Articles and News

Coming off a century most remarkable for its pitched competitive battles, many business experts are predicting that this century will be more distinguished for its cooperative efforts. For years, Bosch Rexroth has been following a collaborative approach with customers and suppliers. Now they are extending that model to their distribution partners.

GarrettCom, Inc., a leader in Industrial Ethernet, is acquiring DYMEC, Inc., a leader in substation-hardened network products. This move broadens GarrettCom’s product offerings and sales and service channels, with a particular focus on the expanding market for power utility automation and surveillance networks.

Honeywell announced it was awarded a three-year contract worth $41.4 million by Eskom, the national electricity utility of South Africa to provide the distributed control system in the reactivation unit and upgrade the company’s Grootvlei electric utility power plant, located near Heidelberg. Honeywell will supply its Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS), field instrumentation, basic design, engineering, fire detection, training simulation and installation services to the plant.

Keithley Instruments, Inc. announces the first Weblog, or Blog, designed exclusively for engineers confronting testing issues in the semiconductor industry. The Semiconductor Test Blog informs visitors of the latest technical and business developments in the semiconductor industry and their impact on testing.

Membership into the CIP Conformity Club signifies that Phoenix Contact has affirmed its commitment to uphold the ODVA “Gold Standard” for network product conformity by following the most current edition of the CIP Network specifications and maintaining ongoing compliance to CIP Network specifications, rules and guidelines.

EPCglobal Canada announced today that RFID technology solution provider Ship2Save joined its Strategic Advisory Council. With the addition of Ship2Save, the total number of Council members increases to 20, establishing it as the leading advisory forum in Canada focused on increasing the awareness and adoption of the electronic product code and RFID (EPC/RFID) technologies within the Canadian supply chain.

Tendril announced today that one of the most widely respected figures in the wireless sensor network industry, Adrian Tuck, most recently a member of the Executive Team at Ember Corporation, has joined the company as Tendril’s new CEO.

Tendril announced today that the company has secured $5.25 million in Series B funding to continue its growth as the leading provider of network operations platform software for developing and deploying Wireless Sensor and Control Networks (WSCN).

Automation Systems Interconnect Multiple Wire Terminal Blocks, sometimes called “twin conductor terminal blocks,” allow for the connection of two or more conductors to one terminal block.

Cognex Corporation announced In-Sight® Explorer software release 3.3 for In-Sight vision sensors. The software includes new calibration, communication, and other tools that minimize integration time when deploying vision in robotic guidance and inspection applications.

Deacom has been recognized as one of the leading “Vertically Focused Companies to Watch” by Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine in its June/July 2006 issue.

Emerson Process Management announced that it has been chosen as Main Automation Contractor (MAC) for Total's Akpo Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel of the Akpo field development. The Akpo field is located 200 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria in water depths of 1100 to 1700 meters.

Almost a year after Hurricane Katrina dealt its devastating blow to the Gulf Region, Square D has donated labor, supplies and money to eight separate initiatives in the affected region, attempting to rebuild cherished community locations and organizations.

Compliance software helps facilities comply with new electrical industry standards for determining the Short-Circuit Current Rating (SCCR) of industrial control panel assemblies.

The Manufacturing Interoperability Guideline Working Group has established a set of principles for converging the OAGi, ISA-95, and B2MML activities. "It's an important milestone in our development process, because we've been able to come together and agree on the main points of our process and how we want to drive our activities in the future," said Gary Sullivan of BWXT and chairman of the Working Group.

ISA appointed Shari L.S. Worthington as Director-Elect of the Management Division. She will serve in this role through the end of 2007, supporting members who are involved in management as it relates to instrumentation, systems, and automation assets, such as marketing and sales, supply chain management, industry standards, education and training, project management, and personnel management.

Stonewater Control Systems announced that it will provide its Field Instrument Management System (FIMS) solution to systems integrator Sanchez Industrial Design, Inc. (SID) to monitor gases, liquids and alarm remotely in real time.

American Welding Society (AWS) announced their newly published standard on plastic welding, AWS G1.1M/G1.1:2006, Guide to Ultrasonic Assembly of Thermoplastics. This ANSI-approved standard details the ultrasonic equipment and processes used in fabricating thermoplastic parts.

CHS Inc. has selected Invensys to implement an InFusion-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for Front Range Pipeline, LLC and Cenex Pipeline, LLC. These pipelines provide transportation of crude oil to the CHS refinery in Laurel, Montana, and transportation of refined products to markets east, including eastern Montana and North Dakota.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has succeeded in verification testing of a combined-cycle power generation system incorporating two different types of power generation system: solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT). The feat is unprecedented in Japan.