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Author Profile
Bill Lydon
208 Results Found
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FeatureControl Remains Fundamental
Automation professionals need to take the lead in guiding management to adopt new technology or the organization will become noncompetitive. This feature originally appeared in the February 2022 issue of InTech magazine. -
FeatureMary Ramsey Has Advanced ISA, Creating a Better Organization
Mary Ramsey understood that organizations need to periodically recalibrate based on member and industry needs, and she has done a great job of collaborating with staff and member volunteers to craft clear definitions of ISA guiding principles. This article was originally published in the December 2021 issue of InTech magazine. -
FeatureAutomation Standards Still Need Work
Has the industrial automation industry matured enough to avoid a standards war like the 1990s “Fieldbus wars?" -
FeatureAWS IoT TwinMaker Simplifies Digital Twin Implementations
The AWS IoT TwinMaker provides a comprehensive set of tools and services to federate, model and make use of data from any source including sensors, controllers, video, drawings, 3-D models, ERP, logistics and energy to create digital twins leveraging existing and new data sources. -
FeatureIndustrial Automation Standards Convergence or Divergence?
Can another standards war be avoided with exciting new industrial multivendor interoperability and plug and play standards? -
FeatureExperts Discuss Open Process Automation Issues
The Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA) hosted a 90-minute virtual broadcast discussion and first public demonstration of the COPA QuickStart system illustrating the benefits and value of Open Process Automation based on the O-PAS standard. -
FeatureEnhancing Virtual Events
Informal interactions at events foster greater camaraderie in the automation community. You make long-term professional connections and friendships, and these become your personal ecosystem of automation resources. This article was originally published in the October 2021 issue of InTech magazine. -
FeatureUniversalAutomation.org Launched to Achieve Multivendor Industrial Control Program Portability
This shared-source, not open-source, code is based on the nxtControl IEC 61499 runtime engine code donated by Schneider Electric. -
FeatureKoch Ag & Energy High Value Digitalization Deployments Leverages AWS
Dave Kroening, IT leader, and Martin Miller, data analytics leader with Koch Ag & Energy, discussed two high value digitalization applications using AWS (Amazon Web Services) including Monitron and SeeQ software in a re:Invent session. -
FeatureRockwell Automation Expands Industrial Digitalization Scope
At the 2021 Rockwell Automation Fair, the company discussed the expansion of its scope to provide a full set of products and services for manufacturing business digitalization. Rockwell Automation has put together resources, creating a new business model and positioning them as the primary resource for manufacturers industrial digitalization journey, including the conceptual stage, design, deployment and operations. -
FeatureHannover Messe 2022 Plans Focus on Digitalization and Sustainability
After two years without a physical trade fair, the organizers of Germany’s Hannover Messe 2022 focused on transformation and their next event’s themes of digitalization and sustainability. -
FeatureRockwell Automation's OEE Approach to Achieve Industry 4.0
In a conversation with Rockwell Automation’s Matthew Giordano (pictured above), IS Solutions, partner manager, he described the companies scalable OEE (Overall Equipment Effectiveness) solutions to achieve Industry 4.0 to understand “what is happening on the shop floor." -
FeatureAutomation Industry Expert Insights: CODESYS Tech Talk Fall 2021
Bill Lydon moderates an insightful roundtable discussion about industrial automation future trends and challenges during the Fall 2021 CODESYS Tech Talk and Users Conference with industry leaders and innovators. -
NewsEvent Review: Ignition Community Conference 2021
The 2021 Ignition Community Conference (ICC) was another high-energy and informative event, with the theme "Evolve to be Smarter, Faster and Stronger" supporting the Inductive Automation mission statement to create industrial software that empowers users to swiftly turn great ideas into reality by removing all technological and economic obstacles. -
NewsSynSaber Launches Industrial Cybersecurity Edge-to-Enterprise Detection Software
With a focus on visibility, the company’s cyber detection software resides on embedded computer platforms named "Sabers" that function as “software sensors” monitoring cybersecurity activity. -
FeatureRockwell Automation Embraces Cloud Based Manufacturing Business Digitalization
Rockwell Automation embraces cloud-based digitalization of entire manufacturing businesses with the acquisition of Plex Systems for $2.22 billion. -
FeatureCybersecurity Investment Tax Credits
The government should create cybersecurity investment tax credits for industry to stimulate more protection. This article was originally published in InTech's July/August issue. -
FeatureBuilding OPC UA IIoT Applications with MQTT for Bandwidth Constrained Applications
OPC UA and MQTT are open-source technologies representative of the industrial automation architectural shift toward greater flexibility and interoperability. The OPC UA IIoT Starter Kit combines them so users can create solutions for bandwidth-constrained applications. -
FeatureThe Modular Production Evolution Continues with Bright Machines
Bright Machines Modular Production Approach reflects growing trend of standardized machine modules to improve efficiency and profitability. -
FeatureOpen Integration, ‘Digital Chain’ May Solve IIoT Device Management Challenges
The Open Integration Partner program, initiated by Endress+Hauser, seeks on simple, fast, and manufacturer-independent integration of components and devices. -
FeatureCOPA Accelerates Process Manufacturing Competitiveness
The Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA) launched the COPA QuickStart for companies to leverage the Open Process Automation System (O-PAS) standard to be more competitive and profitable. The move to open industrial and process automation systems is analogous to the shifts that occurred when PC technology displaced minicomputer and mainframes. -
FeatureEthernet-APL: Closing Industrial Digitalization Gap
The ACHEMA Pulse Live Days the Ethernet-APL organization, with members FieldComm Group, OPC Foundation, ODVA and Profibus & Profinet International showcased Ethernet-APL joint activity demonstrating, “IT-centric Instrumentation,” for process control, including hazardous areas. -
FeatureEndress+Hauser Showcases its Digitalization Innovations
In the world of increasing interest in open systems, Endress & Hauser showed its technological openness and innovation in the areas of sensors, edge devices and smart instrumentation. -
FeatureBioPhorum MTP Testing Plugfest
Bill shares his observations of the recent BioPhorum MTP (Module Type Package) standard Plugfest days, where users and vendors collaborated moving towards the goal of achieving plug-and-play equipment interoperability for the biopharmaceutical and other industries. The user and vendor participants in the PlugFest were highly professional and focused on positive outcomes. -
FeatureMicrosoft Industrial Digitalization Platform Leverages OPC UA
Azure IoT leverages OPC UA so industrial operations personnel get support for open systems and “don’t forget what [they] already know” when connecting OT systems to the cloud. -
FeatureIndustrial Digitalization: How an Edge Embedded Time Series SQL Database Delivers Performance
SQL features not typically available on an embedded device greatly simplify data management for software developers. In an interview with the founder of ITTIA LLC, Bill Lydon discusses industrial IoT edge devices and facilitation of OT data analytics. -
FeatureWelders on Demand: Collaborative Robots Solving Skills Gap & Increasing Business
Collaborative robots are being used to address the shortage of welders, which, according to the American Welding Society, will reach a deficit of 400,000 workers by 2024. -
FeatureIEC 61499 Programming Standard: Will it Become Mainstream?
Giving a boost to the idea of a multivendor converged IT/OT industrial control system based on open standards, the 4diac open-source IEC 61499 project could dramatically accelerate industrial digitalization. -
FeaturePreview Hannover Messe 2021: Innovative Product Presentations
During the 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition Preview event, experts, associations, research organizations and suppliers presented their ideas and technologies for factories, energy systems and supply chains supporting “Industrial Transformation” theme. -
FeaturePreview Hannover Messe 2021: Automation, Globalization and Digitalization Presentations
“Globalization, digitalization and automation are game changers that continue as core themes for Hannover Messe that showcases thought leadership and solutions for industry to be more successful,” said Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO Deutsche Messe AG, during the 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition 2021 preview event Feb. 3, 2021.