Articles and News

Process Control Dynamics is a Semaphore authorized distributor for customers in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming.

WESCO will distribute T+H Industrial Communication Solutions and Services for Fieldbus and Ethernet networks in Virginia.

Darwin-based Powercorp employs around 30 people and offers automation and intelligent control solutions to manage renewable energy generation.

Qatargas, the world’s largest LNG producer, will install PAS PlantState Suite alarm management software across all their units.

Program partners get an expedited test and evaluation process that gets safety products for a given application into the design engineer’s hands for evaluation.

Robust PID Tuning Strategy for Uncertain Plants Based on the Kharitonov Theorem

Automation.com, November 2011 By Eric Byres, Byres Security Inc. On one hand, industry is becoming increasingly concerned about just how vulnerable control systems have become to outside attacks. At the same time, new tools and applications that improve efficiency, but increase that exposure, are appearing daily. So must we sacrifice these gains in efficiency if we want to be secure?

September U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $606.56 million, up 22.9% from August and up 51.9% when compared with the total of $399.32 million reported for September 2010.

The distinction between PLCs and distributed control systems is narrowing, but their combined market in Europe will hit €6.45 billion in 2017.

The Semiconductor Equipment and Materials International (SEMI) organization has renewed EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet as standards in its sensor bus network communications activities.

HPS will supply the main and backup power generators, wellhead control panel and chemical injection skid for HLJOC's H-04 wellhead platform in the Te Giac Trang (TGT) Field.

Emerson’s DeltaV process automation system will control the coal gasification process at a new chemical plant in Henan province, China.

The catalog covers Roller Pinion System (RPS) products, designed to provide high-accuracy linear positioning with no backlash, as well as expanded gear offerings.

Rockwell will replace the DCS at Nyrstar Hobart’s zinc smelting operation in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia, with a PlantPAx process automation system.

New Enterprise-Control System Integration Standard Issued for Review/Voting

Security is high on the agenda and Russia has somewhat different priorities from the rest in its extensive use of RFID for public transport.

Mel Henry, the Managing Director at VEGA Controls, is stepping down from his role after 29 years.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Roy Kok In the terms of Automation, a crisis can be characterized as a loss of production (downtime), possibly of a simple piece of equipment, or it can be extensive, affecting major portions of the plant. Are we giving enough focus to the right areas, not focusing on the level of a "worst case scenario" type of crisis?

CIMdata PLM Certificate Program prepares PLM professionals at several levels to successfully address the challenges inherent in PLM strategy development and implementation.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Rick Kaun, Honeywell Process Solutions Security is thought of as physical protection against intrusion or the detection of hackers when, in fact, little thought is given to the security threats that exist inside the fences of any given facility.

NCEES needs your help to ensure that the questions on the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) examination are accurately testing the relevant areas of knowledge required to enter into an engineering internship. How can you help? Take the FE Exam Content Review Survey

Preliminary findings show that one reason few companies can show employees’ performance results quickly enough is that nearly two-thirds find it necessary to have an analyst cleanse the data.

Rice University has been awarded prototyping and production services to help launch a group of robots designed for undergraduate engineering students.

EPSITRON COMPACT Power Supply family has earned Germanischer Lloyd (GL) approvals and has passed Environmental Category C and EMC2 testing.

Product Videos are a collection of informative and instructional compilations that are centered on a given Series.

GE is working with Illinois Institute of Technology (IIT) to investigate ways to improve wind farm productivity and efficiency.

Lanner launched a new factory in New Taipei City’s Xizhi district, increasing capacity from 18,000 to 40,000 systems per month.

Automata, based in Nevada City, CA, makes satellite and radio telemetry, software and sensors for agricultural and rural water.

DENSO Robotics will participate as an Encompass Product Partner in the Rockwell Automation PartnerNetwork.

Guide is a comprehensive listing of NEMA electrical standards as well as an extensive directory of manufacturers and their products.

The GoTo eBook contains the same information as the print catalogs: product descriptions, photos, system specifications and other data needed to select and specify required products.

Festo Energy Saving Services can help to monitor and optimize compressed air consumption.

In the 2011 ARC report, which covers the 2010 calendar year, Wonderware outpaced market growth and increased its percentage lead over its nearest competitor.

High rise uses a video surveillance system with Toshiba IP cameras, SCS recording and management software, network video recorders and hybrid digital video recorders.

Vistagy is a supplier of specialized engineering software and services for designing and manufacturing structures made of advanced composite materials.

Energy harvesting is the ideal solution for indefinite long-term powering of wireless sensor nodes or networks (WSN) without maintenance.

ISA12's Production Level Elevated following Meetings

Exeeco will maintain several thousand valve actuators and associated equipment at over 700 water and sewage treatment works and 120 reservoirs on a 24 hour-a-day basis.

The Automated Imaging Association signed a memorandum of understanding with the China Machine Vision Union, a recently-formed trade association representing machine vision in China.

Study indicates that the majority of respondents say they are running ERP or other enterprise software from a software vendor that has been recently acquired.

Website contains a Directory of MTConnect members, including their services, experience, products and contact information.

Emerson will supply 670 Fisher control valves for boiler, turbine gas, multi-stage flash desalination, and selective catalytic reduction applications.

300-page catalog covers 2-way, 3-way and 4-way general purpose and specialty valves.

Altus, a Brazilian company, will distribute AFCON SCADA/HMI software Pulse in Brazil.

Siemens PLM will provide software products including NX CAD/CAM/CAE, Solid Edge 2D/3D CAD,Teamcenter lifecycle management, and D-Cubed software.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Discussion of the industry issues and trends with Steve Sonnenberg, Emerson Process Management's Executive Vice President, and Peter Zornio, Chief Strategic Officer. Topics include Emerson's energy initiative, the economy, PLC/DCS debate, disposable automation, and more.

ISA111, Unified Automation for Buildings, will develop standards and guidelines to communicate the necessary information to enable building subsystems to be managed.

Web site covers data acquisition, signal conditioning and data communication products for industrial applications.

Gray Metter will distribute the Idus IS maintenance management software system in the U.S.

As HMI software shifts from standalone computing towards client/server architecture, demand for the ability to view and/or control a process via the Internet is increasing.

ARC says governments continue to enact new regulations to protect public health and safety. This requires better product quality, risk, and compliance (QRC) management systems.

The entire manufacturing process in the bodywork factory is monitored from the permanently staffed "bridge" via 46-inch HMIs.

The RMT website features product animations and videos to demonstrate the features and benefits of RMT’s solutions.

A group of manufacturer and producer organizations have formed an Industry Council to guide MESA's latest research study.

Davis Instruments will distribute RES technologies for testing power system protection relays, transducers, energy meters, and battery installations.

Web site covers enclosed switch products including isolators and change over switches in plastic ABS, and stainless steel enclosures with NEMA 4X ratings.

Sierra Wireless, IBM, Eurotech, and the Eclipse Foundation established an M2M Industry Working Group to ease the development, testing, and deployment of machine-to-machine solutions.

Rockwell will provide engineering and design work necessary to commercialize Vadxx’s proprietary processes for making synthetic crude oil.

AD Converters Quiz: convert an analog signal to a digital one

Euresys supplies machine vision, developing and marketing high-performance products and services for image acquisition and vision-oriented analysis.

Louisiana-based Reliability Point provides thermal imaging and services to industrial manufacturers in the Gulf Coast region and Southeastern United States.

Honeywell will provide a production automation system for a new plant producing high-quality, demineralized whey powder in Lapinlahti, Finland.

MAVERICK Technologies, the largest control systems integrator in North America, is now a Strategic Alliance Partner with Schneider Electric.

IXXAT S.A.R.L. in Paris concentrates on the automotive, CAN hardware, OEM hardware, and embedded system solutions areas.

Rotork uses TorqSense transducers from Sensor Technology to test motors in valve actuators.

Simatic STEP 7 Safety Advanced V11 part of the TIA Portal provides users with all configuration and programming tools required for generating a fail-safe program within Siemens TIA Portal.

The web site, which covers precision pneumatic and electro-pneumatic controls, is faster and easier to access from all web browsers, note pad computers and mobile devices.

Web site makes EnOcean-enabled products from all over the world available for purchase online in one place.

Hexagon’s new 26,000 sq. ft. office and distribution warehouse includes a spacious calibration lab and enhanced portable metrology training facilities.

Microseismic licensed IFS Business Performance, Service Management, Project Management, Document Management, FS Supply Chain, and Sales & Marketing software.

ASCON's KOMPAS-3D software is being used to create all of the parts of drill bit sanding machines at Pilco in Finspеng, Sweden.

The X20 System achieved the seal of quality for maritime applications after extensive testing by the certification institute Germanischer Lloyd (GL).

The scalable Rosemount 3051S helps customers achieve unparalleled productivity in pressure, DP flow, and DP level applications.

Metso will provide maintenace for approximately 2000 automatic and safety valves at the Arcelor Mittal Tubarão steel mill in Espirito Santo State, Brazil.

Enhancements include reorganized menus and filtering capabilities, making it easier to find laboratory and industrial fluid handling products, instrumentation, equipment, and supplies.

ABB signed a three-year agreement worth $33 million with BP Norway for maintenance, modification and service of safety and automation systems of oil field operations on the Norwegian continental shelf.

Founded in 1976, Industrial Controls is a distributor of Controls, Instrumentation, Automation and Automated Valves in the U.S.

Improved process and maintenance industry training facilities at Brielle will enhance training offered by STC-Group under the Foundation Certified Training Program (FCTP).

AutomationDirect in Cumming, Georgia, was recently featured on the nationally syndicated Dave Ramsey show.

Automation.com, October 2011 By Bill Lydon Since the 1980s, the automation industry has been adopting standards for networked industrial communications, software, and applications. Have users gained all the benefits originally envisioned?

MESA is inviting producers and manufacturers to respond to a industry survey, Pursuit of Performance Excellence: Business Success through Effective Plant Operations Metrics.

Nearly 30 couplers, controllers and I/O modules in the WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM now carry ATEX and IEC Ex Certifications for operating in temperatures up to +60°C.

An ABB interferometer will be onboard the National Polar-orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite System Preparatory Project (NPP), to be launched by NASA on October 28.

Cisco’s Aironet 1552S Access Point with its integrated ISA100.11a radio complements and extends Honeywell’s OneWireless network.

Packaging SCADA, a free webinar on November 16, 2011, will demonstrate how SCADA applications in a packaging line can directly improve production.

HomePlug Alliance, Wi-Fi Alliance and ZigBee Alliance signed an agreement formalizing the Consortium for SEP 2 Interoperability.

IBM Maximo asset management software will allow KPRL to better utilize its production equipment, facilities and IT systems to reduce risk and control costs.

The subsidiary will sell and market the complete range of Beijer Electronics products including operator panels, industrial PCs and industrial networking products.

Automation.com, October 2011 By Thomas R. Cutler Sophisticated 3-D machine vision technology transform industrial pallet trucks and tow tractors into robotic industrial trucks. These robotic trucks "learn" their surroundings, making them flexible, simple, and affordable for a variety of applications.

Schneider Electric will offer its industrial customers access to AssetPoint’s EAM/CMMS solution to monitor and manage assets across their control systems.

By scanning an existing upper and lower bowl assembly and modifying the CAD models to fit parts they already had tooling for, Aircraft Technologies substantially reduced the tooling cost.

Smart Energy Initiative is a global program designed to combine Emerson's industrial energy expertise with energy management technologies to help leverage more renewable fuels, lower energy costs, and reduce emissions.

The catalogue is divided into six categories: General Purpose, Electrical & Industrial, Fibre Optics, RF & Microwave, Communications and Broadcast.

The boiler controls enable Tata to increase energy efficiency and maximize use of waste fuels, reducing emissions as well as reliance on purchased fuels.

ABB will upgrade Hydro-Québec power utility ultra-high voltage transmission system that helps transport clean hydroelectric power from North to South Quebec.

The time is right for manufacturers to change the way they approach and manage their human capital.

Mitsubishi Electric will incorporate ICONICS’ SCADA software in factory and process automation solutions.

openSAFETY has been declared an official communication standard by the DDASCA Consortium (Dependable Distributed Architecture for Safety Critical Applications).

ABB won an order worth $270 million from Statoil to supply an electric drive system for two new pre-compression units on the world’s largest natural gas platform in the North Sea.

O V-Cone Flow Meter Produto Brochura, Petróleo e Gás Natural Brochura, V-Cone Manual e um óleo/gás Subsea Medição do fluxo Livro Branco são agora todos disponível em Português.