Glossary · Automation fundamentals, platforms and components
Head of automation technology
Also known as: Head of automation, Automation manager
German: Leiter Automatisierungstechnik
In manufacturing organizations, the head of automation technology is the manager responsible for automation engineering, typically including control system standards, PLC and HMI software, electrical design and the automation team.
- Automation components
In one sentence
The head of automation technology leads automation engineering, including control standards, PLC and HMI software and the automation team.
Example
The head of automation technology approves the company's PLC programming guideline and decides which controller platform new machines use.
How it applies
- Engineering: The role sets standards for hardware platforms, software structure, libraries and naming conventions and balances them against project needs.
- Project management: It coordinates automation work with mechanical design, commissioning and service and often owns automation budgets and resources.
- Documentation: For documentation teams, the head of automation is a key stakeholder: they decide how software documentation, parameter lists and HMI texts are produced and who provides input for manuals. Agreeing on a single source for HMI texts and alarm messages saves effort in both teams.
- Operation: The role often acts as escalation point for complex faults and decides on changes to running systems together with production.
Role vs. responsibility
Job titles vary between companies; what matters for safety and quality is the documented Responsibility assignment, for example who releases software for delivery.