Articles and News

This new Joint-Venture, will be named Schneider (Shaanxi) Baoguang Electrical Apparatus Co. Ltd. (SSBEA) and will be incorporated in the city of Baoji (Shaanxi Province) as soon as the customary conditions precedent and regulatory approvals are satisfied. Schneider Electric will own a 70% interest in the company while Shaanxi Baoguang Group will hold the remaining 30%.

Under the umbrella of HANNOVER MESSE (Hannover Fair) 2006, "Factory Automation" will present the latest products, systems and services for a complete spectrum of industrial applications.

On January 1, 2006, ISA introduced three new member benefits. The benefits enhance the membership experience of thousands of automation professionals. Each full dues paying Member now receives a free standard each year of their membership. Each Member also has free access to a library of web seminars and free downloads of technical papers from past ISA conferences.

The just-released government NIST 23 standards for the calculations and properties of industrial gases and steam are embedded in the special code created by Emerson as part of a multi-year contract with Air Liquide Large Industries U.S. LP.

BAE Systems has selected the Green Hills GMART SPARK Ada-compliant kernel and AdaMULTI development environment for the new Hawk military trainer development aircraft.

Four different NI products – NI LabVIEW 8, the LabVIEW Embedded Development Module, NI cRIO-4408 and NI SignalExpress 1.1 – were named finalists in five Design News categories, with winners selected online by readers until February and announced in March.

The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) has standardized on the NI LabVIEW graphical development environment and NI PXI data acquisition hardware to implement EnergyBench, a new EEMBC metric that shows the energy a processor uses to run EEMBC performance benchmarks.

As part of the agreement, ProSoft Technology now owns the full rights, patents and intellectual property associated with the OPACTS Terminal Automation & Management Systems, developed by Octal Systems. The agreement will ensure continued support for Octal Systems' products and is seen by both ProSoft Technology and Octal Systems as a positive development for Octal's existing customer base.

The NOF is a Trade Association representing approximately 200 member companies in the North of England who supply goods and services to the oil, gas, marine and renewable energy industries. The capabilities established by NOF member companies in the harsh, demanding environment of the North Sea are highly respected by the developing oil and gas nations around the world.

Transbotics, an integrated solutions provider specializing in automated guided vehicles (AVGs) and automation technology, will integrate KUKA Robotics’ industrial robots into its automatic material handling systems.

Intergraph it has signed a three-year Software License Agreement with CDI-Process & Industrial, a unit of CDI Engineering Solutions, Inc., to globally standardize on Intergraph software. Under the agreement, CDI-Process & Industrial is standardizing on Intergraph’s entire SmartPlant® Enterprise portfolio of plant engineering, design and information and materials management applications.

The awards honor manufacturing companies that are using automation and information technologies to transform their business and create a sustainable competitive advantage. A panel of judges will select seven award winners: one who best demonstrates mastery of each of six business disciplines, plus the Progressive Manufacturer of the Year award for the company that has best mastered technology-driven business transformation across their organization.

Groschopp announced compliance with the European Restriction of Hazardous Substances (RoHS) directive by producing fractional HP motors that use lead-free solder. The company will replace its Sn50 Pb50 solder for Sn96.4Ag3.0Cu0.5 lead-free solder. Solder processes including the flux and cleaner used will remain the same.

The Fieldbus Foundation has announced that an updated version of its FOUNDATION fieldbus specifications is now available. The new specification defines features that enhance fieldbus functionality and provide additional incentives for automation equipment suppliers to get on the "Fast Track to Fieldbus."

WINGAS GmbH, Kassel awarded a contract to Rösberg Engineering GmbH from Karlsruhe for the modernization of the control system of Germany’s largest natural gas storage facility in Rehden. The contract contains the engineering, delivery and priming installation of the complete electrical equipment for PLC and DCS, the commissioning and the trial operation plus the disassembly of the old systems.

The contract covers 18 units at three BP U.S. refineries – Whiting, Ind., Texas City, Texas, and Carson, Calif. Combined, these facilities refine about 1 million barrels of crude per day, or about 7 percent of total U.S. refining capacity. The upgrades are part of BP’s ongoing commitment to improving facilities in North America.

The ARC “Machine Safeguarding Solutions Worldwide Outlook” study determined Siemens has a 23.6% global safety PLC market share, 6.6% more than its nearest competitor. The VDC study reported Siemens has a 33.3% market share for safety PLC shipments in North America.

Intermec Inc and Cascade Corp are teaming to develop a forklift system that incorporates RFID technology into a forklift's very infrastructure, replacing today's cumbersome and inefficient bolt-on approach to data collection.

The Fieldbus Center at Lee College, a National Science Foundation (NSF) recognized and funded institution, today announced an agreement with Westlock Controls to train their sales professionals on the basics of FOUNDATION fieldbus. This is the first such agreement between a Fieldbus Foundation-certified training center and major automation equipment supplier.