Articles and News

Electric Power Plants is modernizing and increasing capacity at its Gusinoozyorskaya thermal power plant in Gusinoozyorsk, Republic of Buryatia, in Eastern Siberia.

The dataTaker datalogger records tank temperature from multiple thermocouples and uses these readings to trend the run data to prove best practices to customers.

Molex is now an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Koch Industries, Inc., retaining its name and headquarters in Lisle, Illinois. The company will continue to be operated by its current management team.

Delay-dependent fuzzy static output feedback control for discrete-time fuzzy stochastic systems

By Bill Lydon, Editor I recently had the opportunity to discuss Ocean Data Systems – a little company you likely have never heard of - with Roy Kok, their VP of Sales and Marketing. Their product, Dream Report, is OEMed by a number of well-known software providers. Here is a synopsis of my interview with Kok.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Major General Robert E. Wheeler gave a compelling and informative keynote presentation on cyber security at the ISA Automation Week conference in Nashville, TN on November 6, 2013. The cyber security challenges faced by the military and industrial automation systems are strikingly similar.

ISA publishes a book that declares that another Chernobyl- or Fukushima-like catastrophe is inevitable unless nuclear power plants across the world adopt fully automated safety systems.

It has now been 10 years since the organization first began its activities at the 2003 SPS IPC Drives show with 33 official founding members.

In an industrial career, you can eliminate conflict by simply avoiding discussing topics which are certain to create conflict in the first place.

The CanWEA hosts an Annual Conference and Exhibition, Canada’s largest wind energy conference. HFUSA will promote the show to a global network of exhibitors, delegates and attendees.

The usage of Fieldbus is not as common in China as in Germany or the United States. This is mainly because Chinese customers are encountering networking technology much later.

The objectives of the research are to connect geoinformation (device locations) to important data from industrial process monitoring and process control.

The design contest covers innovative machine-to-machine (M2M) applications that use Lantronix products, and is open to all designers worldwide.

Manufacturing information can be passed directly from the PTC Windchill solution to the GE Proficy for Manufacturing Discrete product.

A study by IFS reveals that the overwhelming majority of manufacturers are running multiple manufacturing modes from multiple locations, and that their ERP software is not well equipped to handle it.

Festo Corporation of Hauppauge, New York joined Sercos N.A., the North American promotional alliance for the Sercos interface, as an associate member.

ISA announces the dates, locations and Call for Papers for its technical division symposia in 2014.

The CC-Link Partner Association (CLPA) announced that Balluff is the newest member of the CLPA Board of Directors.

Emerson will acquire SPX Corporation's 44.5 percent minority interest in EGS Electrical Group, giving it 100 percent ownership of the business.

AMETEK bought Powervar, a provider of power management systems and uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, for approximately $128 million.

Total machine vision sales in North America climbed 23% compared to the third quarter of 2012, according to statistics from AIA, the industry’s trade group.

Honeywell will provide the Integrated Control and Safety System (ICSS) for the 615,000 barrel-a-day Al Zour refinery complex to be built in southern Kuwait. Honeywell will also provide the front-end engineering design (FEED) for the system.

BgB Supply, an online distributor of electrical control panel components based out of Omaha, Neb., announces the addition of over 500 in-stock Panduit items, making them one of the largest authorized Panduit distributors in the area.

The ability to consider manufacturing options early in the product development stage is a huge benefit in improving automation.

CSIA announced 12 new members and certified four companies.

ACM Facility Safety provides SafeGuard Sentinel SIL safety software that systems integrator Autopro Automation Consultants will help implement in process industries.

The Kaxu project will deliver the first parabolic trough solar plant in South Africa. Once operational, the plant will utilize a heat transfer fluid and molten salt energy storage design that can produce power for up to three hours after sunset.

With 23 years of experience in the supply chain and logistics industry, Erickson will manage Knighted application development teams to produce supply chain software solutions.

Analytik Jena will continue to operate as an independent company focused on the laboratory analytics business.

On January 1, 2014, Prof. Dr. Thorsten Arnhold, Vice President Technology at R. Stahl, will take over the honorary position of IECEx system chairman for a period of three years.

As the year draws to an end, we wanted to take the opportunity to recap on the trends QA Graphics saw in 2013 and share what’s coming up in 2014. QA Graphics has been involved in the building automation industry for 10 years, driving the change for more realistic graphics and interactive solutions. The industry has taken a big leap this year, embracing high-end graphic solutions, and it will only continue in 2014.

By Jonathan Wilkins, European Automation If the IoT becomes a fully fledged reality, system compatibility would no longer be an issue. Automation parts would be able to recognize whether they are reconcilable with equipment or overall systems without being shipped to the customer.

The test tool offers the possibility to automatically test the full CIP Safety on Sercos protocol functionality of a device in order to prove the compliance with The CIP Safety specification.

As part of its trade mission to CeMAT Hannover 2014, The Department of Commerce & Economic Opportunity is funding and supporting up to 10 eligible companies who apply.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Dr. Peter Martin, Invensys Vice President, gave a passionate keynote by combining the elements of engineering, business, and evangelism. Martin believes the future of our profession is as bright as ever if we all work together to put knowledge to work and drive the great problems of the world out of existence.

The free mobile constructor app for iOS and Android provides the possibility of timed assembly of interesting three-dimensional models with differing degrees of complexity – from a meat grinder to a helicopter.

What Factors Affect Your Salary in the Automation Industry?

A future PV value can make setpoint response, reset & feedforward smarter and help operations understand consequences of the dynamics on current actions.

Japan’s Control System Security Center (CSSC has joined the ISA Security Compliance Institute (ISCI) as an Associate member.

DMG MORI SEIKI USA, ITAMCO, Mazak, and Okuma America will support the MTConnect Challenge 2 by providing participants access to data generated by their equipment for development and testing of manufacturing intelligence applications.

By Robert Golightly, AspenTech Adaptive Process Control provides a set of innovative, patented techniques for automatic adjustment of the controllers in real-time and elevates maintenance to a built-in and continuous part of the management process.

A software algorithm/package for control loop configuration and eco-efficiency

Seeq provides software and services that enable data-driven decision making from industrial process data.

With CIP Safety, users will be able to deploy networked motion control systems using EtherNet/IP and Sercos III in applications requiring safe motion functions.

By Thomas R. Cutler During 2013 the past-paced, ever-changing elements of automation impacting manufacturing, material handling, and logistics was remarkable. The prognosis for more automation innovation in 2014 is axiomatic and transformative companies will illuminate the possibilities of great efficiency, productivity, and profitability.

Illinois is launching a dedicated pavilion at the World of Industry (WIN) 2014 trade fair in Istanbul, Turkey, and will provide funding and support for 10 eligible Illinois automation companies.

Rogers worked for ABB and Honeywell, managing the implementation of process control and on-line optimisation solutions in the oil, gas and petrochemical industries globally.

By Softing The San Jacinto Tizate geothermal project in Nicaragua is using Foundation Fieldbus connected to pressure and temperature transmitters and control valves to move the actual control function from the control room to the field devices.

The MTConnect Institute and the OPC Foundation announce the MTConnect-OPC UA (Unified Architecture) Companion specification.

In the study, 54.8 percent of respondents said they thought integration with social media would be an important factor in ERP software selection in the future, whereas 58 percent had expressed that sentiment in 2010.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Emerson’s Sonnenberg and Zornio discussed pervasive sensing as a growing trend. They framed the discussion around the idea of pervasive sensing as the way to achieve the pursuit of actionable information to improve operations and maintenance.

Exlar is a business unit of Curtiss-Wright Controls. Exlar designs, manufactures and sells linear and rotary motion products worldwide.

Averna will provide automated testing equipment for the PMA certification program of wireless charging devices.

As cyberattacks and threats to network security continue to rise, so does the need for securing industrial control systems for water and wastewater systems.

ARC forecasts solid growth for the safety system market, which will exceed $3 billion worldwide in 2017.

Firms in Mexico spent $535 million on packaging machinery imports in 2012, making their nation the world’s seventh-largest importer of packaging machinery.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Foxboro has dramatically stepped up the power of their controller with the Foxboro Evo process automation system introduction. This controller is a great example of the new breed of controllers that leverages the latest technology.

Kaiser Optical Systems makes Raman sensors and instrumentation, and advanced holographic components for spectroscopy, telecommunications, astronomy and ultra-fast sciences.

Savigent’s Catalyst Enterprise Historian will provide a fault detection solution for Seagate’s wafer fabrication data collection, storage, contextualization and analysis.

In this video case study, Dynagen, a Canadian control panel manufacturer, explains how they use Netbiter to remotely monitor gensets, pumps, compressors etc. in the field.

In this video case study, Carl Steffen, Engineering Services Manager at VRTX Technologies, San Antonio, TX, explains how they use Netbiter to remotely monitor their water treatment systems.

Premature valve failure results from seat erosion under low flow/high pressure drop conditions or when the valve is cavitating or flashing.

TriComB2B says business-to-business (B2B) decision makers are twice as likely now, versus two years ago, to use social media when gathering information before making a purchasing decision.

EMO will take place at the Hannover Exhibition Center in September of 2017, 2019, 2023 and 2025.

Catalog contains RFID systems (Tool ID, LF, HF, and UHF), vision sensors, and supporting accessories and cables.

Yokogawa will supply control systems, safety systems, remote instrument enclosures, and the analyzer shelters and analytical systems for the USGC Petrochemicals Project.

SK innovation will use Invensys’ SimSci ROMeo software to optimize and improve the performance of its refining and petrochemical operations in real time.

ABB will supply two 4.75MW wound rotor induction motors, ACS6000 frequency converters with mill application controller and remote diagnostic facilities, transformers, medium voltage cubicles and engineering.

Honeywell will provide Fusion4 technology to allow biofuels used in London buses to be blended directly at London bus depots, rather than mixing with standard diesel at refineries in Scotland.

ISA educational scholarships, which fund tuition, related expenses and research initiatives, are distributed annually to undergraduate students in two-year and four-year colleges and universities, and to graduate students.

The H1 ITK is an advanced testing solution benefitting both developers and end users of Foundation fieldbus H1 devices.

Automation IG integrates robots in MIG welding, resistance welding, material handling, vision guided, and offline programmed applications.

Designed for machine builders and operators, the Lenze library simplifies implementation of PackML standards using ladder logic.

Considerable capital investments helped to facilitate the first stages of their strategic growth plan.

Cincom Systems will add Memex’s MERLIN MES software to its ERP/CRM software.