Articles and News

Net income in the fourth quarter of the prior year was $96 million, an increase of 20 percent over the fourth quarter of fiscal 2007.

AMETEK acquired MCG, a manufacturer of customized motors and motion control solutions for the medical, life sciences, industrial automation, semiconductor and aviation markets.

ABB won a contract worth $123 million to design, construct, and provide System 800xA automation for a new fertilizer processing plant in Chile.

Alpha Gear Drives opened an office in Waterdown, ON, Canada

Center helps Petroleos Mexicanos (PEMEX) improve asset utilization and availability in its facilities.

Zecotek and Fujikura will jointly develop, manufacture and commercialize Zecotek's crystal and fiber based lasers and Fujikura's infra-red fiber lasers.

The Brazilian Synchrotron Light Laboratory was named Autodesk Inventor of the Year for 2007. Using Autodesk Inventor software, LNLS designed a system with 15,800 parts.

The catalog details the company's testing services, product types, product approval schemes, service approval schemes, and available certification marks.

The expansion increased WAGO’s product manufacturing and storage capacity to 75,000 sq. ft.

Mesh field network monitors wellhead annular pressure and heat exchanger pressures on the Grane offshore platform.

I/Oassistant is used as a configuration tool when designing TURCK’s BL20 in the panel and BL67 on the machine nodes. It uses FDT/DTM, and will generate a fieldbus I/O map.

Manufacturers need to change their concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) from one that effectively ends with the sale to one that promotes an ongoing involvement with the customer and builds on continued service to develop valuable, revenue-generating relationships. In addition, manufacturers will need to re-evaluate their corporate governance and decision-making control in this new environment and their supply chain strategies given the increased high-technology content in their products. ****

ABB will provide a SCADAvantage Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition system for the SEMCO natural gas control center in Port Huron, Michigan.

TiPS is celebrating 20 years of delivering tools for maximizing the capabilities of operators and operations management.

Pang is responsible for managing the R&D group in San Jose, and for coordinating U.S. efforts with JAI’s R&D group in Japan.

Wonderware achieved the Service Capability and Performance (SCP) certification for the 5th year in a row.

The A&WMA is challenging undergraduate and graduate students to try their hands at solving the types of environmental questions faced by professionals in the industry.

ISA20 Instrument Specification Forms cover most instrument types used in the pharmaceutical and other industries. The CD has 73 fill-in-the-blank forms.

Lucich was formerly VP of Distribution and National Accounts with Rexnord Industries.

SUNY New Paltz School of Science and Engineering receives funding for New York State farm solar energy projects.

This program provides consumers of circuit protection devices with an opportunity to properly recycle electrical components that may otherwise populate a landfill.

Power generation utilities in Southern Africa are expected to increasingly adopt automation and control solutions based on DCSes, PLCs or SCADA to counter the effects of the current power shortage.

On a quarterly basis, the Process Control Technology alert reports and analyzes the latest advances across a range of process control and automation areas.

Autodesk, Emerson, the South Carolina Manufacturers Alliance, and PBG Industries made donations to the Gateway Academy programs for secondary-school students.

Prism Solar will implement the IFS Applications product suite of mixed-mode manufacturing, which will be integrated with PLC and RF devices to automate its data collection processes.

Catalog includes data acquisition and control products based upon PCI, PXI, ISA and Ethernet interfaces.

Catalog covers Ethernet Managed Switches, servers, wireless, USB, converters, cards, digital and analog I/O, fiber optics, cabling and connectors.

Four minute demo shows how HazardWatch Fire & Gas Detection System monitors plants for deadly gas and flame safety hazards.

Gilsdorf is now vice president and general manager for Honeywell Process Solutions operations in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

Donation is to the IEEE and NFPA Arc Flash Collaborative Research Project. The donation will help expand the knowledge of electric arc phenomena and enhance worker safety.

Available in digital format, this book covers new topics such as ISA100.11a, RFID, WirelessHART, and WiFi.

ABB’s Expert Optimizer software won “Most innovative technology for electrical energy efficiency” award at the Global Fuels conference in London.

ProTeus CMMS software manages maintenenace of everything at Spokane International from electrical pumps to HVAC.

Phoenix Contact engineers will lead students in a series of hands-on experiments that reinforce science and math learned in the classroom.

Leveraging the knowledge and know-how of the people in an organization is a powerful way to make improvements and solve problems. The difficulty is getting this done effectively and avoiding an ineffective committee that creates more problems.

Scientific Support Services is the exclusive distributor of Aspectrics’ EP-NIR biodiesel process analyzers across UK and Ireland.

"Champion of Science" Congressman David Price visited Automation Federation and ISA leaders at AF headquarters in Research Triangle Park.

ABB will provide a System 800xA to help expand operations and increase processing capacity by 80 percent.

John Nichols, formerly Director of Business Development, has been appointed Managing Director.

The new company would employ about 25,000 people worldwide and achieve sales of more than EUR 2.2 billion. The merger will not result in any job losses.

ABB signed a Full Service agreement with Huhtamäki Oyj to manage maintenance activities at its facility in Hameenlinna, Finland.

The Honeywell User Input Subcommittee (UIS) was formed in 1993 to provide a mechanism for customers to coordinate and prioritize input to Honeywell for enhancements to global installed systems.

ABB's net income increased to a record $3.8 billion in 2007 from $1.4 billion a year earlier as markets remained strong and further operational improvements were made.

Aleithe will be responsible for the continued growth and strategic business development of low voltage drives in the U.S. market.

System retrieves real-time, event-driven alarms and data from PLCs and broadcasts the alarms and data via email messaging.

The green field project of more than 5000 I/O points will include the Siemens SIMATICR PCS 7 distributed control system (DCS) and be the largest PROFIBUS PA installation in the US.

The Endevco model 2224C was factory calibrated by Endevco in July 1962 and purchased by Dr. Charles Stark Draper, a professor at MIT who also ran the MIT Instrumentation Lab.

"Automation Applications in Bio-Pharmaceuticals" by George Buckbee and Joseph Alford helps scientists and engineers improve process control and on-line availability of information.

Wurldtech experts will speak on Best Practices for Managing Cyber Security, Risk, Safety and Compliance.

ABB Chief Executive Officer Fred Kindle is leaving the company due to irreconcilable differences about how to lead the company. Chief Financial Officer Michel Demaré is interim CEO.

Fisher FIELDVUE digital valve controllers were introduced by Emerson in 1994.

VarioFlow PRO network includes integrators who build conveyor systems and solutions for end users in the packaging, general assembly and material handling industries.

Kepware will provide third-party communications for FactoryTalk View Site Edition and FactoryTalk View Machine Edition products from Rockwell Automation.

Betts will be responsible for the product introduction and the development of sales channels across the North America for SCADAWave data radios.

McMillan, Stan Weiner and illustrator Ted Williams co-wrote "The Funnier Side of Retirement." Readers will have a chance to see what retirement offers for "geeks."

By Lonmark International Floor controls are linked via a LonWorks network, using Siemens LMEC gateways onto a BACnet system which handles the interaction with the central AHU, boilers and chillers.

ABB will supply the complete hardware, engineering and commissioning of the control system, as well as drives, analyzers, instruments and Profibus field devices.

With ProTeus, MI reduced its production downtime from 20% to 3.5%, saving nearly $1.5 million per year.

Three webcasts in the Plant2Enterprise Transformation series cover digitizing work processes, BPM, and SOA.

Veugen Integrated Technologies (VIT) will handle sales, installation, and service for the Honeywell Wintriss product line for Ontario and all Canadian provinces west of Ontario.

Peter Lawrence has been appointed chief technology officer (CTO), and Jay Funnell has been appointed chief software architect (CSA).

AII will integrate locations in the US, Europe and Asia, for improved communication, reduced transactions and consolidated visibility of critical business information.

Jasper Wireless has signed operator partnership agreements in over 45 European, American and African countries.

Cooper Controls Limited acquired more than 98 percent of the outstanding shares of The MTL Instruments Group.

Global Partner Program has nine initial partners in the United States, Australia and Europe.

One of the most important benefits OMAC Corporate Members receive is a seat on the OMAC Technical Advisory Board (TAB).

To ensure openness, verify that you will not be locked in on any level of the system. Encourage multi-subsystem integration for maximum efficiency. Start from a good open specification framework and learn the technologies, options, and market directions. After all, freedom of open information exchange is empowering.

ABB will supply System 800xA control system, motors, drive system, switchgear, and measuring and unloading equipment for the new mine hoist.

The Illinois Manufacturers' Association (IMA) named Ron Bullock its Chairman until 2010. Bullock is the owner and Chairman of Bison Gear & Engineering Corp. of St. Charles, Illinois.

National Instruments acquired all of the outstanding shares of microLEX Systems A/S, a provider of virtual instrumentation-based video, audio and mixed-signal test solutions.

Pressure switches monitor vacuum points and trigger emergency stops on steam turbines in China.

by Chip McDaniel, AutomationDirect CorrTech, a systems integrator, replaced the controls in a 1970-vintage box-making machine for Smurfit Stone Enterprises in Ravenna, Ohio. Corr-Tech removed all the control relays and wiring and reconfigured the system using AutomationDirect's DL06 PLCs. And they did it all over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Applied Analytics announced its new headquarters in Concord, Massachusetts, twenty miles northwest of Boston.

ABB won orders worth around $71 million to supply automation and a range of power products for substations in India.

By Grace Engineered Products Wiring a voltage indicator (VI) to the primary power source provides a permanently wired "voltmeter" that gives electricians a full-time, visual, independent, thru-door power indication.

Hy-Energy is a manufacturer of high performance gas sorption scientific instruments for clean renewable energy research.

This team operates as a systems integrator and specifies, installs and commissions all FKI Logistex and third-party products and services involved in supply chain solutions.

This illustrated manual has information on successfully installing, using, maintaining and repairing intrinsic safety systems.

Euro-me will cover China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.

SMAC Moving Coil Actuators help SPE, a manufacturer of diesel injectors, to reduce emissions by using an actuator to determine the spring characteristics in their injectors.

InSource Solutions, an independent Wonderware software distribution partner, signed a new distributor agreement and will conduct business as Wonderware Southeast.

The new office, centered in Toulouse, France, will provide expertise in real-time and embedded solutions in Java and Ada languages.

Practical tips and hints based on real applications and test scenarios.

SAP Americas will use ASSETTrac for data collection in its annual fixed asset inventory process in 37 facilities in North and South America.

Dr. Maurice Wilkins, formerly of ARC Advisory Group, will lead the group as VP of Strategic Marketing, Yokogawa IA Global Marketing.

Bradley was Wonderware's president for five years from November 2002 to November 2007.

Frost & Sullivan says the Electric Drives Market in the European Food & Beverage Industry was $260.4 million in 2006 and will reach $413.8 million in 2013.

IFS will manage and support the deployment of more than 5,500 engineers, providing access to project management resources including time reporting and expenses.

ABB will supply $25 million of power and automation equipment to maximize productivity, monitor energy use and minimize energy consumption at a new cement plant.

Plexus, uses Agilent's Medalist x6000 Automated X-ray Inspection system to finds defects in solder joints.

Latest products range from Ovation SCADA software for wind energy management, to new Fisher C1 Series “energy responsible” controllers and transmitters for oil and gas operations.

White paper covers all the information necessary to select the right sensor for a particular application.

Website has detailed descriptions of liquid & gas flow measurement equipment, product data sheets, manuals and application notes.

When building a replacement rig for a seatbelt manufacturer, Mindready Solutions Solutions used a transducer from Sensor Technology and found previously undetected large torque oscillations.

The program offers CoroWare resources designed to help the company grow revenue, build sales momentum, and improve marketplace prominence while increasing market impact.

Testing was performed by the Shell Global Solutions test laboratories in Amsterdam. Results show FDT/DTM and EDDL are complementary technologies.

FDT Group added eight international companies to the membership of the non-profit organization within the past year.

Industry leaders who join can help define how products and systems will become compliant and contribute to test specifications.

Guide covers VLT variable frequency drives and MCD soft starters with specifications, dimensions, performance data, options and accessories.

Parejko was promoted to Vice President, Continuous Improvement and Engineering. Parejko joined Bison in 2006 as Engineering Manager.