start free.
Food Manufacturing Maintenance Engineer Jobs in the UK
Food manufacturing maintenance engineer jobs in the UK pay about £27,000 to £48,000 on official figures, with agency adverts higher. Employers, hygiene rules, skills and a free route in.
Car Manufacturing Jobs in the UK: Automation Roles
Car manufacturing jobs in the UK range from line operators to PLC, robot and maintenance engineers. See the plants that hire, what the roles pay, the tools and standards used, and the free ways to start.
Pharmaceutical Automation Engineer Jobs in the UK
Pharmaceutical automation engineer jobs in the UK combine PLC, DCS and SCADA work with GMP validation. See the employers, the standards (GAMP 5, data integrity), pay evidence and how to start.
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