Articles and News

The CD offers details and technical specifications on Keithley's general-purpose and sensitive sourcing and measurement products, DC switching, Digital Multimeters, RF/microwave switching, data acquisition solutions, and semiconductor test systems.

By Mark Howard, Zettlex The pros & cons of custom versus standard position sensors and why new technology is changing the rules. Includes an explanation of "bespoke" for U.S. engineers.

Tom Maher joined as a Senior Consultant in the VISIBILITY.net ERP consulting group.

Azuray Technologies will include McObject’s eXtremeDB Fusion embedded database system in its communications gateway, a Linux-based device for solar power optimization.

will.i.am (Black Eyed Peas) has joined forces with FIRST and is actively working to build support in the entertainment industry for FIRST.

Mozes will oversee the group's sales, marketing and operations infrastructure in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

For OPC members only, the testing program establishes credibility and ensures that the product is fully compliant with the OPC UA Specifications.

Building automation systems integrators in Germany, Netherlands, Russia, Japan and the U.S. have signed up with Loytec as "Competence Partners."

McFall joined CIMdata in early 2010 as a Senior PLM Business Consultant.

Four updated support contract options replace the eConnect, DirectConnect, PriorityConnect and InSite offerings.

eLynx replaced a SCADA system on 96 wells and three gas processing facilities in the Paradox Basin in Utah and Colorado.

Web store is a direct online source for purchasing size 11 resolvers and size 15 magnetic encoders.

ABB is providing a power, mechanical and System 800xA automation solution for a large water transfer project in a remote and rainless region of the Sahara Desert.

Translation of acronyms: ACI acquired ACT’s Interface Control Components (ICC) line to provide I/O for its HVAC systems used in building automation systems.

BVC assists with estimating the time and cost savings a business could achieve by implementing adopting the latest instrumentation technology.

Husky series industrial Ethernet switches and Retriever series industrial media converters are compliant with Underwriters Laboratories’ (UL) Class 1 Division 2 approvals.

Manufacturing facility will build Fisher control valves and Rosemount transmitters in addition to training, sales, finance, administration and other support services.

With a year-to-date U.S. manufacturing technology consumption total of $2,792.58 million, 2010 is up 82.7% compared with 2009. These numbers are based on the totals of actual data reported by companies participating in the USMTC program.

ABB has four sets of flow calibration facilities at its Shanghai plant and all are now certified by SIMT.

ATS acquired the majority of Assembly & Test Worldwide's U.S.-based and German automation and test systems businesses.

Adeneo Embedded provides 3-day and 4-day Windows Embedded Compact 7 training based on Microsoft official training curriculum. Classes are held February through April.

The Technical Advisory Council advises the OPC Foundation Board of Directors on technical matters relating to the management of OPC specification development.

ABB won a contract from ConocoPhillips to supply an integrated process control and safety system for a new wellhead platform in the company’s Jasmine gas field in the central North Sea

K-System, H-System and Z-Series intrinsically safe solutions, have received BV (Bureau Veritas), GL (Germanischer Lloyd), LR (Lloyds Register) and DNV (Det Norske Veritas) approvals for use in marine-type applications.

SmartSignal specializes in providing Remote Monitoring & Diagnostics solutions to the Power Generation, Oil & Gas and other industrial sectors.

The Rosemount 3051 pressure transmitter and Rosemount 644 temperature transmitter are now available with PROFIBUS PA profile V3.02.

SPFB increases concentrated solar arrangement efficacy by enabling dynamic solar mirrors to track the sun’s arc within +0.02° via WAGO-I/O-SYSTEM.

Chery Automobile China upgrades its transfer press line and increases throughput by adopting state-of-the-art safety systems using PROFINET with integrated PROFIsafe.

Baltic Information Systems (BIS) developed a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) product called BISMARC that relies on the eXtremeDB In-Memory Database System (IMDS) from McObject.

Advantech adopted a board resolution to acquire 10,427 pings of Linkou Industrial Park at NT$145,000 per ping, or approximately NT$1.512 billion in total.

Adept will acquire InMotx in a cash and stock transaction valued at $4.3 million. InMoTx specializes in packaging equipment for the food industry.

Obvient offers software and services for industries and utilities with geographically dispersed assets.

Emerson’s Daniel metering systems will measure the amount of oil as custody is transferred from producers to shippers through the Al-Basra terminal.

The brochure contains new product models, new technical application data, drawings, and photos of Adjustable Speed Drives, Right Angle Gear Drives, and Linear Actuators.

Huber SE, a manufacturer of machinery and equipment for wastewater treatment, selected IFS Applications as its corporate ERP solution.

Intertec is supplying 160 Diabox 87 pre-assembled electrically heated instrumentation enclosures for the Deep Panuke offshore gas project in the Atlantic, 250 km southeast of Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

VDC says real-time Ethernet will dominate, wireless is growing, networking will be built in, a large IT player will buy an industrial networking provider, and more companies are going overseas.

Kao Brands, a manufacturer of premium beauty brands including Jergens, Ban, Biore, Curel, Guhl and John Freida, will use Proficy for a complex batch execution system in primary operations across its many consumer products.

Standard Electric will distribute eWon intelligent Internet remote access devices for PLCs and automation systems in the Great Lakes region of the U.S.

Batchik, who had been the Automotive Industry Action Group vice chairman since January 2009, succeeds Brian Vautaw.

Servo2Go.com added Galil Motion Control’s DMC-41x3 Series Motion Controller to its product line.

Four-page, full-color illustrated brochure describes SensyTemp TSH200 series of temperature sensors designed for temperatures of 600°C to 1800°C (1112°F to 3272°F).

As a universal and open automation bus, SERCOS combines powerful motion and logic applications with current safety concepts and a broad range of peripherals.

Flow Research says the worldwide flowmeter market totaled $4.6 billion in 2009 and is projected to grow substantially to exceed $5.5 billion by 2014.

Founded in 1992, Advantech’s ADAM remote I/O modules have been a consistent and reliable figure in the industrial automation field.

Dr Philp takes over from Geoff Young, who led the UK-based automation and instrumentation organisation for 25 years and is retiring.

This 650+ page resource includes product information and selection guidelines for machine and process safety solutions, and a safety library with more than 100 pages of educational resource material.

The 72-page catalog highlights a range of electrical, calibration, temperature, humidity/air quality, and electronic instruments.

Safety has always been a critical measure of success for industrial organizations. Companies that are not able to comply with safety regulations and procedures in an effective fashion are putting their people, assets, and market position at risk.

By Jay Bartsias, TURCK NFPA 79 code permits the use of molded-on cordsets—including quick-disconnect connectors and rugged cable for exposed-run installations—for powering motors, pumps and other machinery. Here’s how to apply them instead of using hard wiring.

Laser Design will resell Renishaw multi-axis motorized and manual heads and touch-trigger measurement probe systems for CMMs.

Casco Adhesives will implement IFS Eco-footprint Management, which will be used to analyze and document the environmental impact of its operations.

This course on Safety Instrumented Systems is designed to make the learning experience comfortable and easy. Everything is explained in easy to understand terms, with plenty of graphics, interactive simulations and worked problems. Everything that you need to know about Safety Instrumented Systems, put together, in an easily digestible form, stripped of all the complexity, but still useful to impart skills to you that you can actually use in your work.

Istec International is now an authorized reseller of the Wilcoxon Research product line in Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg.

The brochure notes that this oxygen analyzer fits harsh applications in such industries as hydrocarbon processing, power generation, and process industries.

The MES aims to improve optimization of production and reduce costs through better production processes management at Avtodizel (Yaroslavl Motor Works).

Mechanical CAD drawings, wiring diagrams, software and detailed assembly instructions for the robot can be downloaded free of charge from Roboteq’s web site.

Several WAGO Through-Panel and Chassis-Mount Terminal blocks and Interconnect devices have earned a 100 kA SCCR rating with appropriate fuses.

27 models within the EPSITRON line of Electronic Circuit Breaker, PRO-Power Supply, Uninterruptible Power Supply and Redundancy modules achieved UL and cUL Certification.

Both organizations adapted the PLCopen XML Specification to the 2.01 version and generated a part of the AutomationML data exchange format.

The protocol, which has been certified by German testing authorities TÜV Rheinland and TÜV Süd, allows for communication cycles at the microsecond level.

DD-IDE Version 4.0 supports the HART enhanced Device Description Language (DDL) Specification, HART 7 and the development of Device Descriptions (DDs) for WirelessHART devices.

Handbook provides engineers with valuable “how to” information for integrating ultrasonic gas leak detectors into new oil and gas installations or when retrofitting existing facilities.

With successful completion of the tests, HIMax can be used worldwide in the oil company's future projects, without additional evaluations.

For the 2011 season, which marks the 20th anniversary of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC), igus has signed on as a diamond supplier for the event.

For the third consecutive season, igus is a sponsor for Botball, an educational robotics program funded by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics.

CNL Software will use the OPC Servers in its IPSecurityCenter – a software-based integration and management platform.

SlotServer products provide in-rack connectivity between Rockwell Automation ControlLogix control platform and Building Automation Systems and Fire Alarm Control Panel protocols.

An IP66 rating means the enclosure provides effective protection from dust penetration and leakage from high pressure water jets or heavy seas.

Federal legislation will provide training for federal building personnel in the areas of building operations and maintenance, energy management, safety and design functions.

Products with the approval include the T-BOX WM Wireless Monitor and T-BOX LP RTU.

Shielded and UTP Z-MAX 6A connecting hardware and cable achieve component and full channel compliance with amendment 2 of ISO/IEC 11801 and both IEC 60603-7-51 and IEC 61156-5 for category 6A.

ABB will provide power supply infrastructure and equipment for several floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels.

The Class 100 cleanroom will serve primarily as the production area for Brooks’ GF Series ultra high-purity mass flow controllers for the high tech and electronics industry.

Advanced process control (APC) project helped save energy, reduce emissions, and double the ramp up rate for electric power plant units #1 and #2 in Baotou, Inner Mongolia.

Invensys expects the number of engineers operating from the Cairo Centre to increase to 500 within two years.

The MT5000 Series guided wave radar transmitter is certified to the IEC 61508 safety standard for SIL2/3.

The 754-page catalog highlights pushbutton, tactile, detect, toggle, rocker, DIP, slide, snap, rotary, switchlock and thumbwheel switches.

Markets in Western Europe and North America will continue expanding over the next few years due to the increasing demand to modernise power and water and wastewater infrastructure.

Alarm Management: A Comprehensive Guide, Second Edition, by Bill Hollifield and Eddie Habibi contains examples of good practices and poor practices.

NVision’s laser scanning provided highly accurate measurements, reducing engineering time and eliminating the need for field machining of valves and other hardware.

Determining the appropriate equipment for an operation is much easier with ToolSpec because it applies basic information supplied by users to find a suitable match.

Emerson will supply critical Fisher control valves to be used in Westinghouse AP1000 pressurized water reactors at both the Sanmen 2 and Haiyang 2 nuclear power plants in China.

In addition to providing user support HMS plans to specialize in helping device manufacturers add PROFINET to their products.

SAFCO's Jubail Saudi Arabia Urea plant, the largest in the world, has been running the MAX APC controller since April 2010.

Senior management at U.S. manufacturing companies is once again optimistic, according to a Grant Thornton November survey.

With a year-to-date total of $2,477.06 million, 2010 is up 83.2% compared with 2009.

The office in Munich is the first subsidiary of ASCON company in Europe.

By Ethernet Direct How to choose the right Industrial rated IP-67 switch? The need for Industrial switches is mostly defined by the environment they will be subjected to.

FANUC sold its 100,000th robot in North and South America to Schneider Packaging.

Specifications update EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, CompoNet and ControlNet, and the CIP Safety extension to the EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet networks.

ABB will supply complete electrical systems for the drill ships, used for oil and gas exploration drilling.

Professionals accustomed to measuring the performance of a digital video recorder (DVR) by way of frames-per-second at a certain resolution may be challenged to find a similar snapshot comparison for network video recorder (NVR) performance.

Located just three miles from the Memphis International Airport, the distribution center is expected to create approximately 200 jobs.

A package to develop new Safety over EtherCAT solutions is now available for automation system vendors.

ABB will supply a System 800xA integrated with drives, motors, and other electrical equipment to maximize productivity and equipment reliability in the Rourkela Steel plant in India.

ProtoCessor gateways have been tested to be compliant with OPC Foundation Specifications for DA 2.05a.

GE and Ingersoll-Rand will develop an automation platform to meet the energy and operational efficiency needs of data centers.

ABB supplied a 13,050 kW (17,500 HP) gearless drive motor including pre-assembled containerized electrical house containing cycloconverter, exciter rectifier, and low voltage MCC.

The office, located in São Paulo, will provide customer demos, support and training.