Articles and News

The PTO is one of 25 regional associations that develop and promote the use of PROFIBUS fieldbus and PROFINET Industrial Ethernet standards for automation.

Recipients are awarded based on humanitarian efforts, and/or civic or personal projects, outside of business, which have brought outstanding positive recognition to St. Charles and assists in enhancing the image of the community.

FKI Logistex de México, S.A. de C.V. provides sales and service support to the company's growing business throughout Mexico and Latin America.

Livingston & Haven Executive Vice President, Bruce McKay, has been selected as one of the judges for the 2008 Progressive Manufacturing Awards by Managing Automation, a Thomas Publishing Company, LLC, publication.

As a partner in the program, IBM will extend its existing relationship with Rockwell Automation by helping manufacturers build plant-wide information applications and manufacturing execution systems (MES) using the FactoryTalk suite of integrated production and performance software.

Mureen's tasks include building and managing McObject’s sales force to leverage the company’s early successes in the embedded software market, creating effective alliances and marketing programs, developing new sales channels, and building and executing an international strategy to increase the non-U.S. contribution to McObject’s revenues.

Wurldtech Security Technologies announced the appointment of Mary-Jane Tessarolo as Vice-President of Finance to lead the company’s financial activities.

The center hopes to create greater awareness among students, school systems, industry leaders, workforce development agencies, economic development agencies and government officials about the variety of career paths that exist in the manufacturing field.

The new agreement extends the Chemoprojekt license to use SimSci-Esscor's simulation, modeling and optimization solutions.

The addition of Byres and Shipley complements current Advisory Board members: four-star retired Army Gen. Anthony Charles Zinni, College of William and Mary; Dug Song, vice president engineering at Zattoo and former chief security architect at Arbor; and Sri Reddy, vice president of engineering for edge router software development, Alcatel.

ABB will deliver two gearless mill drive systems to help run the ore-grinding equipment at Anglo Platinum’s mill in Mokopane, about 280 kilometers north-east of Johannesburg.

The 26ft high animated replica of a famous American footballer is the creation of an award winning team at the London-based SFX company Artem.

Metrology users from leading manufacturers and science laboratories are invited to submit abstracts for white papers illustrating their successful application of 3D coordinate measurement systems.

ATI’s new office houses sales, customer service and training departments along with areas for spare parts and product demonstration.

Rack & Panel connector catalog includes shielded, co-axial, modified co-axial products

Software Toolbox Inc. announced today that is has completed the acquisition of the OPC business assets, trade names, and goodwill of Northern Dynamic Inc.

The customized solution is part of ABB’s OPTIMAX plant control portfolio and runs on top of ABB’s award-winning automation platform, Extended Automation System 800xA.

ABB plans to develop its Indian operations by investing $100 million over three years to expand business, engineering and R&D capacities, build new factories and broaden its automation and power product range in India.

AutoMotion Technologies of Lake City, Florida will expand Adept's reach in Florida and Puerto Rico while Innovative Automation Solutions (IAS), of Platte City, Missouri will cover the Missouri, Kansas and Nebraska region.

BACnet International is an organization that encourages the successful deployment of this protocol in building automation and control systems through interoperability testing educational programs, and promotional activities.

ODVA and TÜV Rheinland will establish a conformance Test Service for DeviceNet and EtherNet/IP in Shanghai.

This spec provides seamless access from CIP originator devices to Modbus target devices.

Specs include updates for EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, CompoNet, and ControlNet.

DSPCon will provide NASA with advanced data acquisition and analysis systems for a variety of satellite, rocket and aviation testing applications.

ABB will supply gearless mill drive systems to increase productivity and lower energy consumption at a new mine in northern Chile.

Franke Group, based in Aarburg, Switzerland, manufactures kitchens and food service equipment.

Okuma is known for its technology leadership and world-class manufacturing, product quality and dedication to customer service.

SERCOS III integrates the open Ethernet protocol with high-speed data transfer at 100 MBitS per second.

The project will migrate the plant’s existing Honeywell process control systems to Honeywell’s Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS).

He was named an IEEE Fellow for his key role in the development of Infinera's large-scale photonic integrated circuits.

The market, which approached $4 billion in 2006, is forecasted to exceed $5 billion in 2011, according to a new ARC Advisory Group study.

The new office includes a sales force targeting China and a technical support infrastructure that will offer local services and direct support contact

This new release includes features enabling automation equipment suppliers to further improve the diagnostics, interoperability and reliability of FOUNDATION-compliant products.

National Hydroelectric Power Corp., one of India's major power generation companies, signed a contract worth over $7 million to implement IFS Applications.

Softing will integrate its OPC UA interface into ILS Technology's deviceWISE software that connects devices on the factory floor with enterprise systems.

The company added one member to its board, and appointed an interim CEO and interim CFO.

The company, specializing in automation, control and information solutions, plans to open the new office early in 2008.

Motion Industries is a distributor of electrical and industrial automation, hydraulic and industrial hose, hydraulic and pneumatic components, and material handling.

NTERKAMA covers actuator technology, analysis metrology, engineering and services, functional safety, measuring and control systems, wireless automation and asset management.

The competition is open to companies that exhibit products at HANNOVER MESSE 2008. Entry forms must be submitted by 15 February 2008.

Machine vision systems are becoming critical to the emerging requirements of industrial automation and robotics.

InduSoft will endorse the Certified OPC Professional (COP) designation and offer OPCTI training for their customers.

Verification-as-Services (VaS) solution helps organizations developing software for real-time or embedded applications.

Commtest will use the new office to provide sales and technical support for the Middle East and North Africa Regions.

Nyquist will direct sales operations for all company divisions, which includes systems, software, instruments, valves and services.

The ISA Honors & Awards Committee is accepting nominations for 2008 recognition in 20 categories..

Daniel 3804 Liquid Ultrasonic Meters will determine "Fiscal transfers" of all petroleum products ranging from heavy crude to light hydrocarbon processed for the export market.

Yoshinori Furuno will head the new office as Director of Business Development for Japan.

ABB won a contract from Angola’s Empresa Nacional de Electricidade (ENE) to connect electrical grids in the country.

Emerson will install PlantWeb with Foundation fieldbus for the project that will recycle refuse from 1.1 million Paris residents, converting the waste into energy.

Beckhoff demos Windows Embedded CE 6.0 R2 at show in Japan.

Wieckowski was promoted to vice president and general manager for the Linear Motion and Assembly Technologies Group.

CIDX will endorse the ISA 88 (batch control standard) and ISA 95 (enterprise and control integration standard).

Allied to distribute RECOM’s on-board DC/DC, AC/DC converter and switching regulator products.

Brochure contains a tutorial and applications in fields such as noise & vibration cancellation, energy harvesting and high-dynamics force sensing.

Other enhancements include Pxt and Ixt overload models, bleeder duty cycle vs power charts, and an interface for Windows XP and Vista.

ABB completed the sale of its downstream oil and gas business Lummus Global to Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. (CB&I) for $950 million.

Most recently, Caputo served as Corporate Vice-President and President and COO of L-3 Communications.

FPGA IPNet provides an open forum for sharing LabVIEW FPGA IP and modules for analog and digital I/O, communication buses/protocols and motion control.

Michel Haddad addressed the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) meeting in Cairo, Egypt.

The office provides industrial automation and control solutions for customers in the Osaka, Sakai and Wakayama areas.

The highway span is raised and lowered 20 times a day, and the cable that controls it is unwound and rewound as many times.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Somfy GmbH, Echelon, 4HomeMedia, Constellation Energy and Tracy Markie won awards.

Kelly-Detwiler is senior director of energy technology services for Constellation Energy.

Talvivaara Mining Company is constructing Europe’s largest nickel mine at Talvivaara in the Sotkamo region of Finland.

KOMPAS-3D LT V9 is a functionally reduced version of KOMPAS, and can be downloaded for free.

The 4th Edition of "Industrial Data Communications" by Lawrence M. Thompson includes a complete description of relevant terminology, standards, and protocols.

The ISA92 committee submitted documents on CO, O2 and chlorine monitoring to ANSI for reaffirmation as American National Standards.

The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory is using wireless sensor networking software from Octave Technology.

Schmid replaces Rich Combs who will serve as PDI Executive Chairman.

The three will develop and deliver advanced security solutions for the global industrial automation market.

The transaction is expected to be completed in December, pending final government authorizations and approvals.

The SST controls I/O devices connected to a DeviceNet network without the need of a local PC.

The General Industry Group will provide programming, software, vision, mechanical design, controls, simulation and training.

Study reveals that companies farther along the path toward convergence are realizing more positive impacts on manufacturing performance than anticipated.

Rockwell's Integrated Architecture helps lower integration costs, improves manufacturing agility, and helps end users to make better business decisions.

Increased process system capabilities, Endress + Hauser partnership and Pavilion Technologies and ICS Triplex acquisitions are highlighted at Automation Fair.

At the Seine Grésillons treatment plant, technicians can connect locally at any point of the network by wire or WiFi to the same production management interface to obtain data.

The team will help device/component manufacturers take their products through the various steps required for use on an intelligent safety network system.

Over the past decade, many companies have adopted new strategies for manufacturing, which has taken competitiveness on to new planes. A whole array of initiatives have been introduced, collectively labeled "new wave manufacturing."

Collaborative industry initiative provides North American manufacturers with alternatives to moving manufacturing off-shore.

TorqSense non-contact digital torque monitoring system has proven to be the only way to test the seals of super high performance vacuum systems.

The chapter, based in Singapore, will serve the Asia Pacific region and is the first chapter outside of North America for the organization.

Virginia Tech won the $500,000 third place prize at the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) Urban Challenge.

Emerson will supply 25,000 Rosemount instruments, 2,500 FIELDVUE DVC6000 HART smart positioners, 2,000 Fisher control valves, and 400 Micro Motion Coriolis meters.

ABB won an order from the Namibian national power utility, NamPower, to connect the country’s power grid and strengthen electricity networks in southern Africa.

The world-wide market for SCADA systems for the water & wastewater industries is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.4% over the next five years.

MTL acquired a 90% stake in RTK, a manufacturer of process alarm equipment, displays and interface products.

Best Practices Engineering Guide provides installation recommendations for FCI's Thermal Dispersion Flow Meters.

Procter and Gamble used Intech Studios' PUMA software to implement a wireless VoIP telephone system that provides real-time information on issues occurring on the manufacturing plant floor.

Revenue was $18.44 million with a net loss of $0.25 million. Matrikon restructures management and separates two business units. CTO takes sabbatical.

The paper details how process-based manufacturing and business analytics enable enterprise decision making.

SCP Standards quantify the effectiveness of customer service and support, and represent best practices in the industry.

Industrial Defender appointed Donald Simoneau senior vice president of worldwide operations, reporting to CEO Brian M. Ahern.

When should you use a managed Ethernet switch? This paper provides answers.

Certification eliminates need for secondary seals.

Honeywell will supply $9.1 million worth control valves for the new integrated Pearl Gas-to-Liquids (GTL) plant in Qatar.

SIXNET acquired BlueTree Wireless Data, Inc., a supplier of Machine to Machine (M2M) Cellular Data Products.

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.

Site has an animated demonstration of xCoupler module capabilities.

The Motion Control Association (MCA) says sales of motors, electronic drives, controllers, actuators and other motion control components are up by 3.7% from first quarter 2007.