Articles and News

60Amp and 100Amp servo drives in the DigiFlex Performance family are available with CANopen, EtherCAT and RS232/485 communications.

The Summail Gas Plant has an Integrated Control & Safety System which consists of a Process Control System, Emergency Shutdown System, Fire & Gas Detection System, SCADA server, and Alarm annunciation systems, but their PLCs couldn't talk to each other.

The beverage packaging industry in North America is expected to reach $26.3 billion in 2015, with plastic bottles leading the way in popularity, according to PMMI, The Association for Packaging and Processing Technologies.

By IDTech It is true that virtual IP addresses can be created for the nodes in a network that only has internet connection at backhaul but this does not offer sensing or the other main benefits of a genuine Internet of Things.

By Dennis Gilhooley, Jr., Ultra Consultants Many manufacturers have come to the conclusion that “smart” part numbering is an unwieldy approach to part numbering and data analysis. Instead, leading companies are shifting from “smart” to what is termed as “insignificant” or unique part numbers.

By Dennis Gilhooley, Jr., Ultra Consultants ERP selection is typically driven by a common set of conditions, including poor access to information, core systems that are difficult to use, and an over-reliance on standalone systems that function as islands of information. Organizations saddled with legacy solutions often don’t know where to begin when it comes to an ERP selection project.

Free downloadable application note provides step-by-step information on automating calibrations with the Fluke Calibration 1586A Super-DAQ.

"Managing Industrial Networks with Cisco Networking Technologies" (IMINS) course provides the foundational skills needed to manage and administer networked, industrial control systems.

This free app for iOS 7 and later allows easy communication with Sealevel Modbus TCP compatible products including SeaI/O and eI/O modules.

A Closer Look at Process Instrument Commissioning

By Bill Lydon, Editor They say, “What goes around comes around.” I think this is happening with Advanced Process Control (APC) and Model Predictive Control (MPC). There seems to be a renewed interest in APC, and the systems, while not trivial, seem to be easier to use and lower cost.

By Jim O’Callaghan, EnOcean Energy harvesting wireless technology stems from a simple observation – where sensor data resides, sufficient ambient energy exists to power sensors and radio communications. Harvestable energy sources include: motion, indoor light and temperature differentials.

By Jonathan Wilkins, European Automation There are myriad issues that can cause electric motors to fail. However, among this rogue’s gallery of problems there is a set of usual suspects that crop up more often than the others.

By Greg Goodwin, LNS Research If you’re currently planning on implementing a Manufacturing Execution System (MES) or other applications in the Manufacturing Operations Management (MOM) space, you may think you have all the shop-floor areas and situations that still use manual, paper-based processes identified, but this may not necessarily be the case.

The no charge seminars educate plant engineers on easier solutions to commission, diagnose and maintain HART, FOUNDATION Fieldbus and PROFIBUS devices over the device life cycle with a single tool.

The dry dock operation has been automated using supervisory and data acquisition systems (SCADA) from PcVue, which control a network of Limitorque actuators.

The 25,000th DrivePak installation took place at Toys“R”Us/Babies“R”Us in Iselin, NJ.

Floodgate embedded software solution integrates with the McAfee ePolicy Orchestrator (McAfee ePO) platform, a key component of McAfee’s security management offerings.

The 2014 ISA Water/Wastewater and Automatic Controls (WWAC) Symposium drew more than 170 attendees, 30 expert speakers and 27 exhibitors to Orlando, Florida, USA in early August.

The new revision of the standard extends the scope from lubricating oils to include distillates (e.g., base oils, formulated oils, fuels, and biodiesel) and adds a new precision at 40°C and 100°C, established through an interlaboratory study.

During the inaugural Motion, Drive & Automation North America (MDA North America 2014) trade show and conference, exhibitors will showcase motion control solutions, such as servo motors, drives and other advanced devices for speed controlled applications.

Catalog covers pneumatic control products for use within both hazardous and safe area environments, including valves and solenoids.

By Roger Yue, Antaira Having a redundant Ethernet network is important to W&WW management, because many plants are still legacy, meaning they were either built with a stand-alone station or have a traditional star topology Ethernet network.

Beckhoff can market and sell the XTS System worldwide with the exception of the United States. However, Beckhoff customers outside the U.S. who purchase and integrate an XTS into their machines can sell those systems into the U.S.

Written by Dr Steven Fawkes, ‘Energy Efficiency: The Definitive Guide to the Cheapest, Cleanest, Fastest Source of Energy’ provides managers, policy makers and governments with answers to the burning questions about energy efficiency and the world’s response to it.

Turkey’s machinery exports, which were USD 3.0 billion in 2003, reached USD 14 billion in 2013. Turkey is now poised to enter the US market and is looking for partners.

With governments still being undecided on whether hydraulic fracturing can be conducted, the sensors and instrumentation market in the shale gas industry has remained small.

Customers will now have the option of using Binder connectors with custom cable designed and manufactured by Northwire.

Revenues for IE3 Premium Efficiency (and the equivalent NEMA Premium) are on course to almost double by 2018 to over $8,000 million globally.

By T. Lee Wylie The recent news regarding a lawsuit filed by Kentwool against NetSuite demonstrates that all ERP solutions are not manufacturing ERP solutions. It also cautions ERP vendors that knowing what you don’t know is a very valuable asset.

Balluff says that by 2016, production hours for building linear transducers and encoders in the Kentucky facility will increase 140%.

The FDT Group will exhibit a technology demonstration that focuses on smart device integration solutions that are both protocol and supplier independent.

The ABB Full Service business provides fully outsourced industrial maintenance services. ABB is divesting this business because of limited synergies with ABB’s core portfolio.

Management has to be part of the asset management team in order for the operation to get the real value from their installed assets.

Worldwide robotics markets are increasingly diversified, poised to achieve significant growth as every industry segment adopts mobile automated processes. Robots are taking over.

Geissler wanted to accelerate cycle times for a test bench that performed the final inspection of precision turned parts. They replaced a pneumatic rotary indexing table with a directly driven TO series rotary indexing table from Weiss.

The company, previously known as Motoman Inc., was formally incorporated on July 18, 1989 as a 50/50 joint venture between Hobart Brothers Company and Yaskawa Electric America.

K3 Syspro provides solutions in Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Advanced Planning and Scheduling (APS), Warehouse Management, Human Resources (HR) and e-business.

In 2014, machinery production in China is forecast to expand 7.4 percent, a slowdown from 7.9 percent growth in 2013.

DFI will be assisting customers in migrating to other XP-based operating systems without changing applications, and help those who would like to adopt the latest OS and technologies to stay secure.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Iron Bridge plant was originally built in the 1980s to treat about 5 million gallons of wastewater per day. After several modifications and upgrades, it can now treat and reclaim up to 40 million gallons in that same 24-hour period. The facilities standardized on Siemens controls, drives, power distribution, and Profibus and PROFINET communications network.

In pH control systems reagent piping and injection must minimize transportation delays, volumes must have proper geometry and agitation to maximize the process time constant that filters pH oscillatio

Servi produces custom hydraulic systems, cylinders and valves for the offshore oil & gas industry.

BsAutomatisierung in Rosenfeld,Germany, uses Ensenso 3D vision cameras in its robotic bin-picking cells to pick individual, randomly aligned parts out of a container and pass them on to downstream production processes.

For the first time in the history of space travel, a lander will touch down on the surface of a comet. DC motors manufactured by maxon are part of this pioneering feat.

Siemens Ruggedcom RS950G achieved a transmission rate of 1 Gbps during an interoperability demonstration by the UCA International Users Group (UCAlug).

For observed sensor events, selection of larger time feature values of sensor events will generate relatively better results on the activity sequences recognition performances.

June U.S. cutting tool consumption totaled $181 million, up 7.3 percent from May’s total and up 9.9 percent from June 2013.

Braskem, a petrochemical company in Brazil, will install AVEVA PDMS software to convert the engineering and design data of 12 of its plants.

PAS-X was delivered with the entire user interface in Japanese. Werum carried out this project in cooperation with their Japanese integration partner CST Chiyoda System Technologies.

The awards are open to manufacturers, machine builders (OEMs) or system integrators, as long as they demonstrate a true commitment to safety. Nominations are due Sept. 15, 2014,

What is Automation?

Congatec signed Eltech as a distributor of electronic components and modules in Russia and neighboring C.I.S. countries.

micro ScoutCam 1.2 is being used as the borescope camera on VIPIR, a robotic, maneuverable, borescope inspection tool that is being tested as part of the Robotic Refueling Mission.

Tebis America develops CAD/CAM systems for tool, die and mold manufacturing.

3D Systems acquired American Precision Prototyping (APP) and sister company American Precision Machining (APM) in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

RIA now has 334 company members, AIA is also at 334 members and MCA consists of 111 members.

Since the establishment of their Sales and Marketing headquarters in Brea, California, Moxa has become increasingly active in industry associations and standards organizations.

ABB will supply an 800xA control system for K+S Potash Canada’s greenfield potash mine in Saskatchewan.

Automation and Power World will be held in Mexico City on August 21 and 22.

September Educational Opportunities from ISA

By Luigi De Bernardini, Autoware It’s important to analyze production data to understand what factors caused loss of quality, production or efficiency. However, it is much more useful to be able to recognize in real time the onset of any problem and be able to intervene and reduce the possibility of compromising the production target.

By Kip Larson, Littelfuse This article discusses today’s motor protection relays and explain how they can be used not only to protect motors but also to simplify integration, diagnose problems, and provide control variables.

Europe is down again, the U.S. PLC market is growing strongly, but the overall world market is down.

ISA presented Nippon Steel & Sumikin Engineering the “ISA100 Wireless Excellence in Automation Award” for a recently completed research project.

The system is a replacement of the original ABB QCS that had been in place for the last 25 years. The new system was commissioned in April 2014.

By Stewart Thompson, CAS DataLoggers Power Factor (PF) is the ratio of real power to the apparent power flowing to the load from the source. From a business standpoint it’s important to understand how having a low Power Factor raises your plant or factory’s power bill.

The show will be held concurrently with PCIM Asia from 24 – 26 June 2015 at the Shanghai World Expo Exhibition Center.

By John Pritchard, MAC Solutions The most successful OEMs and machine builders are now generating between 20-40% of their revenues and profits from services rather than ‘pure’ manufacturing. Here’s how to use Internet 4.0 in a safe, secure network.

The kit has a PIC32 microcontroller (MCU), HCI-based Bluetooth radio, and everything that a designer needs for rapid prototype and development of Bluetooth SPP designs.

13 example projects cover Express Logic products and include multifunction examples that illustrate how to use several products together.

June U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $405.73 million, up 12.6% from May but down 2.1% when compared with the total of $414.26 million reported for June 2013.

Yogawa will supply a CENTUM VP integrated production control system, InsightSuite AE plant asset effectiveness optimization services, PRM plant resource manager, Exaquantum plant information management system, and a plant operation training simulator.

The centers provide ABB customers with in-country dedicated and competent functional safety resources for safety instrumented system (SIS) project execution, design, engineering, modification and maintenance.

The Road to High Performance Graphics