Articles and News

Bhattacharya joined Invensys in August 2007 as chief software solutions officer. He came from SAP AG.

The six page brochure serves as an introduction to QC's line of low profile conveyors

A raw material tracking system at CVRD Inco’s Stobie Mine uses Ship2Save RFID technology to track ore movement throughout its excavation process.

Wurldtech Security Technologies named security expert Bryan Singer Vice-President of Professional Services.

Gifford is the chief editor and contributing author of The Hitchhiker Guide to Operations Management, ISA-95 Best Practices Book 1.0.

Yokogawa will provide Main Automation Contractor Services ("MAC Services") for BP's Exploration and Production Segment.

ISA is recruiting Strategic Members, Technical Members, and Informational Members from the industrial community for the ISASecure program.

LONMARK added Thomas Knoop and Jan Brissman to its Board.

The non-commercial white paper describes how Modbus works, and how it can be used in new and legacy process control and automation systems.

Dust Networks won the Amec Award for Innovation and Excellence from the Institution of Chemical Engineers (IChemE).

The funding will support development of testing technologies to protect global critical infrastructure from cyber threats.

Robots will be used in CHADIQ Odd Form Assembly Systems.

RepTech Northwest will handle sales and customer support in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Montana.

WBF wants nominations for two awards to be given in 2008. The deadline for nominations is 17 December 2007.

Honeywell will supply Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) R300 software and SCADA technology to manage data at the Puguang Gas Field in Sichuan Province.

Powerit opened an office in Farmington, CT, and hired Jim Majsak and Tom McClure to run it.

Brochure covers couplings that meet precision positioning requirements and high reverse-load characteristics of today’s servomotor applications.

Catalog covers products that monitor input signals from temperature, humidity, pressure, flow, voltage, current and digital sources.

Yokogawa Stardom Controller FCJ has been awarded the Achilles Level 1 Security Certification.

Terry Blevins, Deji Chen, Mark Nixon, and Willy Wojsznis recognized for authoring the most outstanding technical paper published by ISA

Program provides educators and students with access to state-of-the-art industrial test tools.

BG was given the Business Leadership Award by the Dept of Commerce and Economic Opportunity at the Illinois Workforce Development Conference in October.

The 2008 Misumi metric and inch catalogs feature 6,000 products and 3,000 products with size or material additions.

DARwIn achieves full range of motion and accurately imitates human movement.

Yazoo Brewing Company installed a Braumat brewery control system for central fermentation temperature control, replacing single-loop controllers throughout the brewery.

The 2008 Allied catalog showcases more than 100,000 products from 300 suppliers.

Brochure covers piezo ceramic linear motors based on the PiezoWalk principle.

The Buddy System option allows Calibration Club members to include a co-worker for backup calibration reminders.

ISC provides solutions, engineering support, consulting and project management services to manufacturers and industrial customers.

TASC provides a dedicated team of specialists from multiple disciplines who serve as a single-point resource for technical and application support.

Braumat Compact brewery control system maintains tight temperature control on Bell's 45 fermentation tanks.

Pavilion Technologies software products will be integrated into the FactoryTalk suite and the Logix Control Platform.

ABB's net income rose 86 percent in the third quarter to $738 million and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) rose to $1 billion.

CPS provides a holistic vision for how companies view their manufacturing and production operation.

The ISA100 standards committee outlined an approach to accommodate and eventually integrate the WirelessHART standard and the ISA100 standard.

MTL acquired OTS, a UK-based company specializing in SCADA solutions for the oil and gas industries.

Copamex will use Honeywell solutions to increase production and reduce fiber and steam usage at its paper mills in Monterrey, Chihuahua and Uruapan.

Four speakers from Siemens will present five papers during the 2007 Chem Show in New York City, Oct. 30 through Nov. 1, 2007.

The market was $1.4 billion in 2007 and is forecast to be over $2.4 billion in 2011, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

Advanced Automation elevated five managers to the position of director.

AMT's SWAT team will help integrators and end users lower cycle times and increase production in robot installations.

Brochure describes the 32-year growth of CCSI in the design, manufacture, and support of networking products.

The Tofino Security Appliance from MTL and Byres Security achieved Foundation-level Mu Security Industrial Control (MUSIC) Certification.

Dave Kresse joined the company as chief executive officer, and Kris Nagel was appointed vice president of worldwide sales.

Yokogawa commemorated 50 years of business in North America at its Newnan, Ga., headquarters on October 18, 2007.

Schneider Electric sales for the third quartertotaled €4,468 million, up 28.4% from the year-earlier period.

In the 2007 Urban Challenge, radar sensors will be used to locate curbs and ditches, detect people and other vehicles, and to see elevation changes in the roadway.

Prospects for non-Ethernet device networks dwindle as Ethernet continues its migration into lower levels of the industrial automation hierarchy.

CEMEX has chosen MYNAH’s Virtual I/O Module Network Gateway (VIM) to integrate their plant floor devices at their cement plants.

Reference Architectures include design guides, white papers as well as an educational seminar series that addresses the technical and cultural convergence of manufacturing and IT.

Standard Automation & Control, LP, a Wonderware distributor, is changing its name to Wonderware West.

Japan will become the official Partner Country at HANNOVER MESSE 2008 (the Hannover Fair), running from 21 to 25 April 2008.

AeroAstro will provide ground network upgrades to Globalstar's deployed receivers to expand the current subscriber messaging capacity by 10 X and increase receiver sensitivity by up to 40 percent.

In the cylinder head production section at DaimlerChrysler, vision sensors are being used to identify the fitted parts using a data matrix code.The technology ensures part traceability.

Automated Micron Assembly will service customers in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and the Philippines.

ABB will supply $127 million worth of power and automation solutions for two power plants that will generate electricity needed by steel mills.

A bench top extruder developed at Bradford University is able to collect data about its own operation and to determine a wide range of characteristics of the material with which it is working.

Free software aids in RFID equipment selection by quickly simulating an application’s parameters and values.

ISA's second annual YAPFEST, an event for young automation professionals under the age of 30, attracted 215 attendees.

Topics of discussion centered on workforce development, ISA's programs to attract and train the next generation of knowledge workers, and the plans of companies for addressing their personnel needs.

Schneider acquired all shares of Pelco, a maker of video security systems, for a total consideration of $1,540 million.

Walter Staehle will present "Traceability: Farm to Fork" during the World Wide Food Expo on Oct 25 and 26..

LabVIEW development platform and LabWindows/CVI ANSI C development environment work with Anritsu RF and wireless communications test instruments.

The Ormen Lange gas field in the Norwegian Sea will supply 20 percent of the UK's gas needs via a 1,200 km pipeline controlled by ABB equipment.

The Fieldbus Foundation held its second combined EMEA User and Industry Association Consultation Meeting in London, UK, from 17-19 September 2007.

ISA EXPO technology exchanges covered security, process automation, safety, environmental and quality control, enterprise integration, and wireless and networking.

Parvalux opened a subsidiary in Warsaw, Poland to address the needs of Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) from the Central Eastern Europe region.

The R. E. Badger Filtration Plant in California has improved process control, efficiency, and reliability by installing FIELDVUE digital valve controllers and AMS Suite predictive maintenance software.

Emerson signed a 10-year, multimillion-dollar agreement with King County, Washington State Wastewater Treatment Div to automate wastewater treatment plants in the Seattle area.

Woodhead Industries provided the team with DeviceNet products which were integrated in this year’s Midnight Sun IX solar powered race car.

The office specializes in industrial automation, process control, software design and regulatory compliance for pharmaceutical, food and beverage industries.

GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms brings together GE Fanuc Automation, CNC and Embedded Systems groups.

Siemens will equip the Sheikhupura diesel power station in Pakistan with automation and power supply systems.

Industrial plants rely heavily on their automation, instrumentation and control data communications to relay signals between machinery, devices and control systems to activate events on an exacting and pre-determined schedule, with little or no margin for error. Plant managers and control network administrators also require optimal security, manageability and reliability so that network availability attains 99.999 percent uptime or better. Yet analysts report that a large percentage of unplanned downtime in industrial operations is caused by network infrastructure problems.

December 4-7, 2007 Bangalore, India One of the primary themes of the show will be electrical and electronic components for automation.

Siemens implemented seven key solutions in the final assembly operations – from the joining of the chassis and the engine through different conveyor systems and the complete automation system for the plant.

In addition to heading up marketing initiatives for SensorLogic, Pereira will be involved in the development of wireless standards for the industrial sector.

Up to 10 SmartReader Plus multi channel data loggers (up to 80 channels) can be networked to one modem or PC.

Stanford Products is a manufacturer of slitting, rewinding and inspection equipment plus shrink sleeve labels for the packaging and converting industries.

Enhancements include additional resources to help learn, evaluate and select the most effective sensing solution for specific applications.

Animatics relocated and expanded its California Headquarters and US Factory into a new 104,000 sq. ft. facility in in Santa Clara, California.

R-Series SSI encoder position sensors are used in the ISTIR Advanced Friction Stir Welding development system.

Catalog covers linear motor technologies, including ironless and ironcore linear motors, as well as industrial-grade and precision-grade linear motor positioners.

Canon acquired INTERPART for machine construction and SURFACTS for surface treatment.

OpenO&M is a cooperative forum where members can work together to solve automation challenges through standardization and harmonization of industry guidelines.

Ashe will be responsible for the maintenance of AC and DC product lines and will manage product development for the motor lines.

Blackman will be responsible for the Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies, Electric Drives and Controls, and Pneumatics Groups.

The SimSci-Esscor operating training simulator will be used for training of control room operators, operating supervisors and equipment operators.

Power Efficiency Corp has had several successful tests of its Motor Efficiency Controller on rock crushers.

Yokogawa received a contract from National Thermal Power to supply automation and control systems for a new supercritical coal fired power plant project in Bihar state.

The program helps prepare entry level workers to be effective in their positions by acquiring the skill sets necessary.

Sylvia Wetzel, Corporate Training Manager for Bison Gear, has been named one of 22 "Influential Women in Business" for 2007 by the National Association of Women Business Owners.

ODVA endorsed Ethernet/IP during its 2007 CIP Networks Conference and 12th Annual Meeting of Members.

Schultz will be responsible for North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Iowa, Illinois, Kansas, Missouri, Oklahoma, Arkansas, Texas and Louisiana.

ABB will supply a System 800xA and related project services, valued at $7.1 million, for the Keephills Unit 3 coal-fired power project in Alberta, Canada.

Free catalog offers info on Rexroth's IndraLogic and IndraMotion automation systems, as well as IndraControl, Inline, Fieldline, and IndraWorks control components.

Rockwell Automation will supply PowerFlex 700S drives, ControlLogix master control and an HMI for SCA's new tissue machine in Barton, AL.

Tool can compare detailed metrics from 115 different plants around the world.

The Norwegian marketing committee (FF-NO MC) will promote the adoption of FOUNDATION technology throughout the Norwegian market.

ISA-TR61804-4 (104.00.02)-2007, Function Blocks (FB) for Process Control - Part 4 was approved by ANSI.