Articles and News

This follows the acquisition of the Automated Technology Group (ATG), one of the UK’s largest independent suppliers of control and power solutions for industrial automation, in September 2015.

PCB's accelerometers were used by Lockheed Martin to measure the dynamic environment of the instrument platform in flight, and to characterize that environment to improve the interpretation of instrument data.

Nemaska Lithium is developing the Whabouchi spodumene deposit to meet the growing global demand for lithium batteries to be used in electric vehicles and energy storage systems, as well as in various consumer electronics.

This free June 6 session will explore emerging trends in material handling and the best ways to ensure that equipment is designed and operates reliably and safely.

The Puget Sound Electrical JATC team — students Matthew Pulk, Andrew Wissink, Pavel Lutsyuk, and Xerxes Shelly, and advisor Steve Uhrich — used Fluke Connect Wireless Sensors and software to provide the information necessary for re-commissioning a customer's solar photovoltaic system and confirming that the photovoltaic system generated the power anticipated.

Dual-simultaneous dispensing enables two Nordson ASYMTEK dispensing valves or jets mounted on a single Z-head to simultaneously dispense fluid at two locations to increase throughput. Automatic Dual Simultaneous (ADS) systems automatically adjust the relative positions of the two valves in X, Y, and Z axes.

In the U.S., the plan will add large-robot assembly capabilities to the systems integration and service operations already in place at the Sepro America operation in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Leveraging ISA standards during the industrial project design phase can enable companies to achieve sustainable benefits.

ABB’s solar conversion technology is suitable for power ranges from small kW to multi-MW, and is backed up by a comprehensive package of communication, monitoring and control solutions, designed to maximize solar power profits and support across the entire life cycle of a project.

This addition of North Hills Signal Processing to the DDC family expands DDC’s transformer product and technology portfolio with MIL-STD-1553, RF wideband, interface and power magnetic solutions, along with expanded manufacturing capabilities and engineering resources.

Harris, is the winner of the International School of Hydrocarbon Measurement (ISHM) Memorial Award for his technical paper and presentation in 2016 discussing improving field calibration through integrated technologies.

Level 1 DCS overview displays can help eliminate keyhole & tunneling effect some operators may experience from focusing on level 2, 3 & 4 control graphics.

The AMCI by IDEC product line includes controllers, stepper motors, and integrated solutions for the FC6A MicroSmart PLC. Integration is a combination of two or more components that usually make up a system.

By Katherine Brocklehurst, Belden IT and OT are very different organizations that have begun to converge very rapidly. This convergence has led to conflict, perhaps which has even been felt in your organization. This article addresses a major cause of their conflict and how to start resolving the growing pains.

CBV expects to reduce plant operating costs by up to 30 percent and maintenance time by up to 40 percent when ABB Ability Electrical Distribution Control System is fully implemented at other locations.

SETPOINT’s technology gives BKV a solution for applications that require a fully API 670-compliant machinery protection system. It also provides BKV with condition monitoring solutions

DeVry University is expanding DeVry Bootcamp to include 11 online Advanced Manufacturing Programs in collaboration with 180 Skills, an online career and technical education company for the advanced manufacturing industry

The companies plan to offer RPA consulting services and solutions to customers in a broad range of industries, including banking, retail, security, healthcare and education.

The scope of the working group will include examining the overlap between business and production processes, engineering and process automation solutions.

DesignSpark Mechanical 3D modelling software tool was used in the development of the ‘Daedalus’ jet-engine flight suit, which was demonstrated at a recent TED conference in Vancouver

FCI Co-founders, Robert Deane and Malcolm McQueen along with Magnetrol’s Judy Stevenson were inducted into the Measurement, Control and Automation Hall of Fame during the MCAA Industry Forum last month in Atlanta.

Winners will be selected based on the three key pillars of a comprehensive safety program: a strong safety culture, well-executed compliance procedures, and effective use of current, machine-safety technology.

Comtrol’s IO-Link Masters are available in three industrial Ethernet protocols: EtherNet/IP, Modbus TCP and PROFINET IO, which are all capable of running OPC UA with MultiLink.

By Marius Mützel, Kistler Group In the past, fiber-reinforced plastics (FRPs) were mainly used in the aerospace sector −but in response to the trend towards boosting efficiency and optimizing resources, their use in the automotive industry is now increasing as well. It is essential to use lightweight construction materials so as to achieve the increased efficiency levels required by law, and also to reduce CO2 emissions.

According to the joint CIGI, ISOC and UNCTAD Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust, conducted by global research company Ipsos, before the latest attack, 6 per cent of Internet users globally had already been personally affected by ransomware, with Internet users in India, Indonesia, China and the United States the most likely to be affected.

The automotive sector is one of the main driving forces modernizing the French economy: with a robot density of 940 units per 10,000 workers, France currently ranks 2nd within the European Union - the UK ranks 10th with 606 units

This hands-on, interactive workshop is an extension of the Telecommunications Industry Association’s (TIA) Connectivity Jam and takes place June 8, 2017 in Dallas, Texas.

An improved cascade control structure with a modified Smith predictor is proposed for controlling open-loop unstable time delay processes.

The April 2017 event was a part of a regular schedule of interoperability events. It featured more than 20 devices from 13 different suppliers. These events provide ISA100 WCI member organizations an opportunity to validate the ISA100 Wireless brand promise of assured interoperability.

Bob and Mac began their partnership in 1964 with the development of a thermal flow switch designed to provide service in the the oil/gas industry. Starting in Mac’s home garage, the two engineers improvised with a kitchen candy thermometer, soldering iron, and a bowl of water to prove the validity of their initial sensor concept design and then began manufacturing the devices for a major U.S. oil company.

VIRES is a German-based, provider of simulation software solutions that support the development, testing and validation of driver-assisted and autonomous driving technology.

By Alan Grau and Dave West, Icon Labs Just as cyber-attacks take many forms and exploit a wide range of vulnerabilities in the target device, so too is cybersecurity multi-faceted. A fundamental, but often ignored, aspect of cybersecurity for IIoT devices is strong authentication.

Kepware and Microsoft’s industrial IoT solutions integrate with the help of OPC UA. KEPServerEX can move industrial control data to the Azure cloud platform by utilizing both OPC UA and MQTT via the Azure IoT Gateway SDK and Azure IoT Hub.

OMEGA Engineering sponsored the Sim-City robotics team from Simsbury High School. The team ranked 19 out of the 68 teams in their division at the 4-day FIRST Robotics National Championship in St. Louis, Missouri from April 26 through April 29.

By Alex West, IHS Markit Overall, a number of themes could be discerned at HANNOVER MESSE this year, including cost-cutting, production efficiency, downtime reduction, quicker time-to-market, product customization, and lower development costs.

The directive now provides a recognised, international common basis if there is need for clarification among project partners. Furthermore, the directive will help mitigate language barriers: Each paragraph is printed in both languages side by side. The tables have the same structures in both languages.

The objective is to strengthen and further build up the business area of material logistics with the broadened product portfolio. Super Dry Totech offers solutions in dry storage with a broad range of desiccant dry cabinets and the automated Dry Tower handling & storage system.

The study found more than three-quarters (76 percent) of Americans surveyed believe the U.S. should invest further in the manufacturing industry.

An enhanced PID controller simplifies tuning and improves loop stability and reliability for loops dominated by discontinuous measurement updates.

Transitioning from Manual to Automated Conformal Coating, by Michael Szuch, Nordson ASYMTEK and Optimizing the Plasma Treatment Process Prior to Conformal Coating to Eliminate ESD Induced Failures, by David Foote, Nordson MARCH, will be presented on Wednesday, May 24, 2017.

The industrial routers mbNET, mbNET.mini and the remote service portal mbConnect24 now support the discovery facilities of different PLC systems, also over the Internet. The thinking behind these features is the ability of common programming systems to find existing controllers in the network without known or assigned IP address.

The company will award free Extrovert 4G-equipped Logic Supply industrial computers to as many as five of the most exciting project proposals submitted to their "Be an Extrovert" contest.

The three-day class, from June 6-8, will focus on physics of flow and various flow measurement technologies available, along with a basic understanding of digital communications. The course will be a combination of classroom and hands-on training.

The core components of the new EDC are the 20m-high high-bay warehouse and the highly automated picking. The high-bay warehouse’s area of 4,500 square meters offers space for 6,500 pallets and around 120,000 warehouse containers and is operated fully automatically and in a paperless way, among others by employing RFID technology.

Prior to joining 3eTI, Iyer was vice president with at Honeywell Aerospace where he led international and domestic aerospace and defense programs. Before joining Honeywell, he served in the US Air Force for more than 17 years in several top leadership positions.

Lenze has joined forces with the IoT specialist ei3 to offer a combination of remote analysis and remote maintenance services. It is a white label product which means that there is no visible evidence of the ei3 brand, and the product appears under the name and logo of the OEM.

A magnetic flowmeter is a volumetric flowmeter, which does not have any moving parts and is ideal for wastewater applications or any dirty liquid.

FCI offers a range of application solutions from off-the-shelf devices to custom-engineered systems. They combine flow measurement accuracy with a design that is compatible with caustic, corrosive, humid and high temperature environments.

Using the TaskMaster infeed system with Braille module, cartons are fed, aligned, embossed, and transferred to the folder gluer all in one operation – at up to 1000 feet per minute. This unit can either run offline or be put directly in front of an existing folder gluer.

By Rick Delgado, Freelance Automation Writer Threat hunting is becoming more and more popular in the business industry. When it is done correctly, the concepts, processes and strategies are of critical importance to the security of an organization.

Smart Industry Solutions India from 13 – 15 December 2017 in Mumbai will target end-to-end solutions that will address the needs of smart manufacturing. This new exhibition format will cover future factory, automation systems, technology and solutions, as well as hydraulics & pneumatics.

DS2 is a self-contained start-to-finish production facility for small and medium lathes, and grinders. This is the second smart factory built at Okuma’s headquarters, following the Dream Site 1 (DS1), which was completed in May 2013.

By Johannes Petrowisch, COPA-DATA Today, advancements in connectivity and the introduction of cloud computing are making monitoring industrial environments a lot more sophisticated. As we enter the era of the smart factory, this article will discusses the benefits of cloud computing for the manufacturing industry.

The competition – created to recognize and reward the high levels of innovation in the packaging industry – was split into five categories: ease of use, modular machines, smart machines, sustainability, and traceability and product safety.

The IPS Corpus Christi Service Center is one of seven IPS service centers supporting industry in the Gulf Coast Region including Houston, TX, Beaumont, TX, Sulphur, LA, Shreveport, LA, Birmingham, AL and Dothan, AL.

Telit IoT University, part of the company’s IoT Know How suite of consultative services, is designed to teach customers and partners how to succeed in launching IoT solutions that deliver measurable business outcomes.

Learn how to document “one-sided” calibrations, such as pH/ORP and gas sensors/analyzers. The approach can apply to meters, DCS and PLC inputs.

This recently completed extension offers an additional 25,000 square meters of space for offices and production, which brings the facility to a total of 74,500 square meters. Endress+Hauser Process Solutions AG, the competence center for process automation and digital communication, is also housed in the new facility.

Red Trident, an industrial control systems (ICS) cyber security and process automation firm focused on protecting critical infrastructure, has joined the Bedrock Automation Systems Integration Network.

The webinar, which will be held from 12PM to 1:30PM EST on 8 June 2017, will feature two calibration experts: Ned Espy, Technical Director at Beamex; and Roy Tomalino, Calibration Engineer at Beamex.

On May 11, President Trump and the White House announced a presidential executive order on the strengthening of cybersecurity efforts for federal networks and infrastructure.

ISA President Steven Pflantz says ISA members can learn from the bright, extremely motivated youth participating in FIRST and other STEM programs.

In the new "Arena of Digitalization" covering an area of more than 800 square meters, Siemens is now showing customers and partners how digitalization is used in metalworking and motor production and what results can be achieved with it.

By addressing risk in key areas, companies can effectively manage brand-critical safety, quality, security and obsolescence challenges at their source. An e-book outlining the four key areas of risk management is available on the Rockwell Automation website.

The new website is intended to form the basis for stronger digital interaction with customers. It is also part of a comprehensive, multi-year global digitalization strategy.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation With the introduction of driverless cars by brands such as BMW and Google, safety is being revolutionised through autonomy. But what can other industries learn from this? This article discusses how new technology and increased automation improves safety across sectors.

The specification provides device manufacturers with an official foundation to implement EtherCAT P technology, which enables data and power transmission on a single, standard cable.

The OPC Foundation European Certification lab has successfully been accredited and the first successful certified product was a Siemens RFID reader.

An all-time high total of 9,773 robots valued at approximately $516 million were ordered from North American robotics companies during the first quarter of 2017. This represents growth of 32 percent in units over the same period in 2016, which held the previous record. Order revenue grew 28 percent over the first quarter of last year

As the future approaches, next generation analytics and artificial intelligence technologies will support data and real time decision making at the point of production. This on demand webinar will discuss this evolution and how to protect the data and drive organizational success with IIoT

This most recent acquisition strengthens Ritter's commitment to providing engineered hydraulic and pneumatic products to its customer base in the greater Detroit area.

Transforming an industrial plant’s calibration system to a fully automated system.

An independent jury, with representatives from the research, business, and specialist media organization, awarded the 2017 golden manus trophy, along with a €5,000 prize to California based Pathway LLC for its design for manufacturing of the Airframe exoskeleton, developed by Levitate Technologies, Inc.

This business and technology will primarily support further development of Aventics’ commercial vehicle sector. In addition, VHtek technologies and the increased R&D capacities provided by the owners and employees of VHtek, will further benefit Aventics core sectors such as Industrial Automation, Life Sciences, Energy, Food & Beverage, and Railway Technologies.

Microsoft has provided, in conjunction with the OPC Foundation, an set of sample applications, inclusive of reference clients, reference servers, an aggregation server, an OPC classic wrapper and a web application to quickly display OPC UA telemetry data sent to the cloud.

Real-time optimization with a detailed process model is the best approach to fining the most efficient operating points.

Turck licensed U Grok It’s technology for its PD-IDENT handheld reader (Turck part number: PD-IDENT-UHF-RUG-MOBILE-860-960) in 2016, allowing customers to use their iOS and Android devices to track, control, and manage RFID applications. By investing in this technology, Turck continues to support the platform and development tools for both Turck and U Grok It customers.

The competition provides students, from grades 9 through 12, with the opportunity to use sophisticated software and hardware, learn from professional engineers, collaborate, earn recognition, and qualify for millions of dollars in college scholarships. In all, approximately 83,000 students on 3,336 teams from 25 countries competed in FIRST competitions during the 2017 season.

By John Murdoch, Alfacon Solutions At lower wages, it was more difficult to cost-justify the automation expense. Management could throw more labor at the volume issue. Now with much higher labor rates (not including health insurance, workers’ compensation, vacation time, and safety concerns), conveyor automation is axiomatic and needed more than ever before.

The Achilles Test Platform helps manufacturers of mission critical infrastructure solutions ensure that their products are less vulnerable to cyberattacks. The Bedrock SCC has achieved Achilles Level 2 certificatio

ANL Plastics is a European manufacturer of thermoformed plastic packaging products. ANL Plastics, headquartered in Wellen, Belgium, has three manufacturing plants in Europe, enabling distribution across the continent.

The awards were presented during ABB’s annual Robotics Value Provider Conference the week of April 4th in Chicago, IL. Accepting the awards were Ryan Okelberry, Co-owner, House of Design; Claudimar Bortolin, CEO, Torfresma Industrial; and Lance Guymon, Engineering Manager and Drew Akey, Project Manager, both of Wolf Robotics.

AES needed an expert integrator who knew the demands of recycling firsthand, with an engineering staff that could coordinate the equipment and automate the entire facility. Vecoplan, an industry provider of building and automating recycling technology, knew it could take on that project.

Exchange is a curated library of reusable IoT elements, including services, products and content, designed to enable industrial manufacturers to solve common IoT challenges

By Tom Gilheany, Learning@Cisco The manufacturing sector has the dubious distinction of being the second-largest target of cyber criminals; only healthcare surpasses it. This article discusses how this may shape manufacturing trends and regulations in 2017

The initiative is aligned around a common goal: the simplification and standardization of Industrial IoT edge computing, while still allowing the ecosystem to add significant value.

Aranda was presented with the award, which is worth 5,000 euros, at the opening ceremony of the WoMenPower conference by Yasmin Fahimi, State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Labour and Social Affairs, and Deutsche Messe’s Managing Board Chairman Dr. Wolfram von Fritsch.

Logical & careful planning of loop testing strategies results in improved control performance without compromising plant quality, reliability, or safety.

Each year, ISA’s technical division symposia events bring together innovators, thought leaders and other automation and control professionals from around the world to explore the latest technologies, trends and best practices.

Of the show’s 225,000 attendees (up from 217,000 in 2015 as the most recent comparable event), more than 75,000 came from abroad. The next HANNOVER MESSE will run from 23 to 27 April 2018, with Mexico as its official Partner Country.

In a recent survey published by GBC, the keynote speakers of the IIoT and Digital Solutions for oil and gas conference (OMV, Eni, Petronas and Halliburton) have mentioned that the mind-set change in integrating the IT in the overall business strategy and the breakdown of cultural and technical silos will leverage the speed of the opportunities in this sector and will deeply transform the legacy operations.

The partnership enables device manufacturers to manage PKI certificates throughout the product lifecycle using the OPTIGA TPM, including support for certificate injection during device manufacturing.

Exosite’s combination of Murano and Exchange was designed to help industrial manufacturers like Parker develop a centralized approach to IoT implementation that focuses on standardization, reuse and internal collaboration.

In the first two years, the Chinese government will be inviting all manufacturing companies in South China to attend conferences, training sessions and networking events at the Robotation Academy.

The tech center shares the 75,000 sq. ft. facility with Toyoda’s Remanufactured Products Division (RPD). Dedicated much to the repairing and remanufacturing of machines since the 1970’s, RPD will continue to specialize in returning overworked machining centers to OEM specifications.

The Reshoring Initiative, an organization working to return manufacturing jobs to the USA, estimates that as many as one million jobs can be returned based on objective cost analysis.

Researchers propose a new adaptive neural network based control scheme for switched linear systems with parametric uncertainty and external disturbance.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com We've received a number of comments and questions from vendors about The Open Group's effort to push for open process automation standards. Tn the aim of encouraging more discussion on the topic, we're sharing some of these questions in order to provide some more clarity on its importance.

By Alan Grau, Icon Labs Just as societies without strong law enforcement result in higher crime rates and vigilante justice, lax security results in increased cybercrime.

Impulse lines connect the process to the pressure transmitter, to reduce the effect of ambient temperature on the transmitter's operability and life span.