Articles and News

There can be some great lessons learned from professionals when they put their skills and knowledge to work. I saw this when visiting a 34,100 square feet light commercial building where technology and knowhow were applied to create an efficient, sustainable, and productive environment. The building is a notable exception when contrasted with the typical light commercial building built for lowest first cost resulting in high energy cost, extra maintenance, and an uncomfortable environment.

Automation has already had a big impact on productivity. Indeed, most of the so-called “jobless recovery” has been caused by the increased effectiveness of automation, which reduces headcount. Off shore outsourcing is responsible for just 15% of recent job losses.

OPC can take advantage of real-time values from what once was a relational database by using Generic Database Access (GDA) technology. This technology continues to reinforce why industry is turning to OPC as their connectivity standard.

The cellular technology can be also used with SCADA applications to improve productivity, increase plants’ uptime and prevent damages. The device that makes the difference is the cellular modem.

The Control Trends Awards recognize and honor leading companies, products, technologies and persons in specific categories from the Building Automation and HVAC Controls industry.

A3 is the umbrella trade association for the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and the Motion Control Association (MCA).

Call for Papers invites authors, experts, innovators, thought leaders, and automation and control professionals to submit abstracts for presentation consideration at the conference, which will be held 5-7 November 2013 at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

ABB will provide new electrical systems as well as the necessary mechanical equipment and automation systems to extend the export terminal of the eni refinery in Taranto, located in the “Mar Grande” bay on the Ionian Sea in southern Italy.

Schischek manufactures explosion-proof electric actuators, sensors, transmitters and controllers, principally for HVAC, chemical, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding and offshore industries.

When interconnecting Ethernet equipment within a control panel, the temptation is to select an office-grade or small office - home office (SOHO) Ethernet switch from one of the mass merchandisers. This equipment is readily available and inexpensive! Since the equipment works at home or on the bench, it should certainly function in a control application. This can lead to large problems in a Building Automation System.

IXXAT Automation is a supplier of communication technology for industrial automation, machine manufacturing and the automotive industry.

Joseph Paradiso, Director of the Responsive Environments Group at MIT, and Raymond Arvidson, Participating Scientist on NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Mission will give keynotes on June 5 and 6.

On 1 February 1953, Swiss engineer Georg H Endress and German banker Ludwig Hauser set up their company in a backyard in Lörrach, Germany.

Instron’s implementation involves five manufacturing sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy and 17 sales/service sites throughout the world.

This intralogistics show will take place in Milan, in parallel with the packaging trade fair, Ipack-Ima, from 19 to 23 May 2015.

HART, FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, OPC and PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET) are co-sponsors of the Field Communication Lounge exhibit at Hannover Messe (8-12 April).

The ISA section presented a “Best Use of Automation” award to a Lino Lakes, Minnesota middle school in conjunction with a national engineering competition.

Automation engineers love to create complex solutions. But try not to complicate a solution any more than necessary.

The continued global economic slowdown has had a severe impact on worldwide machinery production, with growth in all regions falling significantly in 2012 compared with 2011.

Roughly two months before the start of HANNOVER MESSE 2013 (8 to 12 April), its organizer, Deutsche Messe, is expecting a strong trade fair performance coupled with a winning Partner Country showcase.

Flow Conditioners fix flow disturbances caused by irregular pipe runs, valves and other conditions that adversely affect the accuracy and repeatability of flow measurement instrumentation.

The InduSoft Visualization App offers mobile access to InduSoft Web Studio applications from any Windows 8 device, including iPhones, tablets and laptops.

ABB’s cpmPlus Knowledge Manager software will ensure lower energy consumption with automated and centralized data collection.

Emerson successfully replaced existing controls on the Nikiski Generation Plant's GE Frame 6B gas turbine with its Ovation control technology.

This brochure explains the oscillation phenomena of servomotors and shows how to evaluate resonant frequency of a ball-screw system, which is an important consideration in the selection process of couplings.

Making the Most of Your ISA Membership: InTech Magazine

Wireless fault detectors immediately send alarms to grid operators if a problem occurs anywhere along the power lines for San Diego Gas & Electric.

IMS Research forecasts that global compact AC low-voltage drive sales will grow to $3 billion in 2016.

InfinityQS moved to a new corporate headquarters in Fairfax, Va. from its previous Chantillly, Va., headquarters.

Brochure highlights various sensor types including pressure transducers and transmitters, differential pressure transducers, and multi-variable transmitters.

Siemens obtained FM Class 1 Division 1, Groups A, B, C and D, and FM Class 1, Zone 1 AEx d (ia) ia/IIC/T3-T6 approvals for the company’s half-inch to 12-inch line of Sitrans magnetic flow meters.

Lapauw uses eWON's Talk2M, an Internet-based remote maintenance and diagnostics service, to provide a secured VPN connection between the Lapauw service engineers and the PLC on the customer’s machinery.

This 12-part Guide consists of information such as Rules of Thumb, O-Ring Basics, Seal Types, Material Selection, Special Elastomer Applications, and newly added Inspection Specifications.

20 detectors were installed on the Gullfaks C platform in the North Sea by a team from Statoil, ABB and GasSecure.

The guide allows companies going through a WMS supplier selection process to make quicker and better decisions.

The PLM market is growing led by strong growth in the automotive and aerospace & defense industries, as well as penetration into new industries, such as shipbuilding, consumer goods, and electric power.

ISA Transactions Shares 50 Years of History

Perrotta previously was Executive Vice President Wafers, Cells & Modules at Renewable Energy Corporation based in Singapore.

The majority of independent system integration companies questioned in a global survey believe the outlook for the automation industry will improve in 2013.

Online tool offers an automated approach to thermowell calculation as opposed to the traditional way of utilizing spreadsheets.

TechTalk is a weekly podcast that will help listeners gain insight into AS-Interface and its associated safety technology, Safety at Work.

Yokogawa will supply process control, process shutdown, emergency shutdown, fire & gas detection, process data historian, and field device asset management to the Cygnus Development Project.

Automation Federation Goes to Washington: Cybersecurity and the Shortage of Skilled Manufacturing Workers

Automation.com, January 2013 By Bill Lydon, Editor Art to Part has been a vision since the 1970's to have a holistic computer aided product design to manufacturing process. The technology is available today, but manufacturers also need to make organizational changes to fully leverage it.

The manus competition seeks innovative applications that use self-lubricating, maintenance-free polymer bearings. Entries must be received by February 28, 2013.

The iTRAK System provides independent control of multiple magnetically propelled movers on straight and curved paths. The connection will be via EtherNet/IP.

Coriolis meters can be used for measuring liquid flows in batch, fed-batch and continuous operations.

By Pat Garrehy, Rootstock After more than a decade of controversy, there is agreement on many of the benefits and evolution of Cloud ERP. Will it eat into SAP's and Oracle's business?

ZF Friedrichshafen AG (ZF) has become the 2,000th member of the world’s largest fieldbus organization, the EtherCAT Technology Group.

By Will Selby, Automation GT Companies that are tired of poor quality manufacturing in third-world countries are coming back to the U.S. Automation makes it possible.

The Barco video wall displays a highly detailed, wide-area view of the island’s power grid, providing real-time data and video on power usage and availability.

Deutsche Messe is now organizing the first-ever MDA North America from 8 to 13 September 2014.

Atlas Pipeline gathers and processes natural gas for ultimate transportation to end user commercial, industrial, and residential markets.

Bill Conley of B&B Electronics will participate as a TIA delegate on the newly formed oneM2M group.

M-TEK, a UK-headquartered electronics sub-contractor offering manufacturing and test services, selected the Epicor ERP solution to support its service offering and rapid expansion.

Enhancements in scanCONTROL Configuration Tools v3.0 for laser scanners include optimised measuring functions such as profile analysis features and measurement value calculations.

SVIA in Sweden uses Anybus X-gateways to connect their DeviceNet-based robot cells to any network that their customers are using.

By Frank Dickman The original "Hacking the Industrial SCADA Network" (Part I) was first published in 2009. This article, Part II, is the summary of what has happened since the original publication, and the outcome of predictions which first appeared in Part I.

The first live demo of FOUNDATION for ROM is scheduled for April 30, 2013, at the Petrobras research and development facility (Cenpes) in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Frost & Sullivan says the market earned revenues of $857.9 million in 2011 and estimates this to reach $943.6 million in 2016.

The application now has an interactive Tolerance Table, where the user can input his own machine RPM and the app will kick back the respective Alignment Tolerances.

Catalog covers belt and chain drives, shaft accessories, bearings, feed and idler rollers, couplings, vibration mounts and pads, linear motion systems, hardware, right angle drives, gearheads, gearmotors and clutches.

Training program helps customers set-up and operate OPC-based communication systems for automation applications.

The 230+ page catalog details the features, specifications, dimensions and ordering information for the company’s complete family of linear units and accessories.

The group will enable OEM partners to save time by helping them develop unique and differentiated solutions and applications on the Niagara Framework.

The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) will hold its 2013 Executive Conference, May 1 – 4, in St. Pete Beach, near St. Petersburg, Fla., U.S.

Dutch instrument company opens a sales office in Oxford, Mass.

Industrial Automation Networks will assist Softing's customers in deploying products in their plants.

Retiring workers are leaving a huge void in the process industries, but new blood hasn’t rushed to fill it. Even new opportunities like shale oil extraction haven’t attracted the workers they require.

The X3302 Multispectrum Infrared Hydrogen Flame Detector was certified as Safety Integrity Level 2 (SIL 2) capable by exida.

Invata will provide the software and system integration end of U.S. build outs for Gebhardt Material Handling Systems.

Automation.com, January 2013 By Bill Lydon, Editor The addition of an EtherNet/IP stack to the Siemens Sinamics drives offers another option and makes life easier for users and machine builders. The Sinamics S120 drive products now support Profibus DP, PROFINET, EtherNet/IP, and Ethernet TCP/IP.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Tofino Security Appliance and its management software withstood a variety of sophisticated reverse engineering attacks conducted by Digital Bond, the world's most respected sources for control system security research.

NextGen SCADA Europe 2013, 21-22 March in Amsterdam, gathers 100+ electric utility SCADA professionals to discuss advanced SCADA system requirements to support the evolving smart grid.

Support includes Natural User Interface (NUI), cloud connectivity, Windows-to-Go, and Secure Boot functions of Windows 8.

Vortex flowmeters are a good choice for measuring the flow rate of any reasonably clean fluid where measurement at very low flows is not required.

Invata helped design the fulfillment center material handling system, and will supply software.

Ives, a long-time ISA member and leader, is president and owner of Ives Equipment Corporation in King of Prussia, Pennsylvania, USA.

Emerson will supply an Ovation expert control system to the Crescent Dunes Solar Energy Project near Tonopah, Nevada.

Metso supplied the Smithfield Energy Facility plant's existing control system in 1996-97. It has now come to the end of its life cycle and needs to be upgraded.

The Repair Services website provides a single-source solution for electrical, electronic, mechanical and servo product repairs.

Four top DCS migration experts discuss topics and trends surrounding DCS migration, using examples of multiple platforms from across the field.

Control Engineering, January 2013 By Jason Wright Box Canyon Dam, north of Spokane, Wash., upgraded its legacy controls with a PlantPAx system with two ControlLogix PACs on each of four turbine generators, FactoryTalk HMIs, and EtherNet/IP.

From 8 to 12 April 2013, the MDA (Motion, Drive & Automation) fair in Hannover, Germany, will showcase electric and mechanical power transmission systems and pneumatic and hydraulic technologies.

sercos international will present its product and service portfolio together with its members at more than 20 events this year.

ABB Robotics is bringing SVIA's PickVision Smart Camera vision system to the industrial robotics market in North America.

Digital Bond’s findings revealed that the industry's known sophisticated cyber attacks could not compromise the Tofino firewall.

Fluke says when 85 percent of employers report that it is difficult to find new hires with the right skill set, it creates a potential workforce disaster in test & measurement.

MatrikonOPC has been awarded ISO 9001:2008 certification by the Quality Management Institute (QMI) of Toronto, Ontario.

DeSouza retains his existing responsibilities as Executive Vice-President of Sales for HARTING North America.

Tuning Control Loops Course: What is a "Bump Test"?

The Association for Advancing Automation is disappointed in how 60 Minutes portrayed the industry in Sunday night's "March of the Machines" segment.

Frost & Sullivan says the drives market in Eastern Europe, Russia and CIS was $472.5 million in 2011 and will reach $652.1 million in 2016.

H1 ITK 6.1.0 builds on the library of FOUNDATION fieldbus block test cases, offering a series of standardized function blocks and transducer blocks that enable increased test coverage for device developers.

Frost & Sullivan says physical and cyber threats have led to growth in the oil and gas infrastructure security market.

Nobody can predict the weather, but Edmonds Community College uses an energy forecasting service to deliver energy efficiency and demand reduction info to twenty facilities on the 50-acre campus.

According to AMT, October and November were down, but with a year-to-date total of $5,212.17 million, 2012 was up 4.8% compared with 2011.

OMS staff measured 19,402 pipe ends (20” and 22” OD) using its automatic Pipe Checker laser-based measurement tool. The pipes are destined for use on Chevron’s Congo River Crossing (CRX) Pipeline project.

The new facility houses all manufacturing and test operations, as well as the warehouse, shipping and receiving.

Process output can be brought back to the set point only by activating an auxiliary manipulated variable