Articles and News

The company will operate within Hexagon’s Manufacturing Intelligence division as part of the CAD/CAM and production software business currently led by the Vero Software brand.

The OPC UA Vision companion specification is now available free of charge as VDMA Specification number 40100 (as release candidate version). The OPC UA Robotics companion specification is now available free of charge as VDMA Specification number 40010 (as draft version).

North American sales of machine vision components and systems increased 19% year over year to $709 million in the first quarter of 2018, setting an all-time record for quarterly sales, according to new statistics issued by AIA, the industry’s trade group.

One of the key benefits mentoring is the stability it brings to industrial automation and the process industries when done effectively.

Since 1968, Moore Industries has been serving process manufacturing businesses and fortune 500 companies in oil, gas, mining, chemical, power generation, water/waste water treatment, pharmaceutical, food, beverage, consumer packaged goods, semiconductor, and biotechnology industries.

Ted Crandall, senior vice president, Control Products & Solutions (CP&S), one of the company’s two operating segments, announced his intent to retire near the end of the calendar year 2018.

By Robert Glass, ABB Industry 4.0 continues to open up new opportunities across food and beverage manufacturing. Virtual commissioning is one of these key technologies. This article explores the concept of virtual commissioning and how system testing can benefit the food industry.

Its aim is the development of an asset life cycle data model and its integration into the Siemens software solution Comos. The asset life cycle data model was developed by Evonik on the basis of the international DEXPI standard ISO 15956 and other internationally valid standards.

The catalog and design guide illustrates a range of products engineered for use as building blocks in linear motion assemblies depending on the customers’ application needs.

By Helen Marston, Cressall There are several women in our past that have changed the face of engineering forever, being highly praised for their skills and expertise. This article discusses the role of women in engineering throughout history.

Vuzix Corporation, a supplier of Smart Glasses, Augmented Reality (AR) technologies and products for the consumer and enterprise markets, announced that the Company has appointed Zach Stone as Vice President of Operations and Shane Porzio as Vice President of Engineering.

Automation is essential to the implementation of Industry 4.0 and IoT strategies as manufacturers realize low labor rates are no longer a winning strategy.

For an equal percentage valve characteristic, each increment of valve movement provides the same percentage increase in flow.

Focus on upcoming events and training opportunities, governance activities, and ISA's extensive cybersecurity training programs and resources.

The automation industry is experiencing rapid changes and challenges; the diversity of ISA members is a great resource of experience, ideas, and know-how.

This agreement provides that Sartorius Stedim Biotech will use Siemens automation technologies, which will include industrial PCs, the S7-1500 software controller, the TIA Portal and the SCADA system Simatic WinCC, among others.

Following its acquisitions of artificial intelligence (AI) specialist Zementis (2016) and the Cumulocity IoT (2017), Software AG’s acquisition of TrendMiner is consolidating its position in the IoT market.

Siemens, through its global venture firm Next47, also invested in Claroty, joining a global syndicate of industrial organizations that invested $60 million in the company’s Series B round, bringing the company’s total investment to date to $93 million.

Obtaining clear guidance for securing your smart factory isn’t easy to come by. This article discusses smart factory security and what manufacturers should consider when protecting their facility.

By Emma Cygan, Pailton Engineering The theme for International Women in Engineering Day (INWED) 2018 is raising the bar. However, perhaps it's time to use this bar to quash a few misconceptions instead. This article will go in depth in today's engineering environment to do just this.

The Academy’s aim is to share best practice for plant engineering and operations. Academies are situated in the strategic locations of Karlsruhe, Germany (Siemens Process Automation World), Houston, Texas/USA (Bentley’s Digital Advancement Academy) and Shanghai, China (Siemens Process Industry Centre for Excellence) to support the global process industry.

By Scott Fawcett, Essentra Components The integration of digitisation and data exchange into the manufacturing process has led to the rapid growth of what is known as smart factories. These facilities, which incorporate smart planning, smart machines and smart data, are completely changing traditional manufacturing processes.

Students will work to master 3D modeling skills. Moreover, CAM functions like 2-axis turning & 2-5-axis hole milling and mold functions like part library & non-solid mold parting, are all at their disposal to turn ideas into reality.

As part of the partnership, Rockwell Automation will make a $1 billion equity investment in PTC, and Rockwell Automation’s Chairman and CEO, Blake Moret, will join PTC’s board of directors effective with the closing of the equity transaction.

By Alan Binning, COPA-DATA UK Renewables are set to be the fastest-growing source of electrical energy generation in the next five years. This article explores three common issues for renewables — managing demand, combining distributed systems and reporting.

The goal is to fully integrate the Endress+Hauser field instruments as digital twins into the SAP cloud platform. Both companies want to take advantage of the services and smart apps from SAP’s Leonardo system as well as Endress+Hauser’s IIoT offering.

The solution will connect an ABB Ability PowerStore 30 megawatt (MW) battery energy storage solution to the Electranet transmission system enabling the value stacking of storage in regulated energy market.

The new company combines U.S.-based Perception Robotics, Hungary-based OptoForce, and Denmark-based On Robot to become OnRobot, which aims to drive innovation for robotic end-of-arm tooling. OnRobot's headquarters will be located in Denmark under Iversen’s management, and the three entities will continue their individual operations and development as well.

Conditions encountered by pipelines in the U.S. are diverse and the complexity motivates broad and cautiously general requirements. This is not the case at the borders of all sovereign nations. Diverg

By Benson Hougland, Opto 22 Traditional industrial networking methods have proved workable but difficult to implement. The next generation of communication technologies may work to ease implementation while addressing security concerns.

One focal point of the collaboration is to increase the availability of all assets in a plant and to give personnel on site decision-making tools for their work. The objective is to make the plants more reliable through products and services and to be able to predict developments in the condition of a plant’s assets.

All lifecycle costs should be considered over the entire expected life of a project, with all costs calculated on a net present value basis.

Housed in a glass-clad building, the 400-kilovolt (kV) Länsisalmi substation plays a key role in Finland’s transmission grid. As part of the project, ABB replaced an outdoor air-insulated switchgear (AIS) installation with its gas insulated switchgear (GIS) technology, freeing up 70 percent of the space occupied by the old facility.

The certification recognizes the cyber security features of the ControlEdge RTU, which is used for remote automation and control applications such as wellhead monitoring in the oil and gas industry

The alignment of AspenTech and Microsoft’s technology and expertise is intended to deliver on the IIoT promise to connect assets, measure their performance and improve business outcomes.

The certification recognizes the cyber security features of the ControlEdge RTU, which is used for remote automation and control applications such as wellhead monitoring in the oil and gas industry

Free for Aquicore customers, the mobile app helps property and engineering teams to access up-to-the-minute asset intelligence. The mobile app also streamlines direct, day-to-day communication among asset managers, property managers and building engineers, enabling them to receive alerts, directly message their teams, contact customer support and receive updated building consumption reports.

By Sean Robinson, Novotek UK & Ireland Over the past five years, the industrial sector has begun to see the value in digitalisation and has invested more in adopting it. This article explains how plant managers can make proactive maintenance even more effective with machine learning.

By Vivek Joshi, Entytle The Digital Revolution has already disrupted media, finance, consumer products, healthcare, and other sectors. Manufacturing leaders can’t (and shouldn’t) escape it.

Listen to Greg McMillan's lessons learned the hard way during a 40-year career in process control industries. Many of the mistakes made in the field are still being made today, some posing safety risk

TT will provide Precision with customer and market access in Europe and Asia, supported by a global Field Application Engineering team and distribution network. TT’s operating footprint will provide manufacturing and supply chain capabilities in Asia to support customers in region.

The 2018 Integrated Industries Conference takes place on Tuesday, September 11 during IMTS 2018 and covers three major educational topic tracks: Motion, Drive, and Automation; Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT)/Industry 4.0; and Integrated Industries.

By Nigel Smith, TM Robotics Many industries have already made the jump to automated processes. However, it’s only been in recent years that the food and beverage industry has begun to truly explore what automation and robotic technology has to offer.

The industrial automation and control system (IACS) community must recognize the value of the ISA/IEC 62443 IACS family of cybersecurity standards.

By George Walker, Novotek Plans to integrate digitalization across the globe have led many governments to set-out initiatives to accelerate the rate of adoption over the next 10 to 20 years. This article explains why businesses should be looking to digitalize their systems sooner rather than later.

A bridge rectifier consists of diodes in a bridge circuit configuration. It features the same output polarity for either input polarity, and is used for converting an alternating current (AC) input in

By Stephany Romanow, Industry Consultant Because of the ever-changing business environment, O&G operators can no longer thrive, or even survive, by relying solely on yesterday’s technologies. They must reinvent themselves to be competitive within the marketplace and remain attractive to investors.

OMV will use the Honeywell Connected Plant's Process Insight Reliability Advisor to continuously feed plant data through Honeywell UOP process and fault models, and to provide performance information and process recommendations.

According to the International Federation of Robotics, more than 3 million industrial robots will be in use in factories around the world by 2020. This means that the operational stock will more than double within seven years

Reliable wireless high temperature electrochemical sensor technology is needed to provide in situ corrosion information for optimal predictive maintenance to ensure a high level of operational effecti

The Nymi Band is a multi-factor biometrically authenticated wearable that is worn by shop floor workers to perform day-to-day authentication tasks, such as digital signatures within an MES.

By Christopher Ealahan, Teguar Computers The factory floor can be an unforgiving place for equipment, especially when it comes to electronics. Very few of these devices make it out of the plant intact or have a long operational life. Here are five factors that any industrial user should look for in their search for the right tablet computer.

Honeywell will provide licensing, the process design package, proprietary and non-proprietary equipment, on-site operator training, technical services for startup and continuing operation, and key catalysts and adsorbents for the project.

IO-Link is being used in a wide range of applications as an open standard for smart sensor I/O, primarily for discrete devices. IO-Link is a point-to-point network communications standard and protocol

Recently, there have been several efforts to apply and adapt standards developed for one sector or industry to others. ARC Advisory Group expects this trend to continue as industry groups, suppliers, and asset owners strive to optimize their response.

Once completed in 2020, Siemens intends to purchase batteries from the factory, making Northvolt a preferred supplier. Siemens will support the partnership through an investment of EUR 10 million.

By Robin Whitehead, Boulting Technology Many systems that have been retrofitted for compatibility with the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) are not well protected. This article explains the top considerations to ensure cybersecurity when retrofitting a system.

Together with member companies, the Machine Vision, Integrated Assembly Solutions and Robotics groups are developing vendor- independent information models: In this way, the machines will speak the same language in the future.

By Eric C. Cosman, ARC Advisory Group Recently, there have been several efforts to apply and adapt standards developed for one sector or industry to others. ARC Advisory Group expects this trend to continue as industry groups, suppliers, and asset owners strive to optimize their response.

When fluid drops below a liquid's vapor pressure, a gas is formed. As fluid moves downstream to where the fluid pressure is greater than the vapor pressure, it "collapses" back into a liquid.

As part of the project, Honeywell UOP will provide licensing, design, key equipment and catalysts and adsorbents. When completed in 2022, the complex will produce 1.2 million metric tons per year of paraxylene used to make plastic resins, films and fibers

More than 800 soldiers, airmen and civilians from across 40 US states and territories participated in Cyber Shield 2018 at Camp Atterbury in Indiana

Terms of the deal were not disclosed but GCG has stated that HiSonic’s operations will remain in Olathe, Kansas. In addition to Olathe, GCG has four other production facilities located within the United States.

By Jakob Björklund, IFS Manufacturers are beginning to see the value in integrating business software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). However specialist Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) often do the same job as these supporting solutions, acting as an unnecessary middleman. This article asks the hard questions about whether MES is necessary in many industrial situations.

By Bryan Austin, Renishaw the European Union’s (EU’s) new Medical Device Regulation (MDR) could drastically impact the way that medical devices are made in the EU, particularly those that are produced using additive manufacturing (AM). This article provides advice on how companies in the additive manufacturing industry should handle the MDR.

The StarAudit certificate confirms that web-based services are based on specific security standards and have been correspondingly validated. This offers a traceable quality assessment of cloud services through a transparent and reliable certification process. The aim is to strengthen the trust of customers and users in cloud services.

In addition to the Experion Orion Console, the Leppävirta site will implement Honeywell’s Field Device Manager, which uses smart instrumentation to perform device configuration and management capabilities.

Radiflow’s industrial cybersecurity app for the Palo Alto Networks Application Framework is based on the company’s iSID industrial Intrusion Detection System for ICS and SCADA networks. The iSID system performs ongoing mapping of the industrial assets and alerts on any anomalies in their behavior.

The 2018 awards will be presented to Gudrun Litzenberger, the General Secretary of the International Federation of Robotics (IFR), and Esben Østergaard, CTO and Cofounder of Universal Robots.

Instrument calibration in the process industries requires the proper process, tools and parameters for each instrument application to ensure valid results. If one of the three are lacking, your result

By Jason Andersen, Stratus Even as the anything-as-a-service (XaaS) model for operational computing gains popularity, many manufacturers are hesitant to make the move. This article explains what manufacturers can do to make the right decision for their business

Resembling more a bustling city than a trade fair, the 71st Hannover Messe was very busy and chock full of energy and innovation this year, with over 200,000 attendees from 75 countries. Focusing on the theme 'Integrated Industry – Connect & Collaborate', the Digital Factory was front and center.

By Bob McIlvride, Skkynet Cloud Systems Kaspersky Labs used common exploit-discovery techniques to identify 17 critical security flaws in the OPC UA software they were testing. There is no reason to doubt their methodology, but we all need to be careful about the conclusions that we reach.

On Thursday, April 26, 2018, Jürgen Köhler, Division Head of Digital Factory Germany, visited the INDEX Open House with a delegation to present the Siemens Award in the form of a glass cube with the hologram of a “Virtual Machine”.

Comprised of four participation levels – Elite, Premier, Authorized, and Referral – the Claroty Vision program provides partners with a range of tools and incentives such as increased margin, deal registration, an online demo environment, and co-marketing activities depending on their commitment and participation

Designed for implementing small touch pads and screens, the 2D Touch Surface library runs on a device’s existing MCU. This removes the need for a dedicated touch controller, giving product designers the flexibility to add finger position tracking and gesture detection, such as swipes, pinch and zoom, to products.

Within this connected digital ecosystem, information is gathered directly from elevators and escalators via smart sensor technology. Data is then sent to the cloud where it's aggregated and analyzed, and delivered to customers and Otis' dedicated service teams, all in real-time.

CoaXPress 2.0 extends data transfer rates to a 10 Gbit/s (CXP-10) and 12.5 Gbit/s (CXP-12) per connection from the existing standard's 6.25 Gbit/s maximum data transfer rate support.

With more than 550,000 developers driving innovation on the platform, businesses have access to technology to connect and automate what matters most to their operations.

The OPC Foundation is committed to addressing all issues as they arise, to working with OPC vendors to ensure that software is patched, and to notifying OPC users about the issues and the fixes.

Articulated robot arms require high levels of accuracy from their rotary joints to perform assembly processes correctly. Without the correct bearings, this precision cannot be maintained.

Industry sectors with critical real-time control requirements are constantly integrating commercial off-the-shelf technologies into their automation systems. Industrial automation end users are demand

At Safety 2018, Steve Ludwig, program manager at Rockwell Automation, will present “Four Ways Safety Engineers Can Help Mitigate Security-Related Safety Risks.”

The Executive Conference featured 26 workshops and sessions, as well as several special events including the third annual CSIA Fun Run/Walk, area tours, the annual Industry Expo, and the Awards Dinner.

At zero gauge pressure in the steam line, you are essentially suppressing (pushing) the transmitter output back down to zero after the system reaches equilibrium. The transmitter will read that impuls

Participants in the May 24, 11AM EDT webinar will learn about the structure and content of the international IEC 62443 control systems cybersecurity standards and the related ISASecure conformity assessment program.

The collaboration is intended to enable both companies to leverage their combined experience in this area, targeting to further improve the offering for CANopen, SAE J1939 and CAN/CAN-FD.

AWS Greengrass, part of the AWS IoT offering, allows users to run local compute, messaging & data caching for connected IoT devices. With AWS Greengrass, connected devices can run AWS Lambda functions, keep device data in sync, and communicate with other devices securely

The latest joint effort resulted in an advanced automation and industrial networking lab for undergraduate courses. The multi-workstation area includes Phoenix Contact’s IEC 61131 programming software, PC Worx, along with visualization software, 802.11 wireless, PROFINET networking, and distributed safety I/O.

The USTR’s proposal would place a 25 percent tariff on more than 100 product types within or adjacent to NEMA scope—as well as many other items that are inputted to U.S.-based manufacturing.

This combination of MES and RFQ software is intended to allow manufacturers to respond to changing customer and market demands.

The transaction is expected to close in the third quarter of 2018 subject to regulatory approvals, finalization of necessary consultations and other customary closing conditions.

The survey included 17 questions about respondents’ geographic location; type of organization, industry, and lab; gender; job title; education and years of experience; salary; and workload.

The CSP Program consists of various IEC 62443-based IACS (Industrial Automated Control System) cybersecurity courses presented by exida Academy.

Automate America is a community of industrial automation contract professionals and companies. With more than 8,000 professionals and nearly 900 business contacts, Automate America helps ensure contract work gets done.

While serial bus systems will continue to play an important role in the future, solutions based on Industrial Ethernet are becoming increasingly common with Industry 4.0 applications. The focus is less on cable measurements, signal levels or signal shapes, but in the case of standards such as PROFINET, utilization and the greatest possible availability of the networks are the focus of interest.

Geographically diverse systems using integrated technology are inherently complex. A structured way of analyzing them can be very helpful.

NEXTSENSE specialises in solutions that enhance product quality in the automotive, railway, steel and aerospace industries. NEXTSENSE will be fully consolidated, operating within Hexagon's Manufacturing Intelligence division.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com At Hannover Messe 2018, it was clear that many in the computing industry are focused on implementing a holistic cyber security approach, encompassing the entire architecture including cloud, enterprise, and edge devices. This article will explore some of these efforts and explain how they are shaping the future of cybersecurity in industrial automation.

The hands-on, 40-foot, interactive showroom will travel to nearly 20 U.S. cities and educate customers about Eaton’s newest innovations for heating, ventilation, air conditioning and refrigeration (HVAC/R), and pumping, process industry and machinery applications.

By Robert Glass, ABB Recently, Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza opened the world’s first plastic-free aisle in one of its stores in Amsterdam. More supermarkets will likely follow. Will food manufacturers will need to rethink their food packaging materials?

The Arduino Engineering Kit consists of three Arduino-based projects that teach students how to build modern electronic devices – challenging them intellectually and helping them develop physical engineering skills that will better prepare them to enter the commercial market following graduation.

Most managers in the process industries still look at maintenance only as a cost center, reducing operational costs in the maintenance department is often the first thing on their list. That puts a lo

Multiple production lines are planned for this plant, the first of which will have Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 7000 and PowerFlex 755T integrated power systems from Rockwell Automation.

Bishop-Wisecarver invented and patented DualVee Motion Technology more than 40 years ago to provide a solution for harsh environment applications.

The Omron Design and Automation Lab will give North Central College engineering students the exciting opportunity to work with technologies currently used in industry while constructing their own working systems at the numerous workstations provided.

A fault tree analysis begins with the "top event," which is the result of a number of basic events that contribute to, or initiate, the system failure.

The Grenoble Alpes University Hospital’s technical teams wanted to be able to instrument and control various equipment quickly, inexpensively and without cabling (Ethernet and power). The Grenoble Hospital asked Adeunis and ARC Informatique the question of how to best solve this operational challenge.

With support of OPC UA, Crimson 3.1 acts as a server to publish data for OPC UA clients, often from the shop floor to the data center.

The Grenoble Alpes University Hospital’s technical teams wanted to be able to instrument and control various equipment quickly, inexpensively and without cabling (Ethernet and power). The Grenoble Hospital asked Adeunis and ARC Informatique the question of how to best solve this operational challenge.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Collaborative robots, commonly known as cobots, make up just three per cent of all robot sales worldwide. However, awareness of their benefits for manufacturers is increasing and it’s expected that, by 2025, the sales of cobots will have jumped to 34 per cent of all robot sales.

The whitepaper outlines industry best practices and guidelines for electrical equipment and medical imaging manufacturers to raise their level of cybersecurity sophistication in manufacturing facilities and engineering processes.

ISA’s new vision is to create a better world through automation. The organization's new mission statement is to advance technical competence by connecting the automation community to achieve operation

The two companies will be creating a digital replica of their joint trade show stand from Hannover Messe that will be integrated into their virtual event.

Rakuten Super Logistics (RSL) has deployed inVia’s autonomous warehouse robotics technology within its Nevada operations. Rakuten Super Logistics (RSL) is a national e-commerce order fulfillment company that has been working on order fulfillment technology since 2001.

TM Robotics, has released a white paper that examines the political challenges facing today’s manufacturing industry. Tackling issues such as the threat robots pose to jobs, robot taxation and investments in Industry 4.0, the company discusses the politics of automation from a robot manufacturers perspective.

This will allow users to directly connect EtherCAT slave devices and entire networks to heterogeneous TSN domains without any change or modification to the EtherCAT devices.

The team will provide training and exSILentia tools, as well as other functional safety lifecycle services such as SIL Assignment, Verification, etc.

This release has been updated to reflect the continuing evolution of digital technologies and their impact on automation processes as well as automation standards in such areas as alarm management, HMI design and operational technology cybersecurity.

The company will use the information hub to educate and inform customers and the engineering community using videos, case studies, feature articles, industry news and opinion pieces.

The ÅngströmBond Solutions Center will work to provide epoxy expertise through technical content, best practices, weekly tips and a dedicated adhesives expert, Kelly Barker.

This competition will be played with NAPCON's new Furnace operator training game, which teaches the player to operate an industrial furnace.

As cyberattacks against critical infrastructure and manufacturing concerns accelerate, Weinstein brings the balanced, global expertise to analyze risks and threats, not only from the perspective of actors and methods, but also the ramifications for policy and response.

This will allow users to directly connect EtherCAT slave devices and entire networks to heterogeneous TSN domains without any change or modification to the EtherCAT devices.

At Hannover Fair 2018, the vision for a seamless architecture from edge devices to enterprise and cloud computing was a prominent theme. Numerous product demonstrations, announcements, and discussions promoted the combination of Time Sensitive Networking (TSN IEEE 802.1) with OPC UA messaging and data models to create a new manufacturing and production architecture

Wunderlich-Malec will deliver Bedrock OSA from its 32 U.S. locations. Bedrock’s control systems combine standards-based control and embedded security with industrial hardness and edge control.

A nonlinear boiler model is simulated as OPC server and OPC client is used for closed loop model identification, and to design a model predictive controller (MPC). The MPC is able to control the NOx e

The addition of Eltresis as a partner forms part of TrendMiner’s roadmap to deliver customer service to its growing market in Southeast Europe and in particular Turkey.

Onboard, 44 zones of heating are being controlled by a monitoring system supplied by Siemens, who also supplied the servos and other motion control components for this machine.

Under the partnership agreement, Stratus will work with ISA to co-develop a range of informational and promotional resources, including: ad inserts within ISA’s bi-monthly InTech magazine; and a diverse range of online and e-newsletter ads, video alerts, and ebook sponsorships delivered on and through Automation.com

Under the moderation of the OPC Foundation, the concept of the I4AAS, defined in a technology independent manner so far, will be mapped into the technology of OPC UA.

The TIP’s corner included several bodies that are concerned with the development of the innovation system, these were: The Department of Health – Abu Dhabi, the Higher Corporation for Specialized Economic Zones (ZonesCorp), the United Arab Emirates University, Abu Dhabi Police, private sector companies, individuals and students.

By Randy Blaylock, eFlex Systems The old model of OEE implementation was capital intensive and prohibited most small and mid-sized manufacturers from using a well-respected tool. The SaaS OEE is positioning itself as a game-changer by inviting ALL manufacturers to utilize these most needed metrics.

The common method of judging tuning is known as the "quarter wave decay" method. It has been shown if a loop is tuned so the oscillation decays with each wave being one quarter of the previous wave, i

This list, and related stories, will appear in a Special National Report on Thursday April 27, 2018 in The Globe and Mail.

The acquisitions, with Bentley’s reporting and data management software gINT, are intended to serve to make Bentley a source for geotechnical professionals “going digital.”

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Emerging smart cities are changing urban planning around the world. But, what is a smart city? This article explains how grid technology must change to build a smart city.

A total of 210,000 visitors explored the innovations on display. A total of 5 800 exhibitors were present at HANNOVER MESSE & CeMAT. Topics like machine learning, artificial intelligence, industrial IT platforms, the expansion of power grids for eMobility, the use of robots and autonomous systems in production and intralogistics, and the role of workers in the integrated factory were the subject of intense debate at the stands of exhibitors at the event.

By Chris Johnson, SMB Bearings Behind the drawn factory doors of facilities across Europe, humans are working safely alongside a new kind of colleague; one that is stronger, faster and more efficient than ever before: collaborative robots. This article explains how to choose the right bearing for this new automation application.

Martin has authored three books, coauthored two, has been a contributing author for three more, and has published dozens of articles and papers in the field of automation and control. He holds or has pending multiple patents in the areas of real-time business measurement and control.

Done properly, risk management allows project goals to be met and supports success. Consideration for project risk means that both parties, dthe client and the integrator, will look back on the projec

Located in the Barents Sea, north of the Arctic Circle, the field will be developed with an FPSO (Floating Production, Storage and Offloading production vessel) and subsea installation with 30 wells. The field has volumes estimated at between 400 and 600 million barrels of oil.

VDW has joined in the common pursuit of establishing an open, consistent, OPC UA based method for multi-vendor and multi-generation machines to share context rich data between each other and with broader enterprise and cloud based IT infrastructures.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The world might not be able to eliminate the cyberthreat from existence, but today’s industrial businesses can take proactive action to ensure that they are able to effectively respond and recover if a cyberattack does come.

The collaborative solution combines McRae’s scalable and repeatable software solutions with the PlantPAx distributed control system from Rockwell Automation. In addition, product and solution support, service and training capabilities are available globally.

This four-day conference, from October 22–25, 2018, in Galveston, Texas, includes educational sessions, case studies, roundtable discussions, and networking events focused on Flow-Cal’s product line and best practices in the measurement industry.

When implementing ANSI/ISA-18.2, Management of Alarm Systems for the Process Industries, engineers should consider all alarms, including basic process control, safety instrumented systems, fire and ga

At the event, the testbed was demonstrated by simulating a range of real-life smart manufacturing conditions to show its technical highlight -- TSN + OPC UA, which is the major driving force for new technologies such as predictive maintenance, data analytics, machine learning, and artificial intelligence (AI).

By dovetailing their solutions expertise, the PLM specialists plan to focus on the market in the Digital Twin sphere. They also intend to build real time data integration capabilities to drive company-level digital transformation in manufacturing and Industry 4.0.

FactoryStudio 2018 developers will be able to generate Certificate Signing Requests (CSRs) for the Bedrock Certificate Authority (CA). These certificates provide users with a cyber secure connection between their control system and their HMI and SCADA applications.

Kansai Electric Power will collaborate with its customers at every stage, from planning a new thermal plant to running a facility. The Kansai-Value Creation Service, or K-VaCS, will provide services and technology to detect system abnormalities for utilities and others in the electric power supply chain.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Zoomorphism is the literary term used to describe the attribution of animal characteristics to inanimate objects. But, have you ever considered its potential to change the way humans innovate in the robotic sciences? This article explains how zoomorphism can teach us to make better industrial robots.

Nonincendive is allowed in Class 1, Division 2; Class 1, Zone 2, and Non-hazardous rated areas. Use in higher hazard areas, such as Division 1, Zone 1, or Zone 0 areas, is not allowed.

The key technological embellishments in 2.1 set the stage for FDT’s transformation towards a complete, standardized Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) architecture enabling sensor-to-cloud, enterprise-wide connectivity for next-generation automation solutions.

Microsoft has announced several updates and advancements at Digital Factory Hall at Hannover Messe 2018, the world’s largest annual manufacturing exhibition in Hannover, Germany.

The HARTING Technology Group has been cooperating with systems integrators and IT specialists within the MICA.network user organisation since 2016, giving customers access to data-based efficiency improvements for their machinery. The network showcases solutions for machine data pooling and ERP applications based around the MICA Edge Computing System

By Dr Khasha Ghaffarzadeh, IDTechEx Agriculture is facing major long-term challenges. Some forecasts suggest that world population is set to grow by 2.3 billion by 2050. This, together with rising global income levels that typically increase food demand per capital, would require raising food production in 2050 by 70% compared to 2005 levels.

Lasers are providing successful results at a vineyard in Sonoma County, California. This is the first time the laser bird repelling technology is used in California. Since adopting the robotic laser, the vineyard has achieved a 99.8 % bird reduction and annually saved around 25,000 USD.

MiR is a supplier of collaborative autonomous mobile robots (AMRs) for industrial applications. The AMR market is an emerging category within the approximately $1.1 billion logistics systems segment of the professional services robot market and is expected to grow rapidly in the years ahead.

The collaboration is intended to drive enhancements in several areas that include enabling data science in real-time, streamlining the deployment of the PI System on AWS, and enhancing operational data insights with Internet of Things (IoT) devices and sensor data.

As a real-world application of digital twin technology, this solution will be used by Italpresse Gauss customers to perform maintenance activities with greater effectiveness.

Rolling element bearings are common components in rotating machinery. Defects in bearings during manufacturing can cause vibration, noise, and even system failure. Defects in bearings must be found at

The partnership is intended help businesses connect their machines and physical infrastructure to the digital world, allowing them to translate the data they produce into business results. Analytics and digital services will help them increase productivity and efficiency across their business.

Molex and TTTech announced a collaboration based on their shared vision of open, flexible and interoperable systems in the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

In his new role as President of SATO America, Tim assumes the execution responsibility and oversight of the company’s North and Central America, Caribbean, and Mexico business.

In its Partner Country role, Sweden is taking over from Mexico as the nation featured in 2018. In 2018, Forbes named Sweden the world’s best country for doing business and the Global Sustainable Competitiveness Index ranked Sweden as the most competitive economy in the world.

By John Mitchell, CP Automation The rise of non-linear loads in industrial environments over the last two decades has resulted in the growing problem of harmonic currents and utility-level voltage distortion. This technical article explores active and passive filtering.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Since its release, Amazon has sold over 20 million Echo devices with Alexa — the voice activated assistant. It has changed the way we complete many daily tasks, from shopping, to getting weather updates. Could it do the same for manufacturing?

Endress+Hauser received the HERMES AWARD for a hygienic compact thermometer featuring a self-calibrating sensor for process temperature measurements that meet stringent safety and quality specifications.

The R&D activities of the last fiscal year reflect the company’s ambition to maintain its position among sensor producers in response to the changes in the market triggered by digitalization and Industry 4.0.

Inductive Automation defines Enterprise Integrators as those with a high level of Ignition certification, a global presence, the ability to take on enterprise-wide projects, and 250 or more engineers, among other requirements.

Key topics in TIA Portal V15.1 include simulation and virtual commissioning options which enable better digital design of integrated work processes, as well as the expanded application focus with Simatic S7-1500R/H controllers, Sinamics S210 drive integration, Multiuser Engineering, software units and OPC UA functions.

With version 5.0, the CSIA Best Practices and Benchmarks Manual has been updated to reflect new material, including a new chapter on cyber security. The entire manual was reviewed for organization, clarity and compliance with a global relevance.

The EdgeX Foundry Governing Board selected two winners for the Innovation Award, which recognizes individuals who have contributed the most innovation solution, and Contribution Award, which highlights leaders who have helped EdgeX Foundry advance momentum this year through working groups, special projects, and/or contributed large amounts of code, bug fixes or documentation.

Seeq will join more than 500 control system integrators from around the globe on April 24-27 in San Francisco for the Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) Executive Conference.

Temperature is the most important common measurement that is critical for process efficiency and capacity.

The guides are intended give companies best practices for wired and wireless network architectures when deploying cloud and mobile industrial IoT solutions. The free resources are the latest addition to the Converged Plantwide Ethernet (CPwE) program.

Construction will be conducted in two phases and is expected to be completed by 2024. The company also plans to add 350 jobs in the fields of engineering, mechatronics, purchasing and material management, as well as production and logistics operations, over the next five years.

Voith Robotics will offer self-teaching robots made by Franka Emika, along with software solutions, apps, services and process consulting, to customers in various industries and markets throughout the world.

By participating in “Girls Day” and “Future Day,” the pneumatics specialist hopes to draw the interest of children and youth in compressed air as a technology.

Type K (chromel–alumel) is the most common general purpose thermocouple with a sensitivity of approximately 41 µV/°C.

Civionics were the creators of Percēv IIoT predictive sensing technology. Artificial Intelligence (AI) built into each Percēv wireless sensing node works to maximize battery life and enable predictive maintenance capabilities to be deployed on both new and legacy assets.

With double-digit sales growth in 2017, Phoenix Contact has exceeded the two billion euro mark, achieving a turnover of 2.205 billion euro. At the same time, the number of employees increased to 16,500 personnel worldwide.

The Palo Alto Networks NGFW aims to put in place protection to secure the complex interfaces between office and automation networks. The NGFWs allow Siemens customers to select from a variety of security levels and adjust them in-line with their own specific needs.

By Chad Smith and Carol Ptak, Demand Driven Institute Manufacturing needs Lean methods to stay competitive in the more complex environment of the twenty-first century. Lean needs an effective customer-centric planning approach to bring that vision to reality.

The framework was developed with a focus on industries vital to national and economic security, including energy, banking, communications and the defense industrial base.

Modak will join both the Global Marketing and North America Operations Leadership Teams, reporting directly to Annette Clayton, CEO and president, North America Operations and Chris Leong, Chief Marketing Officer.

The plant is designed to extract 99 percent of ethane and 100 percent of propane and heavier hydrocarbons from natural gas in the Permian basin. Honeywell’s UOP Russell solution includes design, supply and installation of a modular cryogenic plant, refrigeration, dehydration and acid gas removal units

Georgian College students will be able to put their knowledge into practice by using a new set of programmable logic controllers (PLCs) to simulate assembly line production in one of the college’s electrical labs.

Stadium designs and manufactures products for a range of applications including the smarter home, industrial robotics, medical equipment and aircraft cabin controls, working with customers in the industrial, aerospace and defence, medical and transportation sectors.

Nukon leveraged historical data in TasWater’s OSIsoft PI System using ananalytics application from Seeq, (an OSIsoft Gold Sponsor and ISV). Nukon delivered a proof-of-concept and solution, specifically a detection model for Midway Point’s sewage pumping stations and surrounding areas.

The informative isa eBook, Calibration Essentials, covers everything you need to know about today’s industrial and instrumentation calibration processes.

By Larry Smentowski, Rockwell Automation Safety hazards, aging assets and security threats can negatively impact your business, including your employees, revenue, plants, intellectual property, vehicle quality and customers. You can help improve risk management by setting your sights on four key areas: safety, quality, obsolescence and security.

ABB’s microgrid solution includes a 30 megawatt (MW) battery energy storage system, which is one of the largest of its kind to be deployed in a gas-fired power plant. A 30 MW battery energy storage system can supply 6,000 homes with the power supply, where the average supply would be 5 kilowatt (kW).

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Initiated by Siemens, the Charter of Trust calls for binding rules and standards to build trust in cybersecurity and further advance digitalization. Will this elevate the industrial cybersecurity discussion?

TSN is designed to provide advantages for automation applications in industries such as automotive, mechanical engineering and food & beverage. The first Siemens products are expected to be available towards the end of 2018

By Larry Turner, HANNOVER FAIRS USA The HERMES AWARD is an industrial technology prize awarded at HANNOVER MESSE, the manufacturing technology trade show held annually in Hannover, Germany. This year, Washington, D.C.-based Upskill is the only American finalist.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation With the rate of technological change faster than ever, companies can’t leave their research and development (R&D) to chance. This article explains how artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a role in product development.

Glass manufacturing is energy intensive. The majority of energy consumed in the process is from natural gas combustion used to heat furnaces to melt raw materials, which then turn into glass.