Articles and News

Rockwell Automation will collaborate in the transformation of the century-old, open-pit mine into a technologically advanced “super cave” mine that uses a block-caving extraction process. This advanced method is expected to extend the life of the mine by at least 40 years, improving its asset utilization.

On the site, customers can learn how their current maintenance program stacks up and calculate how much time and money their plant can save with a predictive maintenance program.

By Nick Boughton, Boulting Technology This article explains how the timeline of power grid modernization, including the convergence of disparate systems, has led to the evolution of the smart grid.

The partnership was announced as part of Ubisense’s strategy to integrate location and identification technologies with its open and sensor-agnostic SmartSpace software platform, with the goal of enabling customers to create an enterprise-wide digital twin along the entire value chain of critical manufacturing activities.

NEMA believes in global free enterprise that is based on a solid legal infrastructure with due process to define and protect property rights as well as to ensure adherence to trade agreements.

The new version of the report serves a need in the industry by defining new IIoT vocabulary terms that are widely used across many vertical industries.

Leverage model predictive methods to separate great from good distillation control. Understand the benefits of model predictive control algorithms for improving the ROI of the distillation process.

The forum will be held on September 14 from 9am – 12pm, in the Hannover Messe USA Solutions Theater, McCormick Place, Chicago, on Level 2 of the Lakeside Building.

BEUMER Group provided an entire system to the site in Sennwald, Switzerland and integrated it into an existing building. The system can be adapted to the different materials, no retrofitting required.

By Peter Austin, Siemens Financial Services Today more than ever, manufacturing leaders must understand the value of digitalization, how it applies to this industrial shift and establish the capital to enable this transition.

BACnet has been an international standard since 2003, and has 877 listed products from 180 manufacturers, with over 1,000 vendor IDs from 50 different countries.

Digital Factory exhibitors will showcase breakthrough products and solutions focused on integrated processes and IT solutions for plant operations

The forum will be held on September 14 from 9am – 12pm, in the Hannover Messe USA Solutions Theater, McCormick Place, Chicago, on Level 2 of the Lakeside Building.

By Yasunori Kobayashi, Yokogawa In today's competitive environment, process industry companies need to balance multiple objectives including safety, profitability and delivering value to customers. However, these objectives are often conflicting goals not aligned across departments, plants, or enterprise boundaries.

Digitata Networks Americas LLC is a woman owned and operated enterprise that offers intelligent subscriber-centric and network-centric solutions to monitor, audit, and control all major mobile technologies and domains, allowing Mobile Network Operators (MNO) to automate laborious operational tasks.

Through this partnership, The Qt Company and Toradex have committed to providing their customers with experience and support, when choosing the software and hardware to use with their next project.

This book leverages the performance and documentation requirements defined in the ISA/IEC 61511 functional process safety standard coupled with the authors' nearly 80 years of safety system experience

Vuzix M300 now supports 'TechSight', an augmented reality solution for distribution center workers developed by Honeywell's Intelligrated's for its Lifecycle Support Services customers.

Based on the results from the study, IFS believes digital transformation will continue to accelerate in coming years since only 5 percent of respondents expected their budgets to decrease.

A controller uses a quantitative process model and modifies controller tuning based on how the process responds in relation to the model prediction.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation An organization’s business model sets out how it will create and deliver value.Over the years, such models have increased in sophistication depending on advances in technology. Emerging, innovative technology can change existing business models or create new ones altogether.

As part of a corporate initiative, Columbia Tech and Cogmedix were both investing in new systems to help the companies grow, enhance consistency, and improve quality and traceability. This included upgrading their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and adopting Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems.

Swissbit produces industrial-grade flash memory products and memory cards with security features for embedded systems in its own state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Berlin. The new site will be ready for the volume manufacturing of the Norwegian company Hiddn Solutions’ products.

The report reveals how cities will even achieve independence in water, food and energy: they may still import but they can export too and be secure against increasingly violent weather and increasingly risky supply in the meantime.

GE Ventures also will host an additive manufacturing panel discussion, featuring thought leaders focused on innovations in 3D printing for the industrial sector.

By Robert Glass, Food & Beverage, ABB Food safety has been one of the top priorities for food manufacturers and consumers for many years. This article explains how smart technologies are helping manufacturers exceed food safety standards.

This year, Moxa competed with over 6,300 entries produced by designers and manufacturers from 59 countries. A jury of 40 experts assessed the submissions based on criteria such as degree of innovation, functionality, ergonomics, longevity and ecological compatibility.

I was impressed by a tour of the Valpak Manufacturing Center in St. Petersburg, Florida, hosted by Siemens, which is a great example of a company applying Industry 4.0 make to order manufacturing concepts.

Novotek’s future of automation event, on October 11, 2018, will cover a range of subjects related to the industry, encompassing everything from manufacturing intelligence and data visualisation to securing industrial processes and the role of machine learning in industrial plant management and maintenance.

Ultra-pure water applications pose special problems because of the exceptionally low conductivity of the fluid from the absence of ions. The consequences are extreme sensitivity to fluid velocity and

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The industrial automation industry has dramatically lagged in the adoption of technology, and a major reason for this has been closed ecosystems. Will the Honeywell TDC3000 migration approach eliminate the reason for The Open Process Automation Forum (OPA) initiative?

Beckhoff will exhibit in the Integrated Automation, Motion & Drives (IAMD) USA section in booth 134417. During the show, Beckhoff will also support the EtherCAT Technology Group (ETG) at partner booth 134117.

As the global association of automation and control professionals, ISA is well-positioned to prepare the next generation of engineers and technicians for the challenges and opportunities ahead.

As part of the collaboration, Renishaw is demonstrating the role that fun and creativity plays in engineering by supporting Beat Lab, an interactive music-tech initiative.

The latest U.S. Manufacturing Technology Orders Report from AMT – The Association For Manufacturing Technology showed that orders totaled $417 million for the month, down 14 percent compared to May’s totals, and sit at $2.55 billion for the year.

By Larry Smentowski, Rockwell Automation Smart manufacturing or Industry 4.0 initiatives present an opportunity to help all automakers address their challenges. But those initiatives will only be successful if automakers first have network, control and software standards in place.

The original plant had been set up in 2009 and expanded in 2014. The operator‘s concept was based on the digestion of horse manure and sale of the digestate as fertilizer pellets. However, as the concept turned out to be technically difficult and economically unfeasible, the plant went bankrupt.

Research presents an empirical method for tuning a new type of fractional controller known as PID Fractional-Order Filter

The AMP program will be offered in conjunction with the exida Academy Training course ALM 101: Introduction to Alarm Management Practices & Principles, which is offered generically or for specific control systems.

Siemens will be demonstrating to users and manufacturers of machine tools at its 270 square meter Booth B03 in Hall 2 how end-to-end digitalization solutions work from the machine tool right up to the corporate management level and the cloud.

During HANNOVER MESSE USA 2018, the show’s organizer will feature top energy management solutions in the new Industrial Energy Systems (IES) special display area. Key industrial energy systems innovators will discuss and demonstrate how to drive energy efficiency and ensure power quality in the manufacturing facility.

By Nick Boughton, Boulting Technology The proposed benefits of data collection from smart sensors are huge, but some manufacturers still feel that a smart factory is out of their reach. This article explains how plants with legacy equipment can retrospectively upgrade their facility to a smart factory.

Instrument technicians often use P&ID diagrams as a reference to identify what type of instrumentation is installed and how the instrumentation is installed in the process.

CLPA’s activity with the OPCF aims to expand its existing CSP+ (Control & Communication System Profile) technology from just describing individual devices and to apply it to complete machines and production lines. This is the key concept behind CSP+ for Machine.

Altizon’s platform is a technology designed to help accelerate Smart Manufacturing initiatives, modernize Asset Performance Management services and launch new Business Models for service delivery, among other processes.

BIDCO Africa Limited, with HighJump and the support of iWMS, is gaining end-to-end supply chain transparency to improve workflows and adapt to its growth trajectory. This includes evolving operations with traceability and recall management, inventory management, tracking and shipping via FEFO/FIFO expiry dates, and worker productivity.

The recently published Gartner Magic Quadrant evaluates multiple integrated risk management solution providers who serve the needs of security and risk management leaders across a spectrum of use cases.

Twelve independent jury panels of distinguished industry experts selected the 57 finalists from 420 nominations submitted by more than 340 user organizations around the world.

CLPA’s activity with the OPCF aims to expand its existing CSP+ (Control & Communication System Profile) technology from just describing individual devices and to apply it to complete machines and production lines. This is the key concept behind CSP+ for Machine.

Altizon’s platform is a technology designed to help accelerate Smart Manufacturing initiatives, modernize Asset Performance Management services and launch new Business Models for service delivery, among other processes.

By John Sestito, United Electric Controls Seven common myths surrounding switches are analyzed in this paper in conjunction with new high-tech electronic switch designs that are proven to solve historically problematic implementation in the industrial process industries, from the plant to OEM manufacturers.

This integration pairs the HAZOP/LOPA, SRS, and SIL Verification requirements from aeShield with Honeywell’s Safety Builder, Process Safety Analyzer, and Trace into a Process Safety Suite.

This solution, EXPERTOPERATOR, was developed by PaR Systems (PaR). PaR is a global manufacturer of advanced automation, robotic, and specialty material handling solutions. PaR supports global customers in automotive, aerospace, nuclear, life science, marine and other core industries.

Experts do a deep dive on advanced topics of field calibration. Learn about special cases with loop testing, installing and testing capillary seals, and vortex and magnetic flowmeters.

Executives from Johnson & Johnson, the health care company, and Fluke Corporation, a specialist in professional electronic test tools and software, will provide insight into those issues and more in the learning session entitled “IIoT: Connecting the Unconnectable Assets at J&J,”

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The automation industry lost a dedicated and creative professional in Dr. Kenneth (Ken) Ryan, who died in July. Ken was an amazing man with a wide scope of knowledge and interests that he enthusiastically pursued.

The announcement brings together two metalworking fluids manufacturers in the industry. Yushiro is a supplier of metalworking fluids in the Asia Pacific region, and QualiChem is a metalworking fluids business in North America.

FANUC America’s North Campus is scheduled to open in the fall of 2019; the company will hold an official groundbreaking ceremony later this year. The $51 million expansion, expected to create 100 jobs, received a $1 million Michigan Business Development Program performance-based grant.

YELLOWSTONE LIVE, shows the Yellowstone park’s ecosystem in real-time over a four night period. With more geysers in the park than any other place on earth, the production team from Plimsoll Productions wanted to tell the story with as much detail as possible. They turned to Fluke infrared cameras.

By Kim Del Fierro, Area 1 Security Cybersecurity is an issue that is now demanding more attention than ever. Due to the frequency and devastating consequences of cyberattacks, every employee should be able to maintain a high level of cyberattack prevention.

With ASTES4 as a wholly owned subsidiary, Mitsubishi Electric will offer integrated solutions to the global market with ASTES4’s automated sorting systems embedded into Mitsubishi Electric’s high value-added sheet metal laser processing machines.

The size of a pipeline leak affects the relevant process parameters and the observed changes in them help with determining of the state of the pipeline.

The technology offers an approach for collaborative industrial robotics and makes applications possible in areas such as sheet metal processing or in the fabrication of solar panels.

The 5,000 square-foot Festo Experience Center, Santa Clara, features a demonstration hall where augmented reality devices allow visitors to virtually experience manufacturing and processing systems utilized in such industries as semiconductors and electronics, solar and flat panel, assembly and test, medical technology, laboratory automation, food & packaging and process automation.

The report, Examining the Quality, Market Value, and Effectiveness of Manufacturing Credentials in the United States, features recommendations for multiple stakeholders including manufacturers, credentialing organizations, educators, accreditors, and policymakers.

SMEs developing robotic technologies may now apply for providing solutions to predefined real-life challenges. The respective challenge winners will receive direct financial support through a cascade funding mechanism of up to 200.000 euros each.

With programming modes, customization capabilities and compatibility, External-Array’s solutions have helped the company establish an international reputation and a customer base in China.

The technology offers an approach for collaborative industrial robotics and makes applications possible in areas such as sheet metal processing or in the fabrication of solar panels.

Tree Topology concentrates the connection of several field devices to couplers/junction boxes. Tree topology is also known as "Chickenfoot" or "Star" configuration.

To be eligible for the Machine Safety System Integrator program, candidates must be current Solution Partners or Recognized System Integrators in the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork program with three to five years of machine safety experience.

Weisbrod will work closely with both Fair and Vice President of Product Design, Matt Tweedy, to support development of Enact’s strategy and functionality, while maintaining collaboration with marketing, sales, and service teams

The Conformal Coating Solutions Seminar is geared to those in the automotive manufacturing supply chain, as conformal coating plays a part in manufacturing for the growing electric car, autonomous and assisted driving, and connectivity markets.

WVU is partnering with Rockwell Automation to facilitate market readiness through use of their sensor and control technologies in the new WVU facility.

WVU is partnering with Rockwell Automation to facilitate market readiness through use of their sensor and control technologies in the new WVU facility.

With this partnership, AVEVA customers gain access to in-memory cyber protection for Industrial Control (ICS) and Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems.

By Albert Behr, Behr Technologies Low Power Wide Area Networks (LPWAN) will soon become the standard IIoT communications infrastructure covering the entire industrial facility and supporting a multitude of uses cases, from simple temperature monitoring in the manufacturing plant to condition monitoring, energy consumption tracking, and worker safety.

What started as the sole responsibility of engineers and technicians has now grown to become a backbone of business operations as organizations realize the impact maintenance can have on their efficie

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Throughout the four-day event, which hosted over 21,000 attendees from more than 100 countries, it was obvious that SAP is focused on growing its role to encompass all manufacturing functions outside of design and hard real-time control.

This agreement enable PA Solutions to provide a cloud-based, quality management system for its clients, and by leveraging their expertise in industrial engineering and IT, PA Solutions can also provide support and capabilities to other partner organizations within the InfinityQS partner network.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation As cryptocurrencies become more popular, their creators are vying for new customers. This article explains how blockchain and the Tangle differ and what both can do to improve manufacturing practice.

Converging networking and other technologies ease remote access from the plant floor to PCs, tablets, and smartphones.

Watlow SELECT is a buying experience allowing customers to find products online and in Watlow catalogs, design the product to fit their application, readily access drawings and technical content and receive five days or less shipment on most products.

By John Miles & Paolo Butti, Rockwell Automation Smart manufacturing strategies are helping today's manufacturers produce high-quality electric vehicles quickly, affordably and with minimal risk. We aren’t likely to see a slowdown anytime soon

This infographic provides an overview of operational machine learning and how it is improving production throughput, uptime, quality and safety across many industries and applications.

Additive Manufacturing (3D printing) is increasingly being used in the manufacturing industry for prototyping, low volume manufacture and for making items with complex shapes which cannot easily be reproduced by other means.

The symbol reflects a temperature regulator, filled thermal system.

The event took place from June 10 to 15 in San Diego and featured over 300 hundred hours of training and knowledge sharing. Attendees joined hands-on labs, technical sessions and management discussions to learn about the latest techniques and technologies to optimize production data, build secure networks and accelerate a digital transformation.

The Dealer Design Awards program was established to honor excellence in HVACR product design. This is the fifth honor for the T6 Electrical Testers since the product was introduced in September 2017.

Robin has a clear understanding of the company’s capabilities and market sectors, and will lead a growing team to further develop Boulting Technology for the delivery of low voltage (LV) panels, control systems, industrial networks and pump system optimization.

As part of the Mek team, Jeroen will oversee the delivery and logistics of Mek AOI and SPI systems.

Launched at HANNOVER MESSE 2018 in Hannover, Germany, the IAMD event supports the latest advancements in the fluid power industry by demonstrating digitally connected fluid power products to international distributors and system integrators.

Award presentations will be made at the ISA Honors & Awards Gala on 14 October 2018 at the Grand Hyatt Montreal, Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

Used to secure billions of computer hardware and financial systems, TPM technology uses a secret key embedded into a microchip or firmware.

By Ryan Gutherie, TM Robotics As other countries embark on initiatives to encourage the adoption of automated technologies, this article investigates America’s relationship with robots.

The cause of a loop problem could be in the final control element, sensor/transmitter, software parameters, logic configuration, operator practices, or process design.

The International Society of Automation and The Open Group have agreed to a liaison Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to facilitate cooperation in advancing and harmonizing the development of a multivendor, interoperable, secure control architecture for application across the process industries. Activities will include sharing of best practices, document review and joint forums.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Featuring numerous displays of the newest technologies, along with dozens of Honeywell and customer led sessions and technical discussions, the Honeywell Users Group Americas (HUG) buzzed in San Antonio this June with over 1,300 attendees.

Nano-satellite narrowband services to the Caribbean region will be provided by SAS' Pearls constellation once deployment commences in 2019. This supports the SAS business model of providing connectivity to equatorial locations such as the Caribbean, where these services are required.

By Jonathan Wikins, EU Automation Whether you’re working from home, picking up e-mails on the go or away on business, it’s usually possible to remotely access you company’s network. This article discusses secure remote access and the challenges it presents.

Research presents a new design for a PID controller with a lead lag filter using multiple dominant pole placement method.