Articles and News

More than 19 different symbologies ranging from linear barcodes to stacked codes and 2D symbologies are available, as well as a custom color feature.

Automation.com, May 2011 By Thomas R. Cutler Accu-Chek Machining Inc, a low to high volume production machine shop, implemented a technology solution by Shoptech. Previously, everything, including managing tooling for jobs, scheduling jobs, and configuring production and daily rates, was done by hand.

INITEC Energía uses the software to develop and manage HVAC diagrams and P&ID systems.

The new plant will provide compressed natural gas to power the turbines at two nearby power plants in Djeno.

Acromag’s I/O Server Industrial PC is now UL/cUL listed with approval for use in Class I Division 2 Groups A, B, C, D hazardous environments containing volatile substances.

LMI Technologies provides 3D sensor measurement technology for industrial measurement and control applications.

Automation.com, May 2011 By Frank Hurtte, River Heights Consulting The question we would like to explore is pretty simple. Back 20 years ago it was significant, today it’s huge. To illustrate the point, let’s look at what might happen when a special machine builder experienced issues in the field.

Catalog covers test, measurement, control, and calibration instruments.

By Adrienne Lutovsky, ProSoft Technology Questions regarding security, reliability and capacity of wireless continue to prevent conservative end users from reaping its benefits. Can these be overcome?

He joins the organization from Siemens Energy, where he served as vice president of the Power Distribution Medium Voltage Business Unit since 2005.

Free app quickly converts units of measure, calculates the inertia of common shapes, determines material density and looks up common trigonometric or calculus functions.

Automation.com, May 2011 By Dr. Christine Eckert SZST Salzgitter Service und Technik GmbH thoroughly tested Trebing + Himstedt’s TH SCOPE unified diagnostics solution at a SIL-based installation in a steel mill.

OEMs can now use Adeneo Embedded’s support services to optimize the newly-released Windows Embedded Compact platform on TI’s latest OMAP technology

ARC expects the tepid growth seen during 2010 to accelerate in 2011, but remains skeptical about the process automation market reaching pre-recession growth levels.

Full-color, 12-page brochure details ABB measurement solutions for offshore oil and gas operations, including pressure, temperature, analytical, and level.

Successful product development efforts will increasingly be shaped—and driven—by advanced IT tools like product lifecycle management (PLM) and collaborative software

Automation.com, April 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor The openSAFETY standard supporters are posing an interesting idea to the industry - use a single Ethernet-based safety protocol, openSAFETY, on all automation applications regardless of industrial Ethernet protocol used for controls.

Improved Solid State Hydrogen-Specific Analyzing Systems

The catalog provides an overview of NORD's asynchronous low-voltage motors, and addresses in detail the implications of the switch to IE2.

ABB will supply switchgear, electrical equipment, 800xA control systems, sensors and other digital field devices to measure air flow and temperature, drive systems and other automation equipment.

DNP3 protocol was originally developed for interoperability between substation computers and RTUs but is now also widely used in the water/wastewater, transportation and oil/gas industries.

F.Y.I., A.R.I. operations will be relocating to E.H.I. home offices in N.Y., P.D.Q.

Haydon Kerk is a Silver Supplier of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC).

ABB reported a solid double digit rise in orders, revenues and earnings, driven by strong industrial efficiency demand, and continued utility investment in grid interconnections and upgrades.

The e-handbook covers topics crucial to ensuring low current measurement accuracy.

The energy management system will be used to collect data from the power plants’ information systems, steam consumers and service providers.

The 62-page catalog contains detailed descriptions, specifications and technical drawings of all of DENSO’s four-axis SCARA and five- and six-axis articulated robots.

Almost 60 percent of respondents to a study conducted for IFS North America said their ERP software slows them down and prevents their organizations from changing the way they do business.

EnOcean Alliance announced that its wireless, battery-less energy harvesting sensors and associated control systems are now fully interoperable with TCP/IP.

exida certified the design and engineering processes for the Bifold Fluidpower VBP, PPV, and HIPEX Booster Valves per IEC 61508.

The module helps identify and document hazards, hazardous events and associated sequence of events.

Dick Morley On Black Holes, Nanotechnology and Chocolate

Automation.com, April 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Energy has become a hot topic with vendors and standards organizations, many of which are offering and creating solutions for energy users.

Automation.com, April 2011 By Roy Kok How did Scotty know? How do you know when your systems are normal? Are the Dilithium crystals at their proper temperature and vibrational frequency for this Warp Speed and area of space? Could he be sure he caught every last Tribble, and none are blocking the cooling ducts to the Anti- Matter Drive?

The IData product line consists of a software development toolkit and application elements for digital display devices.

IEEE P2030 will provide a knowledge base for understanding and defining Smart Grid interoperability of the electric power system with end use applications and loads.

Almost 40 percent of respondents to a survey said that their enterprise software was “somewhat difficult to use,” 13 percent said “very difficult to use” and 1 percent said it was “almost impossible to use.”

The two millionth ACS550 drive rolled off the production line in April, marking it the first for an ABB drive series to reach the two million unit production mark.

The catalog features Class 5 SmartMotor products, cables and connectors, and motion control products.

The DataMan 500 systems will read barcodes on product packaging to ensure that the right items are shipped to the right destination, and to collect data for instant inventory management.

Yokogawa will provide process control systems, field instruments, and process analyzers for ANDRITZ customers’ metal and pulp & paper plants.

Minarik will distribute a broad range of Nexen products designed for precision motion control.

The HART Plant of the Year is presented to end user companies in the process automation industry to recognize the exceptional application of HART Communication technology.

Utilizing Parker's innovative Parflange F37 non-welded technology, the center houses consultation, design, prefabricated pipe assemblies and installation services under one roof to minimize the total installed cost of piping projects.

Hauer, Product Manager for Sulfur Recovery Products at AMETEK, has been active with the ISA Analysis Division since 1992.

The eCatalog covers rotary and linear potentiometers, rotary Hall effect sensors and panel control sensor lines.

Nivis wireless products passed a series of in-depth tests as specified by the Cryptographic Algorithm Validation Program (CAVP), a program established by NIST and executed by third-party laboratories.

Thomson Industries training videos help machine builders select and apply industrial linear actuators, square rails, round rails, ball screws, gearheads, clutches and brakes.

The solar system installed at U.S. Foodservice will generate 1,380,227kWh/year, equivalent to an annual energy consumption of about 194 homes in California.

Barber was promoted after five years with Intelligrated as a senior sales engineer and sales manager for the company’s Southwest Operations.

Automation Technology is a motion control distributor in the Intermountain and Pacific Northwest trading areas.

By Marcus Schick, Siemens Excessive speed controller gain causes instability in a servo system. However, lowering this gain is often not a viable option, so a systematic approach should be used to determine the best remedy of the instability.

By Eric Byres, Byres Security, and Darek Kominek, MatrikonOPC White Paper explains the security advantages of limiting network interfaces and protocols, and recommends using OPC as a communications standard because of its ease of use and its widespread deployment. Registration required to view paper.

Catalog covers rotary position sensors as well as single and dual axis inclinometers.

A custom spindle motor and CNC system from NUM helped OMAG create a five-axis machining centre that combines the functions of a former and a lathe for processing stone materials.

The new Engineering and Development Center brings Emerson’s total investment in the center in Nanjing to more than US$35 million and strengthens the company’s overall presence in China and Asia Pacific.

NI will donate LabVIEW graphical system design software tools and training to eligible startups to help advance clean energy development in applications such as solar, wind and biofuel technology.

Phase 1 includes modernization of the workstations, data historian, and communication networks. Follow-on phases include the modernization of distributed controllers and I/O.

Bernick's Beverages & Vending installed Toshiba IP cameras, network, and software to monitor its distribution center and offices.

Prior to coming to Sapient Automation, Fiorentino spent years with White Systems, KardexRemstar and the ISD Division of Anderson and Associates in systems sales and development roles.

By Mark Steinmetz, Vincotech Using an electronic drive to regulate the output speed of a motor for the mechanical load required—with the addition of Power Factor Control—improves efficiency of the drive by correcting the out of phase voltage and current being used.

Corscadden comes to LumaSense with more than 17 years of experience in global operations and manufacturing management at companies such as CTS, Accellent and Celestica.

The EMAP system includes the deployment of several Apple iPads to the flow meter production line, including assembly, testing and shipping operations.

N.O. Holder & Associates is now representing Advanced Micro Controls (AMCI) in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Virginia.

Automation.com, April 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Hannover Messe 2011 was larger than any other in the last 10 years, with more than 230,000 visitors. More than 6,500 businesses from 65 countries came to Hannover to display their solutions. The attendance numbers represent a growth of 10 to 15 percent over the comparable 2009 event.

The new building has 25% more square footage than NCC’s previous location in Telford PA.

Webinars on April 19 and 28 detail Luxology's modo for SolidWorks Kit, a new tool that facilitates the use of the company's modo software for advanced visualization by SolidWorks users.

The site is tailored to the needs of software developers working with the Android platform, Linux operating system and other applications for MIPS-Based hardware.

Product catalog covers AC and DC adjustable speed drives and accessories, as well as services.

The videos cover the XD-Indexer, a single axis integrated controller and servo drive and its MotionSet table based software.

The project involves six EPICS based control systems, with each controller capable of 4 axis synchronised motion control.

ABB will supply three 220 kV (kilovolt) air-insulated switchgear (AIS) substations and a SCADA system. Commissioning is scheduled for 2012.

Huss comes to Festo US from Bosch Rexroth, where for the past 10 years he was Vice President and General Manager.

Orlaco’s cameras include explosion-proof models and cameras designed for use at extreme temperatures and in harsh environments.

CANrunner can monitor real-time data on CAN bus, analyze and catch problems on a CAN bus, and view CAN bus statistics.

Advantech selected the Innovasic RapID Platform and fido1100 System-on-a-Chip (SoC) solution to provide EtherNet/IP connectivity in their ADAM-6100 Ethernet I/O modules.

System 800xA and cpmPlus software will increase product quality and overall efficiency at Arjowiggins Creative Papers Stoneywood Mill.

Honeywell’s Experion PKS and Safety Manager will be used to fully automate a new fertilizer plant being built near Abu Dhabi in the United Arab Emirates.

Axens will become a sub-licensor of Invensys Operations Management’s SimSci-Esscor PRO/II software.

Before joining Webb, Gonos served as a turnaround and restructuring specialist for a major carbon materials manufacturer.

The e-guide provides an overview to Keithley's line of digital multimeters, including typical applications.

Integrity and PlantState Suite software will manage process alarms and automation configurations at fifteen sites for Southeast region power utility.

Catslog covers high crosspoint count matrices, very wide multiplexers, switching systems to 10A and matrix solutions to microwave frequencies.

Because the “As One” name has become confusing to potential customers, the company is changing its name to Savigent Software.

Do we need to include valve in SIL verification or can we limit up to the solenoid operated valve considering valve as a mechanical device.

Automation.com, April 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor The asset management study was done through Virginia Tech’s Grado Department of Industrial and Systems Engineering. Survey results indicate companies that elevate the importance of APM through involvement of upper level management or organization-wide involvement tend to out-perform others based on a variety of metrics.

Microsite for Board-to-Board/Wire-to-Board Modular Systems includes a core product selector.

ABB will supply a System 800xA control system as well as integrated safety, compressor protection, emergency shutdown, and telecommunication systems.

February U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $329.43 million. With a year-to-date total of $699.16 million, 2011 is up 138.1% compared with 2010.

The CSense technology establishes an open programming workbench for advanced analytic technologies used to build solutions for prediction, root cause analysis and advanced process control.

Sales of machine vision components and systems in North America soared 54% in 2010 to nearly $1.8 billion, according to the Automated Imaging Association (AIA), the industry’s trade group.

'Smart Efficiency' as the keynote theme for HANNOVER MESSE 2011 was the common thread running through the majority of this year's displays, and was also addressed in the many debates and forums featured at the event.

Open Systems International was selected by Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd. (MAHB) to upgrade the Electrical Power Supply (EPS) system for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport.

The driver software is available for download in C# source code without any license fees or usage limitations.

Parpia will take over the position from Ravishankar G., who resigned for personal reasons.

Radius will install FastNet RTU and PDR VHF Data radios as part of a rainwater drainage SCADA system for pumping stations in the cities of Al Dammam and Al Khobar.

Rosemount wireless flow and pressure transmitters on two new storage tanks monitor water usage at GlaxoSmithKline's Cork plant in Ireland.

Invensys will sell ACM Facility Safety’s process safety decision-support software, Machu Picchu.

Solution Center online interactive knowledge base answers questions on the selection, application, installation, maintenance and general use of motion components and systems.

The AS3992 UHF Gen 2 Reader chip is an integrated analog front end and provides protocol handling for ISO18000-6b/c 900MHz RFID reader systems.