Articles and News

In her role, Grant is responsible for supplier diversity strategic planning and diversity sourcing and procurement. Since joining the company in 2016, Grant has increased diverse supplier spend year over year and expandedthe company’s classifications of diverse suppliers to include LGBTQ suppliers.

Bio-G’s scheduling and modeling systems combined with Emerson’s life sciences technology and expertise portfolio will help companies bring therapies for cancer, diabetes and other illnesses to patients sooner.

The Board of Directors of ABB and its CEO Ulrich Spiesshofer (55) have mutually agreed for him to step down from his role, which he has held since 2013.

The Indegy Industrial Cybersecurity Suite is purpose-built to provide real-time situational awareness and visibility into ICS networks. It combines behavioral anomaly detection with policy based rules for threat detection and mitigation, and visibility into asset inventory.

Main goal in design of new PID controllers is reduction of the frequency of measurement needed for control without degrading the closed loop performance.

He succeeds Peter Lutz, who has been managing the organization since 2001. He is responsible for the coordination of worldwide activities regarding the Sercos automation bus.

PUES uses Capital for an array of tasks including E/E system architecture definition, electrical system and wire harness design, configuration and change management, as well as functional verification and manufacturing process generation.

The Scottish MATE ROV competition, coordinated and hosted by RGU, will see 11 school teams from around the country face off as they put their robots through a series of underwater missions for a place in the international final.

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com The Ford Livonia plant incorporated an automated transmission production line which illustrated the advantages and results of digitalization based on Ford’s goal of applying solid logic, planning, and execution to “be the number one transmission manufacturer in the world.”

By Dave Opsahl, Tech Soft 3D and David Heiny, SimScale The cloud presents an opportunity to democratize simulation still further, by serving up unlimited compute power that companies of all sizes can tap into.

According to the terms of the agreement Finetek will serve as a system integrator and future electronic manufacturing partner for Neonode zForce technology.

The company’s primary focus will be material handling equipment such as conveyors, automatic palletizers and strapping machines.

Systematic failures in industrial systems are best addressed through the implementation of a protective management system, which overlays a quality management system with a project development process

A loop diagram shows complete details of a hydraulic, electric, magnetic, or pneumatic circuit, showing all of the interconnections, components, and devices that participate in that circuit.

This project will provide technology for the tracking and prediction of outages and service disruptions, in addition to supporting real-time dissemination of outage information to field crews, customers, PWC staff, and via social media.

Global engineering company Sandvik decided to test its additive manufacturing and 3D printing techniques by building the world’s first all-metal, unbreakable guitar and letting Malmsteen unleash his smashing skills.

Roughly 6,500 exhibitors from around the world presented solutions for the future of manufacturing and energy supply, including more than 500 examples of the deployment of artificial intelligence in industrial manufacturing, 5G applications, and solutions for the energy and mobility transitions.

The project will provide real-time monitoring, fault detection & diagnostics and ongoing monitoring-based commissioning for a 313,679 square foot building and its 600+ assets including chillers, boilers, and HVAC equipment.

By Brett Burger, National Instruments With automated data collection, SMEs will spend more time focused on the risky asset of the day, as reported by the automated data collection, and less time focused on manual data collection.

Ian Steff, deputy assistant secretary for manufacturing at the U.S. Department of Commerce, and Brian Lenihan, executive director for Select USA, presented a certificate to Phoenix Contact executives at the Hannover Messe in Hannover, Germany, on April 2.

The Automate Show and Conference, colocated with Promat in Chicago since 2011, has grown to more than 500 exhibitors, over 20,000 attendees and 1,000 paid conference registrants.

A chartered engineer, Dr. Abou-Rahme holds a PhD in Bayesian statistics from the University of Southampton, a Master of Science from University College London, a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering from Imperial College London, and a general management certificate from Roffey Park.

The relationships among process parameters can be explored mathematically with a mathematical procedure called sensitivity analysis.

The program rewards students who have the potential for leadership and contributions to the engineering profession. Two $5,000 scholarships will be awarded to two U.S. engineering students, along with $1,000 grants to their colleges’ engineering departments.

Under the motto #empowerthefield, in 2018 the measurement engineering specialist began to bundle its digital activities with a focus on Heartbeat Technology, as well as the recently introduced Netilion IIoT ecosystem.

The facility will develop and produce Kyocera’s automated production equipment, enabling the company to strengthen its use of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI) in manufacturing. The company held a groundbreaking ceremony on April 3 at the site.

Funded by a joint investment, the center will serve as the main educational hub for the Fermentation Sciences and Technology program and will reinforce advanced competencies for digital transformation as the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) era continues to evolve the industry.

The complete video training series encompasses various levels of training from entry level programming to advanced PLC functions and is available to anyone interested in learning about industrial controllers.

By Mark Howard, EU Automation This article explains how small to medium sized manufacturers can prepare for a manufacturing resurgence, driven by reshoring and regulatory changes.

Rotork IQ3 multi-turn actuators have been commissioned for two Navigator Terminals road fuel and crude storage tanks at its North Tees hub in Middlesbrough.

This interactive initiative previously launched in South Africa, Nigeria and Kenya showcases African ecosystems and how by understanding data patterns, users can make smart decisions on connecting people and technology, ultimately building solutions with purpose.

ISA standards offer a wealth of knowledge and guidance to provide safer and more reliable and effective automation systems.

KNet is used to extract, clean, transform and analyze operational and manufacturing data. Using libraries of advanced statistical and machine-learning algorithms, the software consumes large quantities of diverse information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) data into actionable knowledge.

MaxGrip, an AVEVA partner since 2017, works to optimize asset performance with Reliability Centered Maintenance (RCM) solutions.

Course content has been prepared and written by a team of Subject Matter Experts who are Level 3 Certified Infrared Thermographers, each having over 20 years of professional experience.

In regenerative braking, all of the motor's energy is fed directly back into the AC power line.

AIA now represents some 380 vision suppliers, system integrators, users, researchers, and consulting firms from 32 countries.

There are several SPE standards in IEEE 802.3 covering wired Ethernet technology for LANs and WANs. The latest, 802.3cg 10Base-T1, for distances up to 1 km, will be released in 2019. SPE allows for a single open, scalable Ethernet-based network within the automation system.

By Markus Brettschneider, ABB Food and Beverage This article explains how food plant managers can add a similar level of connectivity to retrofit most motors with smart sensors to bring their plants to the digital age.

Siemens and SAS will collaborate to engage with new and existing customers and, beginning with streaming analytics, enable near-real-time embedded AI for IoT devices at the edge. The partners expect the solutions to be generally available later this year.

By modernizing production systems, industrial companies can maximize their efforts throughout the enterprise and be proactive about all facets of risk management that affect people, brand, and busines

With this cooperation, the companies want to overcome proprietary solutions and give a decisive boost to the digital transformation of the European industry. Founding members of the alliance are Beckhoff, Endress+Hauser, Hilscher, ifm, KUKA, Multivac and SAP.

This partnership is intended to help developers to get to market faster with differentiated robotic systems for additive manufacturing, welding, machining, CNC routing, and other applications that require control of six axes or more.

This partnership will enable SICK to provide customers with a combined package of SICK’s sensor technology and ACS’s software platform.

Together the two companies will offer an energy-efficient microgrid solution for utilities, commercial and industrial entities.

The integration of TrendMiner with Siemens Mindsphere enables its users to analyze, monitor and predict their sensor-generated time-series data stored in Siemens’ IoT platform.

Manufacturing companies are becoming more aware of the need to modernize production methods and automation to compete globally, but many still find themselves stuck in a sunk investment trap.

How to evaluate and design a network architecture focused on improving overall bandwidth utilization and efficiency across all manufacturing areas.

Zyfra focuses on the introduction of IIoT technologies, that is, connecting to the internet machines, industrial robots and units to create a single information space at the enterprise

By Mark Howard, EU Automation Automation is often viewed as manufacturing’s societal villain, threatening the jobs of US workers. This article argues that in order to create new job roles, US manufacturers cannot fear the automation uprising.

In a pneumatic transmitter, the nozzle faces a baffle, so, as the measured pressure increases, the baffle moves toward the nozzle.

The two companies will help biopharmaceutical companies create flexible and scalable facilities of the future, focused on rapid response to market demands, streamlined production technologies and adaptable manufacturing environments.

Lanner and netElastic are collaborating to demonstrate their joint efforts in today’s disaggregated network architecture where hardware and software are decoupled.

North American sales of machine vision components and systems that provide vision intelligence to robots and other machines reached $2.874 billion in 2018, an increase of 9.2 percent over 2017

The Volkswagen Industrial Cloud will bring together real-time data from all of the Volkswagen Group’s 122 manufacturing plants to manage the overall effectiveness of assembly equipment, as well as track parts and vehicles.

ISA and its partner organizations are all heavily involved in helping you, your employer, and industry be more successful.

B&R Industrial Automation sponsored this ARC Brief in the public interest, and the opinions and observations stated in this report are those of ARC Advisory Group.

The European Organization for Nuclear Research uses the system to manage the data of around 500 components, making versiondog one of CERN's standard technologies.

The e-book—featuring 23 pages covering essential topics related to effectively managing a calibration program—is a follow up to Calibration Essentials, the first collaborative publication on calibration between ISA and Beamex that was made available in February of 2018.

By Pelle Svensson, u-blox The numbers don’t lie: Bluetooth works, it is popular and it serves a huge ecosystem. Less well known, however, is the technology’s potential to offer wireless connectivity to industrial applications, even in the toughest environments.

Lincoln Mining Corp. is a Canadian precious metals exploration and development company with two projects in various stages of exploration and development, namely the Pine Grove gold property in Nevada and the Oro Cruz gold property in California.

NACV Show 2019 will take place at the Georgia World Congress Center from Oct. 28-31. NACV Show 2019 exhibition space is predicted to exceed NACV Show 2017 event space by 60 percent.

Learn how maintenance managers use automation and control systems to manage the increasingly complex facilties, equipment and buildings

This acquisition supports TT’s global growth strategy, to expand its focus on design-led technology solutions and value-added complementary products.

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com Traditional automation suppliers are clearly positioning themselves, through investments or partnerships, to supply the software and hardware for manufacturing customers to be able to achieve the higher productivity and profitability promised through Industrial Digitization/Industry 4.0.

Prototypes will be tested at the ARENA2036 innovation factory in mid-October. As part of the "Fast Ramp-Up Challenge" competition, production cells from several companies are to be set up within two days using MindSphere, the open cloud-based operating system for the Internet of Things (IoT) from Siemens.

By Nir Zamir, Inspekto Having a happy workforce may be the first step to improving productivity, but proper tools and advanced technologies will take productivity significantly further, particularly for industrial manufacturers. This article explains how manufacturers can improve productivity with Autonomous Machine Vision systems.

The TUM technology is based on optimizing the steam extraction of cogeneration plants equipped with gas turbines, enabling to achieve higher overall efficiencies and increasing the flexibility of the power plant.

The IoT Charter Program began as a result of a Cambashi study of the industrial IoT market in 2016, which concluded that there was not a reliable or authoritative source for segmentation, size or growth estimates.

Research focus on development of a hybrid controller for a two-interleaved boost converter dedicated to renewable energy and automotive applications.

The NVH quality testing solutions offered by Saab Medav are in the domain of end-of-line quality testing of combustion engines, transmissions, electric motors and motor driven components and systems.

Roberts said that as Chair he will focus on workforce development, and specifically better defining PMA’s role in this challenging landscape so that the association's array of services and advocacy efforts can better address this growing challenge.

The restore time includes all activities required to diagnose and repair the device. This includes diagnosing the problem, isolating the device from the system, traveling to the device, and repairing

As a strategic level member of ISASecure, Johnson Controls joins thought leaders who are taking action to secure automation and control systems around the world, including support for product conformity assessment to ISA/IEC 62443 standards.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The digitalization revolution was on full display at the 2019 ARC conference, and it was clear throughout the event, that forward-thinking users are leading the way.

The building will provide design engineering and production operations, advancing maxon precision motors presence and capabilities in North America.

Activities on April 11, the last day of the event, will include theater sessions focused on working in automation, culminating in a networking session from 12:15 p.m. – 1:30 p.m., for job seekers to connect with exhibitors who are specifically looking for new employees. Registration for the show floor and the Automation Works! day activities is free.

Simple tuning methods and the PID features that can be used to prevent the oscillations that plague our most important loops.

aamra can now use the Infiny by Epsilon on-demand connectivity platform to directly access a global ecosystem of Internet Exchanges (IX).

By Darcy Simonis, ABB Anyone who uses social media will know how prevalent pictures of food are. This article looks at how the impact of social media is changing the priorities of food and beverage managers.

The partnership combines Vericlave’s technology with Schneider Electric’s EcoStructure architecture and platform to provide a multi-layered approach that includes cybersecurity solutions, services and expertise to help industrial organizations secure their operations and strengthen their cyber posture.

This certification, for the company’s DeltaV distributed control system, is the latest step in Emerson’s commitment to provide secure digital transformation solutions for customers. ISASecure SSA Level 1 certification covers critical standards of the family of standards, ANSI/ISA 62443 (IEC 62443).

By Daniel Waldron, Armagard Remaining competitive in an ever-changing market requires you to constantly improve manufacturing productivity. Your computer equipment no doubt plays a crucial role in that process. Here’s how to keep it that way

The core business activities at Rodair involve international freight forwarding, project logistics, courier, warehousing and distribution, 3PL services, and e-commerce solutions.

The scope of work at the Holcim Lugait cement works in Misamis Oriental in the Philippines, which currently produces 2.13 million tonnes of cement a year,covers the development, delivery, installation, testing and networking of the electrical installation for an upgrade of power monitoring capabilities.

There are four of the key trends noted in the IHS Markit “Energy Efficiency in Industry” report, which includes industry case studies for smart metering, energy storage, motors, and switchgea

Dramatic advancements in technology are driving the Internet of Things, creating more tools for industrial automation and the process industries.

Pipal originally joined Brooks Instrument as an Operations Director in 2007. Since then, he’s held positions of increasing responsibility within the operations department prior to taking a customer-facing role as manager of the industrial business unit in 2015.

By Megan Berkowitz As pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies move toward greater digitalization and the storage of more valuable data, their digital security practices become more and more critical.

These new tools, including an application note and sample code, guide Python programmers in sending high-level motion commands, using Applied Motion’s Serial Command Language (SCL), to one or more axes of stepper and/or servo motors.

Ayehu’s Automation Academy demystifies automation and gives companies the power to transform, advance and compete in this new environment where traditional approaches to IT and business operations no longer suffice.

As pressure increases (controlled variable), the valve output would increase to open the valve in order to relieve the pressure.

At this year's show, which runs from 1 to 5 April, visitors will for the first time be handed little Bluetooth tags along with their badges as they pass through the entry gates. The tags support anonymous analysis of visitor flows on the exhibition grounds and at individual stands. This kind of analysis is particularly useful for companies operating large or medium-size showcases

HMS has acquired 74.9% of all shares in WEBfactory. The remaining 25.1% is owned by CEO Bernhard Böhrer who also stays as managing director.

The initial collaboration combines Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure Building Advisor – a Building Management System (BMS) and agnostic advisory platform – which connects people and technology collaboratively – and Planon Universe – an integrated software platform to optimize real estate, workplace, and facility management services performances.

By Ashley Hicks, Home automation writer Home automation is a relatively new phenomenon that's gaining popularity among homeowners as it becomes less and less expensive. Here's a quick guide to how home automation works and why it's an option that homeowners need to be aware of.

On April 10 at 3 p.m. in the “Win the Future” theater, the seven finalists will have five minutes to pitch their technology solution to a panel of judges comprised of industry leaders and investors.

Negative resistance also known as positive feedback can cause processes to jump, accelerate and oscillate confusing the control system and the operator.

This webinar will introduce the various parts of IEC 62443 and explain applicability of each part using examples from the process industry, discrete manufacturing, building controls, and robotics. The certification infrastructure and process will also be presented.

The project will upgrade 14 different process units, including diesel hydro-treating units designed to reduce sulfur content and octane-boosting units either being installed or augmented with desulfurization technologies.