Articles and News

By Glenn Schulz, FDT Group and Katherine Voss, ODVA The following article describes efforts by the automation industry to develop next generation standards and technology, which enhance security throughout the lifecycle of industrial control devices in today’s connected world.

The best way to determine potential ROI is by tracking some vital key performance indicators or KPIs.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation A shocking amount of capital is tied up in inventory. Along with accounts receivable and accounts payable, inventory represents $1.1 trillion in cash – equivalent to 7 per cent of the United States GDP. This article explains the potential of artificial intelligence (AI) in accessing this cash.

The output from a magnetic flowmeter is a linear signal that is proportional to the velocity of the flowing fluid.

The following article describes how ongoing technology developments by FDT Group will help optimize industrial organizations and their maintenance departments by enabling cloud-based enterprise data access, device diagnostics, mobility applications, and the use of augmented reality in asset management and predictive maintenance programs.

For suppliers of industrial control products and solutions, implementation of the FDT standard is a forward-looking strategy supporting the new era of automation.

The following article describes how technology collaboration between two open, automation industry standards organizations is changing the paradigm for integrating control systems, applications and devices within a unified architecture – all aimed at optimizing information exchange throughout the industrial enterprise.

The industrial revolution now underway, commonly referred to as Industry 4.0, is powered by advancements that include smart manufacturing, advanced analytics and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

The mission of the IoT Breakthrough Awards program is to recognize the innovators, leaders and visionaries from around the globe in a range of IoT categories, including Connected Home and Home Automation, Industrial and Enterprise IoT, Smart City technology, Connected Car and many more.

To become a HEIDENHAIN ATP, CCD staff completed several rounds of advanced training on the 5-Axis HEIDENHAIN TNC machine controls and successfully passed an extensive exam.

As the cobot market is experiencing an increasing number of competitors – both from the established industrial players and start-ups – it is vital, however, to keep ahead of the curve.

By Antony Bourne, IFS A new generation of point AI solutions will prove themselves in 2019. They’ll build new trust, urgency and understanding of what ‘AI’ actually is, and just how much it can deliver. Here are 3 key predictions for manufacturing for 2019—and beyond.

TrendMiner was selected upon rigorous test case analysis. In a first stage TrendMiner’s smart self-service analytics solution will be rolled out to the engineers and production experts to support operations with a “big data” approach.

By John Fryer, Stratus Technologies Manufacturing professionals looking to implement IIoT and edge computing need to ask themselves the following questions to identify underlying challenges and figure out how to address them.

Gräff assumed the position of Managing Director at HARTING Technology Group at the beginning of 2015, and was initially responsible for the Market and Development area at HARTING Electric and the Development division at HARTING Electronics.

Smart, flexible robots allow manufacturers to shift to market demands far more quickly and efficiently and without advanced programming.

Kaizen is a continuous improvement approach to work that seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in processes to improve efficiency and quality.

A valve positioner adjusts the pneumatic output to a valve actuator so that the requested position of the valve from a controller is achieved.

Pulsar’s products provide solutions related to level, open channel flow, pipe flow, sludge interference measurement, and pump control for water utilities and industrial customers worldwide.

Chattering alarms are the most found nuisance alarms that will probably reduce the usability and result in a confidence crisis of alarm systems for industrial plants.

Learn about the methods of state-based control as it applies to models defined by ISA-106.

By Stefan Reuther, COPA-DATA Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Regardless of the phrase used to describe digitalization in manufacturing, there’s no denying that a shift has already taken place. This article gives three predictions for industrial automation in 2019 — no buzzwords included.

This database, called FLUIDAT, is used by the company for configuration and calibration of its portfolio of flow meters and controllers, and for calculating pressure differences, valve seats, etc..

A process stage in the process model can be mapped to a unit procedure in the procedural model, which in turn is mapped to a unit in the physical model.

The support for PROFINET @ TSN technology will be on its portfolio of netX multiprotocol network controllers. netX is a single-chip ASIC that provides a master and/or slave communication connection to all Industrial Ethernet systems, fieldbuses and Industry 4.0 protocols.

With autonomous operation of stackers and reclaimers, Binxin Steel will be able to achieve full utilization of the stockyard area, and optimized energy consumption. Siemens’ automation solutions secure autonomous operation of the end customers’ stackers and reclaimers.

Founded in the early 1940’s, MCAA has been serving industry organizations for seventy-five years. MCAA is the trade association for manufacturers and distributors of instrumentation and systems associated with the Measurement, Control & Automation Industry.

The top process industries grew at a faster rate than the top discrete industries in 2017, and this trend continued in 2018, according to the “Low Voltage Motors Report” from IHS Markit.

Under the agreement, the IIC and GlobalPlatform will work together to align efforts to maximize interoperability, portability, security and privacy for the industrial Internet.

You may become nerdy programming PLCs, but once you get into it, you won't care. This post is about programming PLCs. Specifically programming PLCs with Ladder Logic. This is what I've done almost daily for my job for the past several years.

The 2019 product catalog features performance data, sizes, specifications, and technical references for the company’s portfolio of current sensing switches, transducers, transformers, and ground fault protection products.

Bernardin succeeds Jim Cooper, who is moving on to become the full-time CEO of DigitalEd, a company Maplesoft spun-off in early 2018.

Previously, Bishop was the Vice President of Finance, Planning, Analysis, Reporting, and Process Improvement for Macy’s Logistics. He also has experience as the Senior Vice President of Logistics at Levitz Furniture, Vice President of Supply Chain at Giggle, and Director of the East Region Distribution at Toys R Us.

By Nick Boughton, Boulting Technology Engineering giant Rolls Royce pioneered servitization in 1962 with its Power-by-the-Hour approach to jet engine maintenance management. This article discusses what servitization can offer other industries including high-volume, low-margin manufacturing.

Learn the benefits of knowing your process and PID capability, with a focus on process behavior, loop objectives and different industrial applications.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Based on discussions at the Rockwell Automation Fair, this article explores Rockwell Automation and PTC's committment to building out software into an integrated Industrial Digitization solution, in order to fully achieve the goals of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing.

By combining each party’s strengths, the resulting joint solution will provide real-time measurement of ore grades and byproducts by MineSense’s BeltSense in combination with a single material and quality management system, Siemens Simine MAQ

ISA's success depends on its ability to seize key opportunities while continuing to deliver value, both to individual members and to the global automation community.

CP Technologies will continue with its Computer Hardware Solutions but will also be providing OEM solutions along with expanded system integration solutions, Datalinks and services for customers.

By Bob McIlvride, Skkynet The IIoT is all about connecting data sources, integrating their data, using it to power analytics, and possibly doing supervisory control on selected equipment or systems. There's no reason that can't be done on-premise.

The combined memberships will continue to drive the momentum of the Industrial Internet including the development and promotion of industry guidance and best practices for fog and edge computing. The organizations expect the details to be finalized in early 2019.

By Ashley Hills, EU Automation Given the low number of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) roles, it might surprise you to find out that Angela Merkel has a PhD in physical chemistry. This article discusses the different initiatives in place to encourage women into STEM roles across Europe.

Dead time is the source of the ultimate limit to control loop performance.

Having posted an increasing annual growth figure of over 2 million every year for the past four years, the governing body - the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) - is predicting that number will comfortably exceed 24 million sometime during 2018.

As part of this partnership, AppNeta Performance Manager now runs on AAEON’s new hardware platform based on the Intel Denverton series with QAT technology.

In conjunction with its expansion and investment in the U.S. market, Tacton is also announcing capabilities in its cloud-based CPQ platform. The new features include augmented reality (AR)-powered visualization and expanded integration with Salesforce for manufacturers to design, configure and sell complex products.

Having posted an increasing annual growth figure of over 2 million every year for the past four years, the governing body - the CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) - is predicting that number will comfortably exceed 24 million sometime during 2018.

Cable shield, connected to an isolated zero potential, is required to prevent nearby inductive loads and EMF fields from altering the low-level voltage or current levels in the signal wiring.

The addition of A.E. Valves supports Emerson’s Main Valve Partner initiative to be a supplier of final control solutions for the LNG industry, and complements its Vanessa triple-offset valve range to create a solution for process isolation in critical cryogenic and severe service applications.

By Mille Gandelsman, Indegy Looking at 2019 and beyond, ICS threats will continue to escalate and evolve, but we predict the solutions to combat these threats will effectively address whatever emerges.

Wipro’s Automotive Innovation Center will develop and showcase solutions that leverage artificial intelligence, analytics, Industrial Internet of Things (IIOT), cloud and crowd sourcing.

It's time to get a little more specific with what the PLC CPU controls: PLC I/O! This article will discuss discrete I/O, analog I/O and briefly introduce industrial communications protocols.

Fluids have a lot of condition-dependent properties. They consist of solids, liquids, gasses, or combinations. Industrial engineers must deal with a number of fluid state issues.

The document is an overhaul and rewrite of RC 1.0.2 (2013) that incorporates current features and functions of MTConnect and OPC UA.

The acquisition is intended to accelerate delivery of Emerson’s digital transformation roadmap by adding skillsets in information technology/operational technology (IT-OT) and application knowledge to help integrate data from the plant floor to business systems.

The car battery plant in Kobierzyce, near Wroclaw will be capable of supplying up to 250,000 electric cars with batteries per annum. It is also the first large-scale lithium-ion battery plant for automotive applications producing all battery components, from electrodes to cells, modules and packs.

The competition will involve using SimCentral, AVEVA’s industrial simulation platform, to solve a problem created by the company in collaboration with Dr. Richard Turton, renowned author and industry expert in the field of chemical process simulation.

The document is an overhaul and rewrite of RC 1.0.2 (2013) that incorporates current features and functions of MTConnect and OPC UA.

The new home of the Machine Tool Services & Solutions will be headquartered in Hebron KY, and support the activity of over twenty service centers worldwide, including the seven in North America - Hebron, KY, Seattle, WA, Valencia, CA, Wichita, KS, Charlotte, NC, Fond du Lac, WI and Cambridge, Ontario.

The organization shared the high points of the festive event, met the award winners, and highlighted four members who were just appointed as fellows.

This 241 page report has a comprehensive Executive Summary and Conclusions for those with limited time. 10 primary conclusions are presented then infograms with data.

As a complement to HANNOVER MESSE USA in the odd-years, Digital Industry USA will take place from September 10-12, 2019 at the completely renovated Kentucky International Convention Center in Louisville, KY.

Lydon brings more than 10 years of writing and editing expertise to Automation.com, plus more than 25 years of experience designing and applying technology in the automation and controls industry. Lydon started his career as a designer of computer-based machine tool controls; in other positions, he applied programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and process control technology. In addition to working at various large companies (e.g., Sundstrand, Johnson Controls, and Wago), Lydon served a two-year stint as part of a five-person task group, where he designed controls, automation systems, and software for chiller and boiler plant optimization. He was also a product manager for a multimillion-dollar controls and automation product line and president of an industrial control software company.

An improved PID controller based on predictive functional control is developed and tested on the chamber pressure in an industrial coke furnace.

Key supplies to the substations include ABB Ability-based automation and control systems, intelligent protection equipment, transformers with sensors, digitally enabled switchgear and advanced communication systems.

Siemens will design, engineer and commission a new production management system (PMS), based on the Siemens Minerals Operation Management Solution.

Common noise must be in phase between conductors, or it converts to normal mode or differential noise.

By Robin Whitehead, Boulting Technology This article explains how this is impacting the role of the chief information security officer (CISO) and resulting in the need for end-to-end digitalization.

Beta testers of the ammonia and carbon monoxide detectors receive up to fifty percent discount on the first three ammonia or carbon monoxide Vanguard detectors they purchase.

Tricco was tasked with developing a secure and reliable way to collect data from control systems running at power plants located hundreds of kilometers from the Siemens office. The first phase was to be a pilot—to connect his WinCC OA SCADA system to a Siemens T3000 DCS running at a power plant located about 100 kilometers from Buenos Aires.

Drawing on Siemens expertise in the mining industry and Industry 4.0, the solution will be based on the advanced architecture and performance of Siemens WinCC Open Architecture. As part of the contract, Siemens will also provide inter process communication (IPC), accessories, plus software engineering and site commissioning services.

Tricco was tasked with developing a secure and reliable way to collect data from control systems running at power plants located hundreds of kilometers from the Siemens office. The first phase was to be a pilot—to connect his WinCC OA SCADA system to a Siemens T3000 DCS running at a power plant located about 100 kilometers from Buenos Aires.

The partnership combines Schneider Electric’s EcoStruxure IIoT capabilities with Transpara’s Visual KPI solutions to help customers in operationally intensive industries, including refining, petrochemical, energy and mining

By Emma Cygan, Pailton Engineering Cost versus quality. Humans versus automation. Hardware versus software. Is the vehicle manufacturing industry fuelled with tension? This article explains how vehicle manufacturers must balance the procurement of hardware and software for new vehicle concepts.

One scholarship a month will be awarded in January, February and March 2019. Winners will be announced Feb 12th, March 12th and April 16th

CyberX is currently partnering with GE’s global community including GrayMatter, GE’s No. 1 software channel partner and a CRN “IoT Innovator.” GrayMatter’s customers include global organizations implementing a range of Smart Manufacturing, Smart Building, and Smart Water initiatives.

The anual leadership meeting in Montreal enabled automation professionals and members to collaborate, brainstorm, and make decisions about future direction.

Siemens shares the vision of the OPC Foundation to extend the scope of OPC UA down to field level communication and is looking forward to contributing in standardization activities in the upcoming working groups of the OPC Foundation concerning information models for devices, necessary adaption of OPC UA core standards, application profiles, etc.

The modular ABB Ability PowerStore microgrid solution and Microgrid Plus automation system will enable EEM to increase the island’s adoption of solar and wind power and raise the share of renewables in the energy mix from 15 to 30 percent.

The software-based interface can be implemented in controllers offered by any device manufacturer, which makes it an interesting feature to vendors of both master devices and diagnostic tools.

By Chris Johnson, SMB Bearings Vibration analysis can provide valuable insight into machine condition, flagging up problems before extensive damage occurs. This article explains the steps machine builders should take to reduce the likelihood of bearings being the root cause.

This agreement spans all three of KBR’s synergistic global businesses: Hydrocarbon Services, Technology, and Government Services.

The Coordinate Metrology Society (CMS) announced it has formally issued a call for technical papers for the 35th annual Coordinate Metrology Society Conference (CMSC) to be held July 22 – 26, in Orlando, FL.

Tuning a PID controller for two of the most common complex dynamic responses: self-regulating, second order; overdamped and integrator plus first order lag.

By Chassis Plans High-performance computing is used for solving advanced mathematical calculations and performing data processing through the use of computer modeling, simulation and analysis.

The COMSA team and technology will join the Mentor business, part of Siemens PLM Software, where it will add key harness engineering and design data analytics capabilities to the Siemens product range.

High-performance computing is used for solving advanced mathematical calculations and performing data processing through the use of computer modeling, simulation and analysis. HPC systems delivers sustained performance through its unique synchronal parallel processing power.

Dzilno has been instrumental in making EtherCAT a fieldbus in chip manufacturing. He is currently Head of Engineering at the ALD Division as Managing Director and Senior Principal Member of Technical Staff at AMAT.

Attendees from around the world -- including national and university labs and supercomputing centers in Japan, China, Saudi Arabia, Spain and the United States -- brainstormed strategies to converge Big Data and the high-performance computing tools necessary to make sense of massive data sets.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Last year, we explored Dell Technologies quest to accelerate IoT focus to the edge. Through numerous discussions and presentations over the last few years, Dell Technologies has clearly aligned itself to provide industry with solutions that span from computing at the network edge to cloud services.

Pressure transmitters require periodic maintenance and calibration to ensure optimal performance.

The integral term of the PID control algorithm increases (or decreases) at a rate inversely proportional to the integral time of the controller.

Entering the fifth year of collaboration, SEL looks to expand zenon’s SCADA capabilities in more upcoming power management applications.

The initiative plans to address use cases not currently in scope for EtherNet/IP. It could also simplify other use cases, especially in multi-vendor, controller-to-controller environments and for the vertical integration of field devices.

By integrating their IoT software to HMS hardware, HMS’ Solution Partners help customers acquire, monitor, process and analyze data from industrial devices, machines and systems. Partners who join the program work with products from HMS’ brands Anybus, IXXAT and eWON.

By John Fryer, Stratus Technologies Today’s technological advances put the industrial industry on the edge of a transformative period especially as the number of these IIoT devices continues to rise. Will manufacturer's take the leap?

Deutsche Messe will cancel CEBIT 2019 because of declining visitor numbers and a continuing reduction in space bookings. The latest CEBIT concept consisted of an exhibition, conference and festival.

An IEC systems committee is intended to set high-level interfaces and functional requirements that span multiple work areas across the IEC and its partner, the International Organization of Standardization (ISO), to achieve a coordinated standards development plan.

By Nigel Smith, TM Robotics As we enter the era of Industry 4.0, this article will help dispel some common misconceptions about implementing smart manufacturing.

The original document describes the functionalities as well as extensive state diagrams which add to the understanding, references to the applicable standards, description of error behavior, functional checks, and error codes, and identifies different programming levels.