Articles and News

"Instrumentation Technician" will be the featured profession as topic of discussion. The meeting will provide an opportunity for women involved in the instrumentation industry to discuss their daily work life and share common insights and experiences.

Seminars in multiple locations around the world in September and October illustrate how PAT and other technologies can help today's pharmaceutical manufacturers drive manufacturing excellence. The first seminar is September 19 in Billerica, Massachusetts.

Engineering Procurement Contractor, GSEC of Seoul, Korea, has awarded Invensys Process Systems a multimillion dollar automation contract to provide an integrated process control, safety, asset management, and plant information system solution for the grassroots Laffan Refinery under construction at the Ras Laffan City in Qatar.

The Federation, formed last year, is an umbrella organization under which associations and societies engaged in manufacturing, business integration, and process automation activities can work more effectively to fulfill their missions.

Under the agreement, the companies will co-market dcLINK, DSI’s automated data capture (ADC) and RFID solution, to Lawson customers worldwide. DSI will also be a one-stop source for Lawson customers to purchase handheld and vehicle-mounted data collection devices, RFID portals and interrogators, labels, tags, implementation services, and support.

The workshop will provide potential PROFINET developers with a wide range of technical information including PROFINET vendor presentations to help them select the best tools to develop their PROFINET compatible products. The workshop is designed for device developers, development managers and product marketers.

ABB, the leading power and automation technology company, announced it has acquired the assets of the manufacturing and industrial contracting units of Raffin Electric Company Ltd., in Canada. Based in Calgary, Raffin Electric is a leader in custom pre-manufactured Power Distribution Centers and other electrical distribution equipment used primarily in harsh outdoor environments.

Emerson Process Management won a contract to install its PlantWeb digital plant architecture with the Ovation expert control system at We Energies Oak Creek Expansion Project.

Siemens' Annual Industrial Ethernet Symposium will be held for the first time in the U.S. this fall. Scheduled for Oct. 3-4, 2006, the symposium will be held at the Westin Michigan Avenue Hotel in downtown Chicago.

FlowSense recently hired Patrick J. Baynes as Project Manager & Estimator for its Building Services Group.

KUKA Robotics has been selected by Robotic CNC Solutions of New Berlin, WI, to provide robots for its new large format machining cell. The cell utilizes a KUKA robot combined with a linear floor slide to give machinists an expanded working area and travel capability.

Free machine vision seminars for manufacturing professionals run from August through December and are held in major cities throughout the U.S., Canada, Mexico, and Puerto Rico. These popular half-day events show how machine vision can be applied to improve quality and reduce costs.

Blazer Industries will implement a DEACOM ERP system to fully integrate manufacturing operations and reduce procedural inefficiencies, including duplicate entries and manual processes. Blazer Industries was hindered by separate software systems and a number of labor-intensive procedures that slowed productivity.

As the main automation contractor, Honeywell will supply Qatar Shell GTL Ltd. with some of its highest profile solutions – the Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) Release 300 platform, UniSim process simulation solution, the Safety Manager instrumented protection and fire & gas systems – to enable a smooth startup and safe and reliable operations for the Pearl GTL project. Last year, Qatar Shell GTL awarded Honeywell a front-end engineering design (FEED) contract to conduct preliminary engineering for the site.

Dr. James Truchard, president, CEO and co-founder of National Instruments, kicked off the 12th annual NIWeek, the world’s leading virtual instrumentation conference and exhibition, on Tuesday by unveiling NI LabVIEW 8.20, the 20th anniversary edition of the graphical development platform, and offering a glimpse of graphical system design in the next 30 years.

Since the publication of the first edition, new material has been added covering continuous emission monitoring systems and custom software. The coverage of analog communications, motion control and electrical installations has been expanded to provide more in-depth coverage of these critical topics. Other topics such as digital communications, industrial networks and maintenance issues have also been updated.

The event will feature practical tutorials and technical working group meetings addressing Make2Pack and B2MML on April 30 and May 3-4. Networking opportunities will be featured at a group event on the evening of May 1 and a special sponsor showcase on the evening of May 2.

Allied Electronics has signed a distribution agreement with Panduit, a leading manufacturer of wiring and communication products. Allied will distribute Panduit’s entire line of products, greatly expanding Allied’s current offering of wiring and cable accessories.

FKI Logistex has won a major contract from Michaels Stores, Inc. to supply a turnkey picking, cross-docking, and automated sortation system at the company's new Northwest retail distribution center in Centralia, Washington. The 715,000-square-foot facility will be the fourth Michaels distribution center for which FKI Logistex has provided a fully automated material handling solution.

The company's enhanced manufacturing and sales presence on five continents allows fast response to the increasing demand for global power solutions, while increased engineering focus assures that a wide selection of new products will assure smooth operation no matter where they are deployed.

WonderWorld 2006 conferences are designed to provide executives, information technology professionals, operations management and engineering personnel with vital information on how their companies can optimize their plant and enterprise operations. Attendees will learn how to achieve maximum efficiency and increased performance throughout the enterprise with the use of best industry practices and Wonderware's wide variety of information and automation software solutions.

Twelve companies have already responded to the invitation and registered their interest in presenting their portfolios at Digital Factory during HANNOVER MESSE 2007 (the Hannover Fair). These include: across Systems, empolis, Siemens AG A&D MC, Siemens I&S, IBM, IDS Scheer, Infoman, Infor, Innosoft, Prostep, SA Service Alliance, and the Research Institute for Rationalization and Operations Management at RWTH Aachen.

Over twenty companies from around the world have responded to the call for proposals from ISA's Wireless Systems for Automation standards committee. The committee is holding a preliminary proposal review meeting on 11-15 September 2006 at ISA in RTP, NC.

Coming off a century most remarkable for its pitched competitive battles, many business experts are predicting that this century will be more distinguished for its cooperative efforts. For years, Bosch Rexroth has been following a collaborative approach with customers and suppliers. Now they are extending that model to their distribution partners.

GarrettCom, Inc., a leader in Industrial Ethernet, is acquiring DYMEC, Inc., a leader in substation-hardened network products. This move broadens GarrettCom’s product offerings and sales and service channels, with a particular focus on the expanding market for power utility automation and surveillance networks.

Honeywell announced it was awarded a three-year contract worth $41.4 million by Eskom, the national electricity utility of South Africa to provide the distributed control system in the reactivation unit and upgrade the company’s Grootvlei electric utility power plant, located near Heidelberg. Honeywell will supply its Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS), field instrumentation, basic design, engineering, fire detection, training simulation and installation services to the plant.

Keithley Instruments, Inc. announces the first Weblog, or Blog, designed exclusively for engineers confronting testing issues in the semiconductor industry. The Semiconductor Test Blog informs visitors of the latest technical and business developments in the semiconductor industry and their impact on testing.

Membership into the CIP Conformity Club signifies that Phoenix Contact has affirmed its commitment to uphold the ODVA “Gold Standard” for network product conformity by following the most current edition of the CIP Network specifications and maintaining ongoing compliance to CIP Network specifications, rules and guidelines.

EPCglobal Canada announced today that RFID technology solution provider Ship2Save joined its Strategic Advisory Council. With the addition of Ship2Save, the total number of Council members increases to 20, establishing it as the leading advisory forum in Canada focused on increasing the awareness and adoption of the electronic product code and RFID (EPC/RFID) technologies within the Canadian supply chain.

Tendril announced today that one of the most widely respected figures in the wireless sensor network industry, Adrian Tuck, most recently a member of the Executive Team at Ember Corporation, has joined the company as Tendril’s new CEO.

Tendril announced today that the company has secured $5.25 million in Series B funding to continue its growth as the leading provider of network operations platform software for developing and deploying Wireless Sensor and Control Networks (WSCN).

Automation Systems Interconnect Multiple Wire Terminal Blocks, sometimes called “twin conductor terminal blocks,” allow for the connection of two or more conductors to one terminal block.

Cognex Corporation announced In-Sight® Explorer software release 3.3 for In-Sight vision sensors. The software includes new calibration, communication, and other tools that minimize integration time when deploying vision in robotic guidance and inspection applications.

Deacom has been recognized as one of the leading “Vertically Focused Companies to Watch” by Supply & Demand Chain Executive Magazine in its June/July 2006 issue.

Emerson Process Management announced that it has been chosen as Main Automation Contractor (MAC) for Total's Akpo Floating, Production, Storage and Offloading (FPSO) vessel of the Akpo field development. The Akpo field is located 200 kilometers off the coast of Nigeria in water depths of 1100 to 1700 meters.

Almost a year after Hurricane Katrina dealt its devastating blow to the Gulf Region, Square D has donated labor, supplies and money to eight separate initiatives in the affected region, attempting to rebuild cherished community locations and organizations.

Compliance software helps facilities comply with new electrical industry standards for determining the Short-Circuit Current Rating (SCCR) of industrial control panel assemblies.

The Manufacturing Interoperability Guideline Working Group has established a set of principles for converging the OAGi, ISA-95, and B2MML activities. "It's an important milestone in our development process, because we've been able to come together and agree on the main points of our process and how we want to drive our activities in the future," said Gary Sullivan of BWXT and chairman of the Working Group.

ISA appointed Shari L.S. Worthington as Director-Elect of the Management Division. She will serve in this role through the end of 2007, supporting members who are involved in management as it relates to instrumentation, systems, and automation assets, such as marketing and sales, supply chain management, industry standards, education and training, project management, and personnel management.

Stonewater Control Systems announced that it will provide its Field Instrument Management System (FIMS) solution to systems integrator Sanchez Industrial Design, Inc. (SID) to monitor gases, liquids and alarm remotely in real time.

American Welding Society (AWS) announced their newly published standard on plastic welding, AWS G1.1M/G1.1:2006, Guide to Ultrasonic Assembly of Thermoplastics. This ANSI-approved standard details the ultrasonic equipment and processes used in fabricating thermoplastic parts.

CHS Inc. has selected Invensys to implement an InFusion-based supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system for Front Range Pipeline, LLC and Cenex Pipeline, LLC. These pipelines provide transportation of crude oil to the CHS refinery in Laurel, Montana, and transportation of refined products to markets east, including eastern Montana and North Dakota.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Ltd. (MHI) has succeeded in verification testing of a combined-cycle power generation system incorporating two different types of power generation system: solid oxide fuel cells (SOFC) and a micro gas turbine (MGT). The feat is unprecedented in Japan.

Invensys Process Systems will be presenting the unique benefits of the company's recently introduced InFusion enterprise control system (ECS) technology and unique asset performance management approach in 25 cities around the world. Includes schedule.

Altech UL489 AC and DC miniature molded case circuit breakers offer the highest rating in the industry for their type and can deliver reliable performance in a wide range of applications, including low inrush motors, appliances, lighting, wiring protection, transformers, power supplies and industrial controls, among others.

Michael Mikolajczak has been named a product line manager for ABB Automation Products, Low Voltage Drives, according to Cliff Cole, director of marketing, ABB Low Voltage Drives.

ExperTune is offering free web-based training to improve plant performance. ”The 6 Myths of Process Performance” identifies the “right things” to focus on for improved process performance. The myths represent outdated methods of plant performance improvement. Each myth is debunked in a short 5-minute video.

Ice Qube has contracted with Siemens Building Technologies to provide in-field support for our cooling systems. This service option will be included on all Ice Qube cooling systems at no additional charge during the warranty period.

Frost & Sullivan has conferred the 2006 Frost & Sullivan Award for Excellence in Technology upon Hitachi America Ltd in recognition of its achievement in developing a revolutionary new intelligent sensorless vector (SLV) control technology. Incorporated in the company’s SJ200 iSLV drive series, this technology stands poised to transform modern vector control technology by eliminating many of its key challenges.