Articles and News

The entire 240-page, full-color guide is now available on a CD. The catalog is a PDF file, bookmarked for the user's convenience, and covers linear and rotary positioning stages, frameless kit motors, gearheads, integral gearmotors and a section devoted to Parker Bayside's Engineered Solutions Group. Users can have the catalog in either hard copy or digital format.

Microsoft and the OMAC Microsoft Manufacturing User Group (MS MUG) hosted the Manufacturing Operations Forum in Redmond, Washington, last week. Presentations from the forum will be posted on the MS MUG website next month.

Cyco Software has signed IT Consol, the largest MRO reseller in Central America, and Synapsis, one of the largest IT providers in South America.

Keithley was recognized for outstanding customer satisfaction by VLSI Research Inc, who provides independent customer evaluations of semiconductor equipment suppliers.

The United States Patent Office issued a reexamination certificate upholding the validity of one of National Instruments' patents, U.S. Patent No. 5,301,336 ("'336 patent"), which relates to National Instruments' LabVIEW software. The reexamination process resolves a challenge started on June 16, 2004, by an anonymous petitioner.

Honeywell acquired the Advanced Process Control (APC) and Optimization business of PAS Inc., a leading software provider for the process industries. The acquisition includes all the software offerings related to the APC business. As part of the deal, Honeywell acquires PAS’ Advanced Process Control and Optimization employees and will continue to serve the division’s customers.

The IF5 Fixed RFID Reader was ranked the top performer in adjacent dock door use by U.S. RFID testing lab ODIN technologies.

Part identification markings and tags -- which remain readable after exposure to the extreme levels of ultraviolet radiation, atomic oxygen, hard vacuum, and contamination in low earth orbit -- will be evaluated and then certified for use on future space vehicles and added to NASA's part identification requirements.

Free guide, "The ABCs of Ethernet Troubleshooting," asks 22 common questions to consider when troubleshooting a network. The questions include “Do the link LEDs indicate proper cable connections?” or “Are you connecting a single-mode fiber optic device to a multimode fiber optic device?" And more.

Evans Adhesive chose the DEACOM Integrated Accounting and ERP Software System to replace its partially integrated accounting program and formula management software. The goal of the project was to make business processes simpler and more efficient for the Columbus, OH-based supplier.

Xycom Automation is adopting Pro-Face America as its new corporate name.

The CE Mark indicates conformity to the legal requirements of the European Union (EU) Directive with respect to safety, health, environment, and consumer protection.

Mark Whitaker has been hired as Regional Sales Manager for states in the U.S. Mountain Time Zone. Based in the Denver area, Whitaker will provide direct sales support to Beckhoff customers located in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah, Montana, Nebraska and Wyoming.

Advance Sales & Engineering of Big Lake, Minnesota, will be representing Groschopp's fractional horsepower OEM motors in the territory of Minnesota and western Wisconsin.

The new design avoids consuming too much power by activating only portions of the Anisotropic Magnetoresistive (AMR) array electronics in a systematic way.

ISA and the Open Applications Group have entered into an agreement to cooperate on joint projects and exchange standards documentation. The first step taken under this cooperative agreement is OAGi's commitment to express the ISA-95 data models in the OAGIS standard.

Unison has won an order worth over $2.5 million to supply tube-bending machinery to Northrop Grumman Newport News for aircraft carrier production. The order is for three of Unison's Breeze machines, to bend tubes of up to six inches in diameter, plus tooling and spares. Delivery will start in April 2007.

Codelco will use Honeywell’s automation systems to improve concentrator plant performance. Codelco produces 1.8 million tons of fine copper per year, about 15 percent of the world’s production.

Umetrics and Matrikon will combine Matrikon's ProcessMonitor products with Umetrics' SIMCA-P+ and SIMCA-Batch On-Line data analysis products for the seamless installation of Process Analytical Technology (PAT) solutions in the pharmaceutical market.

The Setra Model 201 is used during the boiler firing rate test, the testing phase whereby the boiler is tested to make sure the boiler is firing at its designed rate. To accurately determine the gas flow rate the pressure of the gas flowing into the boiler must be known and the Model 201 is used to measure this pressure.

The term "multi-axis synchronization" refers to the motion which requires coordination, and the techniques used to achieve control of the motion. With today's increasing automation and machine sophistication, the control applications have become more demanding, and the control techniques have improved.

T-Slot Parts Supplement 2 offers a new line of fasteners, connectors, joining plates, hinges, floor to frame and other accessories that fit 80/20’s 10, 15, 25 and 40 Series T-slotted aluminum profiles.

Walco was recently certified as Siemens Solution Partner Automation. There are only 11 Solution Partners (AC/DC drives) with this certification in the United States.

By Moxa A mine uses a combination of Moxa's AWK-1100 wireless AP/Bridge/AP Client and an industrial Ethernet switch. PLCs connect to the switch, which connects to an AWK-1100 wireless AP. Another switch/AP combination is used at the control end of the system.

One-page application note describes an automatic fault-alarm system for conveyor belts that uses wireless to connect the conveyor controller to the main control system. When an error code is received, the PC searches its database to retrieve the error description, and then uses a TTS (Text-To-Speech) system or recording to broadcast the message over a loudspeaker.

Banner Engineering's 2007 racing season begins this weekend with the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona, January 27th and 28th at the Daytona speedway in Daytona Florida. Banner Engineering is campaigning two Pontiac GXP-R racecars equipped with in car and roof mounted camera units for direct coverage of all the action.

JAI, a manufacturer of high-performance industrial cameras, signed 1stVision of Andover, MA, to act as a channel distributor for industrial camera products throughout the United States and Eastern Canada.

Underwood Sales Corporation will become the exclusive representatives for SKC products throughout a six-state region of New England.

Adept has signed an agreement with Fundacion Fatronik for exclusive supply, distribution and service of a high speed packaging robot mechanism based on the four parallel arm concept. Fatronik will provide Adept with exclusive use of the technology. and both will fund commercialization of the mechanism.

By applying vibration and oil analysis technologies to the gas turbines on the Belgian Navy's mine hunter vessels, the mean time between maintenance (MTBM) has been extended from 2500 hours to 4000 hours, representing a saving of 71,000 Euros for each cycle. The savings enabled over the last seven years total nearly 1.5 million Euros.

Invensys will provide a comprehensive SimSci-Esscor operator training simulator (OTS) to PetroChina Dushanzi Petrochemical Company for an integrated refinery and chemical revamping project, which will process imported sour crude from Kazakhstan. By using the system, PetroChina Dushanzi will be able to enhance the knowledge and competency of the operator, reduce the startup time and shutdown period, and improve quality by reducing off-spec product.

The CS200 Process Imaging System uses infrared sensor technology for temperature measurement, monitoring, control, and analysis of rotating kilns primarily used in cement and lime production. It provides full-color thermograms of the kiln surface, user-defined alarms, automatic fan control and extensive historical data analysis capability.

The prevalence of Wi-Fi technology in everything from notebook computers to cell phones to gaming devices has propelled worldwide sales forward again this year. Continued proliferation into phones and consumer electronics is expected to lead Wi-Fi unit sales growth to the half-billion mark by 2009.

Customers' dependence on wireless communications and their adoption of high-bandwidth 3G cellular services are the primary drivers of the global growth of in-building wireless systems that extend and create wireless coverage indoors. According to a new study from ABI Research, deployments of these systems are expected to result in revenues in excess of $3.6 billion by 2011.

Wi-Fi meshing, which allows wireless access nodes to achieve a longer range by using each other as repeaters, is becoming increasingly common in several markets. More than 50,000 Wi-Fi mesh AP unit shipments are expected in 2006, with almost 100,000 unit shipments expected in 2010.

While malware targeting mobile devices is a relatively recent problem, significant increases in shipments of smartphones, as well as increasing market penetration by Microsoft, have made mobile devices much more attractive targets for hackers. According to ABI Research, the newest and most intriguing market opportunity for mobile security is the growth of mobile device security managed services.

Loadstar completed a $7 million dollar Series B financing, raising more than twice the amount it originally sought.

He will be responsible for managing Beckhoff’s technical support, field service and repairs departments at the company’s Burnsville, Minn. headquarters.

Emerson won a $1.7M contract from Atlantic LNG to analyze the performance of process and mechanical equipment at the company’s Liquefied Natural Gas plant in Point Fortin, Trinidad and Tobago. The award is an extension to the existing contract. 340 items of equipment on Trains 1 to 4 will now be monitored by using AMS Performance Monitor.

Advanced Technology Services, Inc. (ATS) has opened its first international office in Monterrey, Mexico. The Monterrey facility currently employs 80 personnel, and ATS expects to double that number in 2007. The company will continue its international growth in 2007 by expanding its operations in Mexico even further and establishing offices in the UK.

The Executive Board is composed of the President, President-elect Secretary, Past President, Treasurer, six members from the Board of District Vice Presidents and the Board of Department Vice Presidents, the Parliamentarian (non-voting), and the Executive Director (non-voting).

Six FKI Logistex Condor very-narrow-aisle (VNA) automated storage-and-retrieval crane systems will be installed in Preferred Freezer's new public refrigerated warehouses. Preferred Freezer Services has 75 million cu ft of freezer storage in 14 facilities across the United States. Delivery of the new Condor crane systems for six additional facilities is scheduled to begin in June 2007.

Decoma International has deployed Infor ERP TRANS4M in a just-in-time environment at its new Toledo, Ohio facility. Decoma, which manufactures exterior vehicle appearance systems, selected the solution for its integrated electronic data interchange (EDI), financials and general ledger, and custom programming support capabilities.

Greg Chandler has been appointed President and CEO, and Ralph Damato was appointed Vice President, Product Management. Chandler was a founding member of Nematron in the early 1980s. Previously, Damato developed and marketed industrial computers and flat panel monitors for Xycom Automation.

Matrikon is one of “the top fifty automation companies in the industry,” says Control magazine. This marks the fifth time the Alberta-based industrial intelligence solutions provider has been so recognized since 2001.

Norfield has more than 30 years experience in vibration analysis and balancing, working with the UK division of Reutlinger GmBH and with American Hofmann, before starting an independent vibration, balancing and training company. He is the author of the book, Practical Balancing of Rotating Machinery, published by Elsevier Technical Press.

FANUC won the award for the development of a truck bedliner spray system. The bedliner spray system uses robots to spray special buffer material onto truck beds, which helps prevent cargo from slipping or damaging the beds.

Had trouble contacting your favorite automation vendor this week? That’s because Austin, Texas, otherwise known as the Silicon Hills and home to Indusoft and several major automation vendors, was hit by a winter storm on Monday, January 15, which essentially shut down the entire city and its automation industry for three days.

As chairman of the board of directors, Bauer will work with MESA to promote the exchange of best practices, strategies and innovation for managing manufacturing operations, as well as achieving plant-floor execution excellence. Bauer also has key involvement in the planning direction for the MESA conference.

Motion control systems are capable of extremely precise speed, position, and torque control. This article compares the three main motion control choices: standalone controllers, PC-based controllers, and PLCs. It describes how indexing, direction and electronic gearing are accomplished, examines future trends in motion control, and describes products available today for motion control.