Articles and News

The two main ways to implement secure remote access are with a hosted VPN and with a traditional VPN.A hosted VPN works well in most applications and is much simpler to implement and support.t

Suggested industrial applications for XP Embedded include human-machine interface (HMI) panels, process automation systems, industrial robots, inspection systems, Soft programmable logic controllers (Soft PLCs), remote control devices and factory monitoring systems. Accordingly, many Advantech systems are compatible with XP Embedded. A few of the many possible consumer and commercial applications of XP Embedded would include set top boxes and terminals such as kiosks and ATMs.

Over the years, corrosion evaluation tools have been developed to help the corrosion engineer do his or her job more efficiently. In the end, these tools gave the corrosion expert a high level of data for determination of corrosion but the data was only useful to the specialist, not the facility operator or control systems engineer – that is, until now. Finally, corrosion monitoring technology is available that can be easily implemented into standard control room architecture.

Traditional compressor monitoring has focused on velocity vibration and rod drop. Hardy provides two additional measurement techniques, Impact and Triangulated Rod Drop, that were developed especially for reciprocating compressors.

The vast majority of encoder users have a solid understanding of the type of encoder they need to accomplish their objective. What they don’t always know, at least without painful experience, are the major factors that need to be considered when specifying, installing, and interfacing with the encoders they select for their machine. This article will address those issues, primarily as they relate to rotary incremental optical encoders, though most of the concepts that follow apply to several encoder types.

The methodology proposed in this paper can be applied to any processes i.e. manufacturing, management, software development, financial, etc.

The Freelance system combines easy engineering with open system architecture. ABB describes Freelance as a small footprint DCS for small to medium sized plants in the process industry and for applications requiring DCS functionality in a compact system with intuitive and efficient engineering tools.

ISO 9000 is a family of international quality management systems standards designed to help organizations ensure that they meet the needs of customers and other stakeholders while meeting statutory an

In his role, Markus Spanner has established an extended management team to take a structured approach to achieving the new targets. He will be assisted bDr. Peter Schittenhelm (COO), Dr. Markus Czanta (CTO), Stéphane Bussa (CSO), and Heiko Brehm (CFO).

The transaction includes the purchase of a minority interest in ASEM held by KEB Group, Germany. Post-close, Rockwell Automation will maintain ASEM’s strategic supplier and technology partner relationship with KEB.

The solution is a result of co-innovation between Orange and its strategic partners Ekinops and Dell Technologies, combining Enterprise Branch Server IT and Virtualization Management.

The awards, which are judged by independent juries of industry experts, recognize infrastructure projects for digital innovations that improve project delivery and/or asset performance. The deadline for nominations is May 1, 2020.

The report shows that the current deceleration in manufacturing output seen in 2019 is expected to continue into early 2020. However, a solid recovery is anticipated by 2021, before the sector enters another natural business downcycle towards the end of 2022. A rise in output for most industrial segments is then forecast beyond 2022.

From 2020 to 2022 almost 2 million new units of industrial robots are expected to be installed in factories around the world. New technology trends and market developments enable companies to react to changing requirements. The International Federation of Robotics shows top trends to innovate.

Designed to help digitalize the smart buildings industry, the Smart Buildings Challenge had technology suppliers compete to design solutions for four different use cases.

The amount of worldwide e-waste generation is expected to exceed 50 million tons by 2020. Americans specifically, throw away an estimated 55 billion USD in e-waste material each year. This article explains how manufacturers can achieve sustainable manufacturing through obsolescence management.

There are very few if any chemical or refinery units that would not benefit from state-based alarming.

ISA past president Paul Gruhn, PE, CFSE, will be presenting at local meetings around the country during the first quarter of 2020. As a global functional safety consultant with aeSolutions, Gruhn has gained extensive experience consulting with sites around the world.

SystemLink was developed by National Instruments as a tool to help engineers and engineering management navigate through Industry 4.0. It works to simplify tasks such as software deployment, device configuration, system monitoring, and data management.

Through his experience on numerous projects, Kuusman has acquired a breadth of knowledge in the company’s systems and site work management, which he now brings to this new role. Namely, he will be responsible for leading the Cimcorp U.S. office in Norcross, Georgia, guiding its strategic growth and quality of customer service and after-sales support.

PCT set out to find a solution that would remove the cab from the boom and, instead, allow operators to control and monitor the process remotely. If the company pulled it off, it would be a first for ship loading in North America.

This strategic initiative is intended to expand Wunderlich-Malec’s services including Civil and Structural Engineering and enhance their capacity for Architectural and MEP services.

Understanding and reducing noise from control valves is an important consideration for the process industries, especially those close to residential areas.

The initiative "Industrial Joining Technologies (IJT)" describes all joining technologies used for manufacturing processes such as riveting, welding, gluing and tightening. The scope of the specification was developed with the help of DIN 8580 and shows which joining processes can be classified under Industrial Joining Technologies (see figure).

Talk of Industry 4.0 has been useful in helping businesses understand the value of industrial automation and connectivity. This article explains why it’s not only vital to work with a systems integrator to get the most from industrial connectivity, but to also take a grounded approach.

Announced in conjunction with the availability of version 1.2 of the FDI specifications (IEC 62769), this release of the FDI Device Package Integrated Development Environment (FDI-IDE) provides enhancements for field instrument software developers.

Slip is usually expressed as a percentage, and varies by motor, from nominally 0.5 percent for very large motors to about 5 percent for small, specialized motors..

This article discusses five factors that can affect the weighing system's accuracy and provides advice on selecting, installing, and operating the system to handle these factors.

The move provides Abaco with the head room and resources that will allow the company to continue to develop the embedded computing technologies and solutions that have enabled it to become a supplier to the defense market.

The largest driver of the growth was a 50.5 percent increase in orders from automotive OEMs and a 16.6 percent increase from the plastics and rubber industry. Orders to automotive component markets were down 6.6 percent, and all other non-automotive industries, including food & consumer goods, life sciences, metals, and semiconductor/electronics, contracted by single digits.

The poster deals with the basics of EtherCAT technology, the EtherCAT Device Protocol (EDP), and provides a visual overview of EtherCAT. It describes the basic functional principles of EtherCAT, the structure of the frame and its processing in the EtherCAT Slave Controller (ESC).

The SOL4CE (Scalable Open Laboratory for Cyber Experimentation) is a collaborative initiative between CERIAS, the interdisciplinary cyber/cyber-physical security research institute, and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Sandia National Laboratories.

The collaboration will allow RobotWorx to expand its service offerings into offline robot programming with a software creator. OCTOPUZ enables path-sensitive, complex robot applications to be programmed without disruption to the manufacturing process.

A fuel cell is a device that converts energy stored in molecules into electrical energy. Using hydrogen (H2) and oxygen (O2) as power, the fuel cell produces water, electricity and heat without creating any emissions other than water vapour. This article explains the possibilities of hydrogen fuel cells.

A recent industry survey by NTMA through found that more than 90% of manufacturers are struggling to fill open positions. Other data show that the number of job openings in manufacturer is expected to grow even more in the next decade if there is not a significant investment in skills training.

With its keynote theme of Industrial Transformation, HANNOVER MESSE 2020 focuses on the opportunities presented by innovative technologies, steadily growing and ever more readily available amounts of data, and a growing awareness of climate protection.

One of the important objectives of a leak detection plan is specifying the required sensitivity. The two usual ways of doing that begin with either a leak hole size or a percent of mainline flow crite

IEC 63171-6 is the international standard for Single Pair Ethernet interfaces in industrial applications. The editor is the IEC committee SC 48B copper connectors. The mating face standard IEC 63171-6 T1 Industrial Style was the first standard submitted by HARTING to SC 48B for a Single Pair Ethernet mating face as early as 2016.

Overall, the majority of companies (77 percent) continue to use or plan to use automation in the next three years. The biggest takeaway in this year’s study is that the majority of respondents (51 percent) now believe that automation will decrease headcount in the IT security function, an increase from 30 percent in last year’s study.

The project further expands Emerson’s initiative to collaborate with higher education institutions and its commitment with both schools to build a globally competitive craft brewing and brewing industry in Flanders,

The report is a collaboration between many of TÜV Rheinland‘s Cybersecurity experts globally, and discusses seven key Cybersecurity trends which will be important to be aware of in 2020. These include attacks on smart supply chains, threats to medical equipment and weaknesses in real-time operating systems.

One of the main difficulties in modern cities is large number of vehicles. Traffic signal control has a crucial role in transport safety & smoothness of traffic flow.

A camera integrated directly into the nut of the drive generates images that artificial intelligence continuously monitors for signs of wear, helping to reduce machine downtime.

The SCADA market growth is attributed to the increasing adoption of automation technologies by oil & gas, utility, and manufacturing industries.

By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies are disrupting the manufacturing industry, and that disruption has risen to the highest levels: a topic for discussion at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January

The Reynolds Number for a flowing fluid can be generalized as the ratio of kinetic (or inertial) forces divided by viscous forces.

Tranter IT is a technology service provider with an established presence in all 36 states of Nigeria with over 400 employees, of which 270 are engineers.

This article addresses issues related to the IP portion of the TCP/IP stack as it applies to control networks.

When judging entries for the award, the emphasis will be on the following criteria: degree of technological innovation, benefit for industry, environment and society, economic viability and readiness for implementation.

A non-linear process will have different response across the operating range. It will be sluggish at one end of the range and comparatively faster or even oscillatory at the other.