Articles and News

Parents do not have accurate information or positive perceptions on the opportunities for a career in manufacturing.

TechED will feature over 170 hands-on labs, technical sessions and discussion forums where attendees can learn about the latest techniques and technology to maximize their manufacturing and production operations, while earning professional development hours.

The catalog covers the scope of PI's magnetic direct drives and air bearing technology solutions, including actuators, linear stages, multi-axis gantry systems, and customized systems.

Automation is the use of several control systems for operating equipment such as boilers and heat treating ovens, machinery, switching in telephone networks, stabilization and steering of aircraft, ships and other applications with reduced or minimal human intervention.

AutoQuiz: Blocked control valves used in a paper-pulp slurry service.

The International Intelligent Manufacturing Conference, on Wednesday, May 11, compared China’s “Made in China 2025”, Germany’s “Industry 4.0” and the United States’ “Industrial Internet” initiatives.

At the hearing of the U.S. Congress Joint Economic Committee (JEC), ranking Democrat Carolyn B. Maloney (D-NY) and three witnesses outlined the benefits and potential pitfalls of expanded automation and robotics in the workforce.

Demand for Automated Test Equipment appears to be growing in regions with high consumer electronics demand. This facilitates the market to progress rapidly in North America, Europe, China, Japan, Taiwan and other Asian countries. The Asian market poses the highest potential for growth as India and China are becoming global economies with their focus on the electronics and manufacturing sectors.

By: Brian Arbuckle, IHS Technology The total market for industrial cybersecurity products reached $782 million in 2015 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 18.8 percent to reach $1.8 billion in 2020

The Color Detection sensor market is crucial for the success of industry automation on a global scale. This market has been witnessing tremendous growth due to increasing industries and new technological advancements. Advanced Economies also maintain a stable growth mainly due to reimbursements offered for specific equipment and health policies of government and private entities.

More than 120 plant, refinery, air quality and emissions professionals attended ISA’s 16th annual Fugitive Emissions-LDAR Symposium 16-20 May 2016 in scenic Denver, Colorado USA.

SensoTech’s business focuses on the development, manufacturing and sales of analytical instrumentation technology for liquid concentration and density measurement in industrial and research applications.

Technological advancements in packaging techniques have led to the introduction of next generation packaging.It is particularly helpful in tracing shipments to distant locations and ensures minimum damage to packaged materials

ST Robotics announced distribution agreements with RobotShop and SuperDroid Robots to deliver its ST R Series articulated and cylindrical robot arm systems across North America.

By Ed Herceg, Alliance Sensors Linear Variable Inductive Transducers (LVITs) are used in many factory automation applications. This article gives an in-depth look at the operational and financial benefits of LVIT technology

By Martyn Williams, COPA-DATA UK This article explains how implementing custom machinery and combining industrial equipment with intelligent automation software can help companies implement fully-flexible manufacturing.

Menzel Elektromotoren GmbH was chosen to replace defective motors after an internet search. The original motors had failed after only two years of operation, because they were unable to withstand the loads and high temperatures in the pumping station.

While manufacturers should remain vigilant about security in building an IIoT strategy, it should not prevent moving forward. Four solution providers who will exhibit at Industrial Automation North America 2016 offered these recommendations

Control valves market report gives very clean insights about the value chain, pricing and market force analysis of control valve market. This market is studied under various end user industries including oil & gas, food processing, fertilizers, pharmaceuticals and many more.

Behrman Capital, a private equity investment firm, has entered into a definitive agreement to sell DDC, to Transdigm Group Incorporated, in a transaction valued at $1 billion. Completion of the transaction is expected before the end of the second quarter of 2016.

This productivity tool is designed to reduce engineering overhead for original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) and speed delivery to laboratory equipment, electronic light assembly, end of line packaging, food and beverage, automotive, and machine tool manufacturers.

ADLINK will actively participate in the organization’s new Open Compute Telecom Project focused on establishing the next generation of open standards for communication architectures.

Tech Folien turned to Emerson official partner RJW, who designed and installed a motor solution which delivered energy savings of over 75%.

Product lifecycle management and automation are being drawn together by a series of technological developments. The driving force is a combination of the elements of hardware, “smart,” and cloud.

The Seoul-based subsidiary evolved from its cooperation with an experienced CAE sales partner, with which Aucotec had started its involvement in Korea. The partner relied completely on Aucotec's modern software platform and was named "Engineering Base Ltd" after the system.

Bluff's management team and Wincove plan to build on Bluff's position in the material handling market and to continue to provide dealers with the same service, products, and delivery.

By Adam Chapman, Fluenta Feedback from the International Conference and Exhibition on Emissions Monitoring (CEM) this year highlighted two perspectives on the necessity of automation for both current and future regulation and monitoring challenges: monitoring fugitive emissions and fine particulate matter.

The ISA program committee calls for process industry leaders, particularly in the chemical and energy processing fields, to submit abstracts for presentation consideration prior to July 22

One of HIMA’s most significant ongoing assignments in Asia Pacific is Ichthys, the massive Australian LNG project operated by INPEX. HIMA is supplying the project’s safety systems.

The partnership is intended to provides shipper, 3PLs and other logistics services providers with a transportation planning and execution solution that will optimize delivery outcomes while controlling freight costs across all delivery modes.

Users of portable metrology systems are invited and encouraged to take the survey, which will address usage scenarios and issues impacting industries, such as automotive, power generation, oil and gas, and any related field that manufactures precision parts that require in-place measurement.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Even in the manufacturing industry, apps are finding a home as one of the best ways to access information. This article examines the use of apps in industrial environments, compared to their browser-based alternatives.

The Manufacturing Association of Nigeria inaugurated its Large Corporation Group, which will come up with policy recommendations that will lead to a conducive economic and social climate for the operation and development for large scale industries in Nigeria.

Industrial Automation North America 2016 , from 12-17 September in Chicago, will focus on companies' need for smart, transportable data and connections to the plant floor.

Bird will initially focus on the launch of the newest product in the Fluenta flare gas meter range, the 160X. He has been managing R&D and product development groups since 1999

The book Industrial Data Communications is designed to help you understand legacy and more advanced systems deployed in industrial automation environments.

Mike Bastian, Global Controls Manager at Ford, shared the motivations behind their cybersecurity strategy, as well as defined 7 systems which are essential for reliable operations and keeping production running smoothly.

This study, conducted at UBC’s Okangan campus, has resulted in an engineering model that could help the companies determine which areas of their pipeline network could be prone to corrosion and should receive priority for integrity testing.

Trading as CMRP Automation Inc., the operation will be based in Makati City, Manila providing design, engineering support, installation and commissioning services to the process industries sector in the Philippines, Singapore and SEA region.

Senior level discussions about the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) will be the focal point for the Global Automation & Manufacturing Summit held during Industrial Automation North America 2016, from September 12–17, 2016, at McCormick Place in Chicago.

The growing demand for open-network communication network systems and real-time diagnostic information generation systems is driving the demand for iMCCs primarily.

Numbers of mobile devices are rapidly increasing as operators deploy faster networks. Hence, mobile data traffic is expected to explode over the forecast period. The surge in the industry is can be subjected to growing number of wireless devices, smart phones and deployment of sophisticated network such as 3G, 4G and LTE.

This event—focusing on the challenges associated with automation and instrumentation in the water and wastewater sectors—includes an extensive, two-day program of technical presentations; a tour of a local wastewater treatment plant; and a supplier showcase.

Available for free download, the device drivers enable users to develop control interfaces to Alicat instruments, without PLC programming skills.

AutoQuiz: What are the basic components of a programmable logic controller?

The ZigBee Alliance is a non-profit association of companies creating, maintaining and delivering open, global standards for the low-power wireless Internet of Things

TrendMiner is a discovery analytics engine for process measurement data. Through a web-based trend client, process engineers and operators can search for trends using TrendMiner’s pattern recognition and machine learning big data technologies.

BTL listed PcVue Solutions are now providing a mobile offering for SCADA in intelligent buildings. Safety and dispatch tracking are natural functions of the Mobility Server which relies on position in order to create contextual HMI.

Measuring over 100m wide and over 60m high and with a lifting capacity of 45t, the port crane was revamped by Apator Control, adding Emerson's Unidrive M AC and Mentor MP DC drives, controlled by the Simatic S7 Programmable Logic Controller (PLC).

EY and GE Digital will develop and deliver industry-specific services based on GE's Predix cloud-based operating system.

Packaging Robot Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

Distribution Automation System refers to a set of intelligent processors, communication technologies and sensors the enables to coordinate and monitor the distribution assets of electric power.

Artificial Intelligence Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends and Forecast 2016 - 2024

The Mechanical Components 2 evaluates the candidate's mastery of the principles and application of mechanical components such as clutches, brakes, gear boxes, transmissions, ball screws, and linear components.

Leo, the fully autonomous baggage robot, has the capacity to check in, print bag tags and transport up to two suitcases with a maximum weight of 32kg. It also has an obstacle avoidance capability and can navigate in a high-traffic environment such as an airport.

Being part of OPTEX will allow Gardasoft Vision Ltd to extend the applications of its Triniti Technology. Both companies are looking to work together to exploit wider product and market synergies.

CeMAT, a trade fair for intralogistics and supply chain management will be co-staged with HANNOVER MESSE, a fair for industrial technology, every two years starting in 2018

As general manager, Villalobos, will be responsible for the company’s strategic direction and sales growth in Mexico. He will also be responsible for the operation of Yaskawa’s three facilities located in Mexico (Aguascalientes, Apodaca and Queretaro).

The Bridge Evaluation and Accelerated Structural Testing (BEAST) lab, located at Rutgers University in Piscataway, NJ will provide valuable data and insight into the degradation of bridges due to environmental and maintenance factors.

Being the first major release in 2016, AggreGate 5.3 delivers enhancing GIS capabilities, better OPC connectivity, a new dashboard designer, as well as improved usability and new communication protocol drivers.

Natural Language Processing Market - Global Industry Analysis, Size, Share, Growth, Trends, and Forecast 2016 - 2024

Through the Supply Chainnovator awards program, Gartner recognizes supply chain innovation and impact delivered by supply chain organizations, in manufacturing. This year's winners were Cisco and Jabil.

Automation.com's latest free resource presents the 2015-2016 results of the biennial Metrics that Matter study, showing readers how the potential of IoT technology is being realized across the industries.

CeMAT 2016 gets underway on 31 May with a diverse showcase of intralogistics products and solutions featuring some 1,000 exhibitors from 44 nations.

As per the report, the global human machine interface (HMI) market is expected to grow at CAGR of 6.13% from 2016 to 2020. The report offers an analysis of key manufacturers, detailed segmentation, and key drivers & challenges.

By Chris Jones, Micro-Epsilon UK This article discusses the different methods of sensor triggering, their impact on measurement cycle times and the benefits they can offer over continuous measurement.

Implementation advantages coupled with rising need to reassess data center infrastructure is anticipated to fuel the global industry demand over the forecast period. Shift in trend from mainframes to internet computing has changed the approach with which end-users purchase, consume, deliver and build technology.

Emerson contributed to the turnaround by providing automation technologies and services that help Longview provide enough reliable, affordable electricity to power more than 500,000 homes.

ISA is listening. Share your views and opinions, what matters most to you, your likes and dislikes.

By Mark Proctor, EU Automation The difference between distributed control systems (DCSs) and programmable logic controllers (PLCs) can be boiled down to a football metaphor. Your DCS is your captain. Your PLC is more like a utility player This article provides an analysis of DCSs and PLCs in the modern plant.

Previously the process control director of Boulting Group, Ian’s technical expertise lies in electrical control systems and system integration. Oliver will oversee operations at Boulting's four UK locations.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Industry 4.0 was at the forefront of dozens of exciting new innovations and strategies from the industrial world at the 2016 Hannover Fair. Klaus Helmrich, of Siemens AG, shared their view of Industry 4.0 and the entire digitalization of the value chain.

See what offerings ISA provided in the summer of 2016.

The 2016 Industrial Manufacturing Trends Report asserts that investments in technology are “essential” for the growth of the U.S. manufacturing sector. According to the report, making strategic investments is one key to growth, particularly in fast-evolving industries.

By Carolyn Crandall, Attivo Networks The implementation of a cyber security plan to protect critical industrial automation and control systems (IACS), or SCADA systems, is a cornerstone of ensuring the availability of infrastructure assets and company information.

By Dipesh Mukerji, KINGSTAR KINGSTAR’s motion control and machine vision platform creates PC-based machine controllers with premium precision and performance. Dipesh Mukerji, VP Marketing & Strategy at KINGSTAR, recently gave an interview to discuss the future of industrial machine automation.

View this webinar, from Automation.com and ANSYS, to learn about the five industry challenges that will maximize your chances of success in the IIoT. Topics will include component- and system-level simulation with examples in sensors, RFID, industrial robotics, instrumentation, and control and network equipment.

ISA was selected by the National Guard to provide hands-on industrial cybersecurity training in support of Cyber Shield 2016. More than 1,000 soldiers across all branches of the military participated in the event at Camp Atterbury, Indiana.

By Divya Venkataraman, Rockwell Automation Given the unique risks that wireless communications face – which include the interception and monitoring of data, wireless frame spoofing, and denial-of-service attacks – security is absolutely essential. This article goes more in depth on securing industrial wireless networks

WeConfig is designed to simplify the initial installation and configuration of single or multiple Westermo devices, improving network management efficiency. WeConfig 1.4 also features enhanced functionality to bolster cyber security.

exida’s first industry certificate for SDL applies to Schneider Electric’s Process Automation business product development centers. It was developed to accelerate cybersecurity improvement for industrial automation and control systems (IACS).

AutoQuiz: Protection techniques for equipment in a Class I, Division 1 area

The Schatz Group develops, manufactures, and distributes laboratory systems for the analysis of screw connections, calibration equipment and test systems for torque tools, and portable measurement systems for random sample testing.

NC State's Golden LEAF BTEC center will introduce LZ Lifescience’s manufacturing execution system (MES) technology into its biotech laboratory, replacing paper-based systems to improve performance and demonstrate efficiencies.

Technovision has plans to use AVEVA’s IE&D solutions in all of its projects, to achieve its objectives of optimum engineering schedules, accurate and cost-effective design, and the elimination of clashes, errors and omissions that create costly surprises during construction.

The MYNAH Training Academy features an online library of lessons and workshops aimed at helping users stay current on essential dynamic simulation skills.

MEMSIC’s products, ranging from accelerometers to sophisticated inertial guidance systems, are used in a wide variety of applications including automotive safety systems, avionics, industrial controls, and consumer electronics.

When one of the world’s leading tire manufacturers built a new $1 billion facility, careful planning was undertaken to minimize potential downtime. Using a video monitoring system from Industrial Video & Control, the company can proactively address production issues, ensure the safety of personnel on the plant floor, and closely monitor hard-to-see areas.

Rotork provided Drax Group, the largest conventional power station in the UK, with 200 automated wagons as part of Drax's conversion from coal to sustainable biomass

By Daniel Visser, Istec International The EKC "Great Migration Project' was started, with the help of Istec International and Yokogawa to replace an old DCS, during online process conditions.

The addition reflects the Alliance’s growing influence and engagement in China, and among manufacturers focused on the smart appliance product category.

Non-destructive testing (NDT) is the analysis of the properties of a material or object without causing any damage to the object. NDT techniques are useful because they do not cause any permanent damage to the object being tested.

Automation is rapidly perforating all sorts of industrial applications and the past few years have witnessed considerable rate of adaptation of automation devices and its accessories. Touch Based Human Machine Interface (HMI) are among the major automation oriented devices deployed across major applications in industrial automation, automotive, oil & gas sectors.

Non-contact sensors are sensors that detect position, speed, temperature, air quality and distance using non-contact technology. These sensors are solid-state electronic devices which generate electromagnetic field or beam to detect any disturbance in that particular field. Since stationary parts are used for sensing, less maintenance is required.

Very useful MQTT library and a pair of demo projects illustrating the use of the new MQTT library

Effective HMI implementation requires discipline in design.

Bayshore Networks, a cybersecurity provider for the Industrial Internet of Things (IoT), will use some of its venture capital proceeds to complete the relocation of its headquarters and to invest in R&D and in the expansion of its engineering and sales teams.

The process, which utilizes molding equipment designed and developed by Piper Plastics, allows the company to mold high performance thermoplastics, filled or unfilled, with isotropic mechanical properties.