From relays to PLC, from artificial intelligence to intelligence, electrical automation is reshaping the manufacturing industry.
If you ask a factory owner, what has given him the most peace of mind in recent years?
He might say: devices are getting “smarter”.
In the past, several people were required to monitor a production line, but now one electrician can manage several lines.
In the past, we would only know when the equipment was broken, but now the system will alert the police before there is a problem.
Behind this is the contribution of electrical automation.
So, what is electrical automation?
Let me start with a simple example: In the past, to control a motor, you needed to go to the electrical cabinet, press the start button, the contactor would close, and the motor would start to rotate.
If you want to turn it off, you have to walk over and press stop. This is called manual control.
What now?
You can click the mouse in the central control room or even click on your mobile phone to start the motor thousands of kilometers away.
You can set the time and let it start and stop automatically; you can automatically adjust its speed according to temperature, pressure, and flow rate. This is called automation.
The core of electrical automation is to let the equipment “think”, “decision” and “execute” by itself.
It integrates electrical technology, computer technology, and control technology to allow the machine to run automatically according to the set logic without the need for humans to keep an eye on it.
A complete electrical automation system usually includes the control layer, execution layer, detection layer, human-computer interaction layer and communication layer.
The control layer is the “brain” of the equipment, responsible for logical judgment and instruction issuance. Common equipment includes PLC, industrial computer, and microcontroller; the execution layer is the “hands and feet” of the equipment, responsible for executing instructions, such as contactors, motors, cylinders, and valves; the detection layer is the “eyes and ears” of the equipment
“, responsible for sensing status, such as sensors, encoders, and cameras; the human-computer interaction layer is the “dialogue window” between people and equipment, including touch screens, buttons, and indicator lights; the communication layer is the “neural network” that connects various parts, including network cables, 485 buses, and industrial Ethernet.
Simple understanding: the sensor tells the information to the PLC, and the PLC “thinks about it” and then instructs the motor and cylinder to work.
The person watches the entire process on the touch screen and can intervene at any time.
This is the basic logic of electrical automation.
In recent years, the electrical automation industry has changed rapidly.
According to relevant data, China’s automation market size will be approximately 300 billion yuan in 2025, a year-on-year increase of approximately 12%.
In the first quarter of 2026, sales of industrial automation equipment increased by 18.5% year-on-year, with strong demand for core products such as PLC, frequency converters, and industrial robots.
It is expected that by the end of 2026, the market size will exceed the 300 billion yuan mark.
The global market is expected to grow from approximately US$231.3 billion in 2025 to approximately US$257.7 billion in 2026, with a compound annual growth rate of approximately 11.4%.
Behind such a large market growth are several technological trends that are visible to the naked eye.
Trend 1: From “stand-alone automation” to “system integration”.
In the past, a production line took care of itself, and everyone ran their own business.
Now the equipment of the entire production line, the entire workshop, and even the entire factory are connected together to achieve linkage control, centralized monitoring and data interoperability.
At the same time, new productivity is becoming the core of growth. The six pillar industries focused on the development of the “15th Five-Year Plan” are expected to drive the automation incremental market with an average annual compound growth rate of 10%. The total investment scale of the “15th Five-Year Plan” in the new energy storage field is expected to exceed 8 trillion yuan.
Trend 2: From “programmed control” to “software definition”.
In the past, changing an action required PLC engineers to change the program, download it, and debug it, which was very troublesome.
Now we are promoting the transformation of automation systems from hardware-centered to software-centered. Low-code/no-code platforms are reconstructing the industrial software development paradigm, allowing front-line engineers to develop lightweight industrial apps for equipment management and process monitoring without being proficient in code. The maintenance threshold is lowering, and ordinary electricians can also make some simple modifications.
Trend 3: From “post-event maintenance” to “predictive maintenance”.
In the past, it was a passive response to fix things after they broke.
Now the device can “tell” you on its own: I’m going to be broken.
According to industry data, the application penetration rate of AIoT technology in the field of electrical automation will reach 68% in 2026, doubling compared with 2023. The market size of AI-driven automation solutions will exceed US$12 billion, with a compound annual growth rate of 38.3%.
Trend 4: Domestic substitution is accelerating, and the localization rate of PLC and servo continues to increase.
In 2025, domestic PLC brands will account for more than 45% of the small and medium-sized market, with obvious cost-effective advantages.
Domestic servo system brands such as Inovance Technology and Xinjie Electric have also entered the first echelon. However, the medium and large PLC market is still dominated by foreign companies such as Siemens, Mitsubishi, and Omron. Localization is advancing, but there is still a gap in the mid-to-high-end field.
Trend 5: Green transformation is accelerating, and energy conservation and consumption reduction have become an urgent need.
Driven by the national “double carbon” goal, energy conservation and consumption reduction have become the core needs of various industries.
As a key link in energy consumption, electrical automation has become an important breakthrough in achieving green development.
Products such as energy-saving frequency converters, intelligent reactive power compensation devices, and photovoltaic/wind power electrical control systems are experiencing explosive growth. They can not only help traditional enterprises reduce energy consumption (expected to reduce 15%-30%), but also adapt to the rapid development of the new energy industry and achieve a two-way effort of “energy control + energy conservation.”
What kind of talents will electrical automation need in 2026?
The first category is on-site engineers who understand debugging and can solve problems. Not everyone needs to be able to write complex programs. Factories are eager for people who can understand ladder diagrams, modify parameters, and quickly troubleshoot faults.
The demand for talents in the field of intelligent manufacturing exceeds 10 million, and compound positions that combine professional craftsmanship, digital skills, and intelligent operation capabilities are becoming the mainstream of demand.
The second category is project engineers who understand system integration. They can handle all PLCs, inverters, touch screens, and host computers, and can produce a complete solution. The salary of such people is generally more than 15,000.
The third category is cross-border talents who understand the integration of OT and IT. They understand not only automation control, but also network communications, databases, and MES systems. These people are scarce resources in the future.
To do automation, understanding PLC is a basic skill, and understanding communication and network is a bonus.
Electrical automation is not a new word, but it has been evolving.
From relay to PLC, from wired to wireless, from stand-alone to networked, from automation to intelligence.
Electrical automation in 2026 is no longer what it was ten years ago.
If you are still looking at this industry through the eyes of ten years ago, you may miss a lot.
If you are doing automation, don’t stop learning.
Communication is changing, protocols are changing, and technology is changing. What remains unchanged is: the smarter the device, the more people it needs to understand it.
This industry will still be worth doing in the next ten years.
