Articles and News

Generator sets are used for emergency standby, continuous prime power, and peak shaving applications across a wide range of industry sectors that tend to be quite volatile from year to year.

By Roy Tomalino, Beamex Manufacturer’s promises are not considered proof of an instrument being within tolerance. All instruments, smart and analog, or whether old or new to the field, should be verified and calibrated on a regular basis.

By Ned Espy, Beamex There are viable methods where a loop can be tested end-to-end and if readings are within acceptable tolerances, there is no need to break out individual instruments for testing.

ABB will supply 800xA control systems, instrumentation, low voltage electrical equipment and variable speed drives to Renewable Algal Energy for integrated algal production systems that will produce algae‐based products.

There is a widespread global awareness of increasing cyberprotection because of threats to information systems and industrial infrastructure.

Continued, high threat perception in the critical national infrastructure security market in the United Kingdom is driving increased investments in infrastructure security within the country.

GE made a strategic minority equity investment in Meridium, a supplier of asset performance management (APM) software and services for asset-intensive industries.

Tthe North American robotics industry is off to its fastest start ever in 2014, according to the Robotic Industries Association (RIA).

Lake Como, in northern Italy, is served by nearly 40 miles (60 KM) of aqueducts. After 30 years of service, the SCADA system was in need of modernization.

Watlow’s EZ-ZONE passed conformance testing at the new North American EtherCAT Test Center based in Savage, Minnesota.

Expansion of engineering materials is a common issue, but not much is known about how expansion affects the repeatability of positioning equipment. This white paper discusses and tests that effect.

Robert Engman and his wife Mary Jane started the company in 1974 in Huntington Beach, California.

Mazak's turning and milling machine plant uses MERLIN's Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Machine-to-Machine (M2M) communications platform with the MTConnect interoperability standard.

SKF is a supplier of bearings, seals, mechatronics, lubrication systems, and services which include technical support, maintenance and reliability services, engineering consulting and training.

The donated sensor kit from Balluff included connectors and multiple sensing technologies like photoelectric, capacitive, and ultrasonic sensors.

Moxa received Class 1, Div. 2 certification from UL for its EDR-810 industrial multiport router, qualifying it for safe use in oil and gas refineries, offshore platforms, fueling stations, and other areas containing volatile liquids, gases or vapors.

The app contains all the specifications and connection drawings for digital panel meters and control instrumentation.

Holst recently served as President and COO of Japanese electronics group Omron.

A single hybrid temperature controller can effectively monitor and control temperature loops in a process control system.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Cybersecurity has been and will continue to be a major topic within the industrial automation market. With the wide range of cybersecurity implications come a wide range of technical solutions. Many vendors have introduced managed security services to help manufacturers protect systems and mitigate threats. Here are my thoughts on the topic.

Hannover Fairs will promote trade fair activities in Russia, particularly in Yekaterinburg.

By EtherCAT Technology Group In Part 1, the Working Counter was described as a mechanism for EtherCAT master devices to cyclic-synchronously monitor slave behavior. Part 2 covers further diagnostic mechanisms that allow master devices to precisely detect the location and cause of error conditions both at the hardware and at the application level of a slave.

Spirit IT of Eindhoven, Netherlands, makes high-performance liquid flow computers, SCADA and custody transfer solutions for use in oil and gas applications.

Optimized Sensor Selection for Control and Fault Tolerance of Electromagnetic Suspension Systems

EASY Starter software now contains an OPC UA Server, which now makes it possible to access Lenze devices regardless of the type of software used.

The new organization will continue development, support and promotion of the two existing protocols, and will direct the development, incorporation and implementation of new and overlapping technologies.

Military market downturn and high price erosion have deeply affected traditional infrared imaging margins for the past few years at both sensor and camera levels says Yole.

A user enters the enclosure volume, the start and end temperatures, the process time and the operating pressure differential, and the calculator shows how many components should be installed under the defined conditions.

The 130,000 square foot facility is expected to grow from 550 employees currently to 2,000 employees within the next 5 years.

MISTRAS will provide Computed Radiography (CR) and Digital Radiography (DR) inspection services Balance of Plant (BOP), Flow Accelerated Corrosion (FAC) programs, in-service and vendor location inspection services.

Control Southern now represents Daniel flow measurement and control products in Georgia, northern Alabama, and Tennessee.

The Thermal Uniformity Survey (TUS) reporting solution is for Yokogawa recorder models DX, FX, GX and GP.

The CUAUV team, made up of 43 students from three of Cornell’s colleges, spends more than 20,000 person-hours per year designing its vehicle and has won the annual RoboSub competition four out of the last five years.

Rotork Midland, which has been designing and manufacturing stainless steel control equipment for the oil and gas industries for over 60 years, is now part of the Rotork Instruments division.

Located in the city of Jundiai, in the state of São Paulo, the plant has been configured for the assembly of Automatic Data Capture product lines.

Saunders reports to Leonard W. Moore, who remains Chairman of the Board of Directors of the company he founded in 1968.

By EtherCAT Technology Group EtherCAT provides a powerful diagnostic mechanism that can be used by master applications to monitor the network status synchronously with the communication cycle. Master applications such as PLC programs can therefore react immediately to any error condition within the network with a simple evaluation of the Working Counter in the application software.

By Geoffrey Peckham, Clarion Safety System With the rise in product liability litigation based on “failure to warn” over the past several decades, product safety labels have become a leading focal point in lawsuits faced by capital equipment manufacturers. Here are some key best practices that are shaping the current “state-of-the-art” for product safety label design.

The Sercos automation bus powers the revolutionary drive construction and unique rotation options of the Penta Robotics’ Veloce parallel robot.

RENEX SOUTH AMERICA will be held 26 to 28 November 2014 at the FIERGS Exhibition and Convention Centre in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

Subsidiaries have been founded in Japan and South Africa, with Turkey coming soon.

Prior to joining Adept, Dr. Kluger held several positions at Emerson, including managing director at Emerson Network Power; general manager for Switzerland and Austria at Emerson Process Management; and director Instruments Division for Emerson Process Management.

But ABB had a lower operational EBITDA margin because of ongoing project-related challenges in the Power Systems (PS) division.

The book has been published for more than 50 years and covers the selection and application of overcurrent protective devices, including code, standard and regulatory compliance.

Calibrating smart instruments properly in a timely manner is an important aspect of ensuring that your product is manufactured correctly.

Vero Software is a UK-based software company that supplies Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM) software for machine tools.

The on-line calculator illustrates the typical savings manufacturers can achieve by using an out of the box manufacturing execution system (MES).

Bradford Hegrat joined the company as industrial services director, and Jason Larsen joined the company as a principal security consultant. Hegrat is from Rockwell Automation and Larsen is from Idaho National Labs.

The IM-SCADA Software enables Exploration and Production companies to meet regulatory requirements, reduce liability, and streamline gas production.

Graphite operator panels received Underwriters Laboratories (UL) Functional Safety Listing Mark as well as UL Listed status for Class I, Division 2 in the U.S. and Canada.

The MMIM RTU has been deployed to control lighting on Line 1 of the metro system which currently links Los Andes County to the city centre.

In 1999, Wolfgang Seel founded the company and initially developed microchips for the PROFIBUS system – one of the most important bus systems in the automation industry.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Manufacturers worldwide are in a productivity race enabled by a wide range of new automation technology. In order for your company to remain competitive, it needs to apply new technology to grow and survive in the world economy. To do this, manufacturing companies must stay up to date on the latest developments.

Elmo is offering login access to its EASII Experience RPS for anyone to explore motors and drives in action, configure the EtherCAT network, perform complex multi-axis synchronized motions, and develop IEC-61131-3 programs.

OSI has been awarded a contract by Kansas City Power & Light (KCP&L) to implement an Energy Management System (EMS) based on OSI’s monarch platform.

The voluntary NIST cybersecurity framework provides a flexible, performance-based and cost-effective approach for managing factory and plant floor risk.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 visions, which includes connecting people and services, leverages open communications, like OPC UA, and embedded-to-enterprise computing.

X-Scan robot inspects ship welds by means of laser, ultrasound and electromagnetic methods, similar to systems developed by Babcock & Wilcox in the 1970s to check nuclear reactor welds.

The ASM Consortium was started in 1994 to address Process Industry concerns about the high cost of incidents, such as unplanned shutdowns, fires, explosions, emissions, etc.

By comparing with a physical model-based LQR controller and an ARX model-set-based gain scheduling LQR controller, researchers achieved superior MIMO RBF-ARX model-based control.

A 5,000 square foot engineering office is opening in Beloit, WI and a 30,000 square foot welding & service manufacturing facility is opening in Colorado.

By Greg Hood, Rockwell Automation In end-user facilities that heavily rely on legacy equipment, the right line-integration system can provide real-time insights to prevent and diagnose production issues.

By Mike Hannah, Rockwell Automation Forecasts say that industrial automation will make up the majority of the Internet of Things by 2025, and Internet Protocol (IP)-addressable devices are the key enabling force that will get industry there.

Rotork supplied more than 400 heavy duty CP and GP Range pneumatic valve actuators to the CLOV FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading) vessel in Angola’s Block 17 offshore oilfield.

OSI will supply a SCADA/EMS system to Empresa de Transmisión Eléctrica Dominicana (ETED), which has more than 4,700km of 345kV, 230kV, 138kV and 69kV transmission lines and over 140 transmission substations.

Wolt has a BSEE degree from University of Washington Seattle with follow-on graduate coursework at Washington, and has extensive hardware design experience in the aerospace as well as commercial sectors.

Solectria manufactures high performance photovoltaic (PV) inverters for residential, commercial, and utility-scale power systems.

Atlas Products is a UK-based provider of Software as a Service (SaaS)-based business-to-business (B2B) EDI integration, secure data transfer, and e-invoicing solutions.

The video shows how the system avoids costly shutdowns related to faulty FOUNDATION Fieldbus or PROFIBUS PA segments.

AST gained ATEX certification for its intrinsically safe pressure transducers in Class I Zone 0 Exia IIB and IIC, T4 rated areas.

Every motion controller will have its own command protocol, or series of rules for communication, that dictates how you interact it. Zaber's devices use two command protocols: an ASCII protocol and a 6-byte binary protocol.

Watlow added 25,000 square feet to its R&D facility in San Jose, California, adding a Class 1000 clean room.

The design, based on the aerodynamics of a seagull’s wing, is 45% efficient and uses advanced automation control technology for continuous optimization based on wind conditions.

The Bosch Community Fund awarded four grants to three central Pennsylvania educational institutions: Lehigh University, Lehigh Career & Technical Institute and Pennsylvania State University.

Growing Future Automation Professionals

Barry-Wehmiller Design Group is expanding its Northeast operations with a new office in East Brunswick, NJ.

ASHRAE and the Indoor Air Quality Association (IAQA) will merge and IAQA headquarters will relocate from Rockville, MD, to Atlanta.

IHS projects that gradual increases in global economic activity will pick up, to 2.9% in 2014 and 3.5% in 2015.

Cosgriff, a former vice admiral in the U.S. Navy, comes to NEMA after serving as Senior Vice President of International Business and Government for Textron Systems Corporation.

Donations included Fluke-754 documenting calibrators, scopes, digital multimeters (DMMs) and other test equipment.

CENTUM VP production control system has obtained the ISASecure Embedded Device Security Assurance (EDSA) certification from the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI).

By Mike Roberts, LNS Research Leaders understand that if you’re not moving forward, making year-over-year gains in key performance indicators (KPIs) and metrics, then you’re destined to face some serious challenges down the road.

ISCI Chartered Labs are now authorized to use the Raven for ICS CRT tool for use in the communication robustness test element of ISASecure product certifications.

May U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $351.93 million, down 10.0% from April and down 17.5% when compared with the total of $426.40 million reported for May 2013.

The manufacturing industry is growing, but there is still much work to be done. The sector comprises 12 percent of the overall economy and greater investments in community colleges and trade schools are necessary.

Exhibitors at Industrial Automation NA will demonstrate collaborative robotics, vision guided robotics, material handling robotics, as well as servo drives for robotics applications, robotics integration software and services.

By Greg Goodwin, LNS Research The writing is on the wall: Paper is being slowly but surely phased out of our daily lives, and as goes the consumer so eventually will the enterprise.

CVA electric control valve actuators are enabling the Sydney Water Corporation in Australia to control the pressure in the city’s water supply network with greatly increased response and accuracy.

Asset Management Program (AMP) for couplings is an online tool for tracking the location, life history and latest revision drawings and installation instructions for all critical drivetrain couplings owned by customers.

How to Upgrade and Replace Systems in a Running Production Environment

By Bill Lydon, Editor Industry 4.0, Internet of Things (IoT) and Industrial Internet are all driving computing to automation edge devices. These devices include controllers, sensors, actuators, motor controls, and drives. The fact that these devices could now be on a more widely known IP network creates the opportunity for viruses and malicious control of industrial equipment.

Best candidates have taken the capabilities of HART instruments beyond configuration and calibration, or are using real-time device diagnostics and process information integrated with control, information, asset management or safety systems.

Aramco Services Company (ASC) is the US-based subsidiary of Saudi Aramco, the state-owned oil company of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

The MagnetArc welding process developed by KUKA Systems is in use for production around the globe.

Technical research fdocuses on performance of a nonlinear PD controller is tested and compared with other PD and PID tuning rules for pure integrating plus delay.

This organizational certification ensures that suppliers include cybersecurity requirements in all phases of their development and maintenance lifecycle processes for industrial automation and control systems products.

Taking place in August at the Crowne Plaza Orlando-Universal Hotel in Orlando, the 2014 ISA WWAC Symposium is a three-day event that focuses on the challenges associated with automation and instrumentation in the water and wastewater sectors.

May U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $169 million, according to the U.S. Cutting Tool Institute and AMT, down 3.5 percent from April’s total and down 4.4 percent from May 2013.

AVEVA software enables D3’s designers to have a clear understanding of the as-is condition of an asset during brownfield projects.