Articles and News

To participate in the contest, FIRST teams will submit a video answering the question: What could your team engineer that would have a positive impact on your community and our world?

Scientists at Reading Scientific Services are using a Morphologi G3 automated particle imaging system to troubleshoot particle sizing methods for pharmaceutical clients and develop fully validated procedures.

OEE is a continuous improvement program and requires a sustained commitment to produce results

The Fieldbus Foundation is developing technical specifications for integration of devices based on the Modbus communications protocol into its FOUNDATION for Remote Operations Management (ROM) technology.

The consulting practice will concentrate on the development and adoption of next generation, synergistic model-based strategies and systems-driven processes to improve product innovation and new product development return on investment.

ARC says in 2012, China’s PLC and PLC-based PAC market declined significantly. But this is a natural fallout; when industrial growth is lackluster, the demand for automation reduces.

Vented LVDTs can operate in temperature extremes of -65°F to +400°F (-55°C to +200°C) and operating pressures of 35 kpsi. High temperature ratings are achieved using internal materials rated for these temperatures.

Metso will break into two companies. Metso’s Pulp, Paper and Power business will be transferred to Valmet, and Mining and Construction and Automation business will remain part of Metso.

Invensys will provide PRO/II steady-state simulation software to help KBR accurately model its process technology.

PAS named Pasquale Paolone as Sales Manager for Southern Europe.

ISA Training and Education in October: Learn, Advance, Succeed

Devices include the Class 3200, 3400, 5000, Green Class Net Meter, Din-Mon and Interval Data Recorders.

NanoSight's instrumentation and software enable the rapid and simultaneous multi-parameter analysis and characterization of many different types of nanoscale particles.

Catalog covers electro-pneumatic transducers, pressure regulators, pneumatic relays, volume boosters and accessories for process machine tool, robotic and OEM applications.

Process Safebook is a free guide to functional safety for process applications. The guide discusses how to manage safety in electrical, electronic and programmable electronic systems.

Asset Management Systems Increase Reliability and Efficiency

Composed of 20 top software vendors, the guide aims to educate end-users on the manufacturing software market and aid the selection process.

With the expansion, IDS will now be able to bring its North American sales team under one roof with administrative staff.

Endress+Hauser plans to buy more shares of German-based Analytik Jena, which is active in classical analytical instrumentation as well as in biotechnology and molecular diagnostics.

Toshiba Machine Control Systems Division will transfer all robotic and control business to TM Robotics Americas.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The new high-performance CompactRIO cRIO-9068 controller has a dual core ARM processor and FPGA on the same chip that supports LabVIEW and Real-time Linux. This looks like a great platform for industrial automation applications because it incorporates control, optimization, analytics, and business enterprise interfaces.

Find a way to test any communication network prior to installation. About a week before every major DCS start-up, consider performing a “network startup.”

This fifth workshop will be held 14-15 November 2013 at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, NC, USA.

Beijer Electronics moved into a research and development/manufacturing facility totaling over 44,000 square feet located at located at 1865 West 2100 South, Salt Lake City, Utah 84119.

Products that completed testing and became BTL Listed products in the first and second quarter of 2013 can be found on the website.

Hartech Engineering and GPL Machinery built a plastic bag machine based on ABB's Ethernet Powerlink compatible motion control and an all-servomotor architecture.

White has more than 18 years of experience in the machine vision market, working exclusively for market-leading industrial camera manufacturers.

The choice reflects the fair’s continued focus on integration as a challenge of pivotal importance for the future of industry and maps out the next steps to tomorrow’s intelligent, self-organizing factories.

By Pat Garrehy, Rootstock Manufacturers are finding that their markets have changed, caused by both business and consumer-altered demands. For those who have undergone significant business change, what was used as criteria to select the legacy ERP system of the past is no longer relevant.

Virgo will operate within Emerson Process Management’s final controls business, serving customers in the energy and process-related industries.

The central pillar of the cooperation is integration of KUKA robots and Siemens CNC solutions for loading machine tools.

The machine, manufactured by Stourbridge based rollforming and coil processing specialist Formit, will be installed in Cressall’s Dereham factory in December

Fieldbus Foundation and HART Communication Foundation have entered into discussions for merging the two organizations into a single industry foundation.

Six packaging programs participated in this year’s competition: Cal Poly State University, Clemson University, Purdue University Calumet, Rutgers University, University of Florida and Virginia Tech.

An educational track at ISA Automation Week 2013 will provide practical guidance on how to improve cybersecurity of industrial automation and control systems.

Michael Chertoff told oil and gas industry executives gathered in Houston that it no longer takes an army to fight a war as the top threat their businesses face in the future is not from physical risks, but cyber attacks.

Predictive analytics pushes the pursuit of asset reliability from its reactive orientation to one that is fully forward-looking and better aligned with the goals and realities of today's manufacturing

Inductive Automation presented the first Ignition Firebrand Awards to eight innovative companies at the Ignition Community Conference in Folsom, Calif. on Sept. 18, 2013.

More than 2,100 exhibitors from 43 different countries showed their products to 145,000 visitors at the EMO Hannover machine tool show.

Three factors are hindering the sales of full-conversion products in the converter market: high rare earth material prices, lagging offshore wind development and China’s high demand for doubly-fed converters.

GENESIS64 HMI/SCADA software has achieved certified compliance for OPC UA, OPC, BACnet, Modbus IP and SNMP.

The three projects – Queensland Curtis LNG, Santos GLNG and Australia Pacific LNG - are developing coal seam gas in Queensland’s Surat and Bowen Basins.

ABB has been awarded a $2.765 million Department of Energy (DOE) Grant to develop technology to help the energy sector enhance its cybersecurity.

InduSoft has delivered more than 250,000 HMI software licenses to more than 700 customers worldwide, primarily industrial computer manufacturers and machine and system builders, who embed InduSoft’s software into their products.

Deutsche Messe and its U.S. subsidiary, Hannover Fairs USA, are opening a new office in Washington, D.C., to promote awareness in the U.S. of HANNOVER MESSE.

Metso will supply a complete control system retrofit for steam turbine and generator line 1 at Varme's Fana combined heating and power plant on the western coast of Norway.

By James Floyd and Cole Downing, Logic Supply, Inc. Should you accept a higher-priced, bundled automation PC with your system or select one on your own? Here are 6 things you need to ask your vendor to (a) assess whether independent PC selection makes sense and (b) to configure a unit that will meet your needs.

The company is looking for top talent among graduating engineering students and highly experienced engineers for its Michigan and Texas offices.

Metso will supply a complete power plant, including BioGrate combustion technology, installation, training and commissioning.

A novel sliding-mode control of induction motor using space vector modulation technique

By Bill Lydon, Editor As government agencies and the pharmaceutical & life sciences industry take measures to reduce drug counterfeiting, product diversion, and increase patient safety, drug manufacturers are faced with the challenge of implementing serialization and tracking systems.

The Fieldbus Foundation issued a preliminary specification for transducer blocks supporting ISA100.11a wireless devices.

The summit outlined proven strategies and tactics that marketing and sales professionals could immediately employ to strengthen their connections with their automation prospects and customers.

The EtherCAT Test Center (ETC) in China issued its first official Chinese conformance certificate to Tsino Dynatron Electrical Technology.

From October 15th to 24th, 2013, no-charge full-day seminars on the subject of EtherCAT technology will be held across the U.S. and Canada. The seminars are educational events delivered by the foremost EtherCAT experts from the ETG and the sponsoring companies.

Interactive catalog has an online mirror edition for researching/selecting components, loading a shopping cart, developing a bill of materials, and finding distributors.

Main identification of steel ball quality.

Temperature loops on mixed volumes, gas pressure loops, and level loops need much larger than expected controller gains and reset times.

The worldwide market for oilfield multiphase flow metering solutions (MPFM) will grow robustly this year, says ARC, but provides no numbers.

Rotork will supply two WGS Series subsea gearboxes fitted to a double block and bleed valve for a natural gas pipeline in the Bohai Sea.

The seals minimize the risk of field installation failure, protect the equipment, and improve the robot life cycle.

CSIA announced nine new members.

ARC says that Control valve shipments enjoyed another year of strong growth, but supplies no numbers.

Growth of robot sales is expected in North America, Brazil, the Republic of Korea, China, in most of all other South East Asian markets as well as in most of the Central and Eastern European markets, and in Turkey.

To meet Gelita's unique process manufacturing needs, Epicor ERP was extended to deliver a Blending Workbench.

Revenue for the integrated-motors market is projected to reach $553 million by 2017, up from less than $400 million in 2012.

The August 2013 edition includes Delta’s new product series, the PMH and PMF Panel Mount Power Supply series. More models are also added in their DIN Rail and Panel Mount power supplies.

Ulrich Spiesshofer has succeeded Joe Hogan as chief executive officer of ABB.

Through their partnership, Paradox Engineering and P3GM will seek to design, implement and finance specific smart city solutions cities desire.

The pulp and paper industry has experienced considerable change in recent decades, including advancements in digital technologies, rising energy costs, and international demand for tissue and fluff pu

AVEVA Laser Modeller enabled the rapid conversion of nearly 1,000 laser scans into intelligent, as-built 3D plant models at an unnamed North Sea oil & gas facility.

Bluetooth Access Point and Bluetooth / Wireless LAN Ethernet Port Adapters can now be used in applications in hazardous environments such as in the oil & gas and chemical industries.

PMMI study says 80 percent of the processors interviewed are evaluating their machine needs, and out of that group, 75 percent plan to purchase automated equipment in the next 12 to 24 months.

Fuses Made Simple program makes it easier for users to select and specify the right fuse.

The workshop, held at the University of Texas at Dallas and involving leading cybersecurity experts across America and the world, moves NIST one step closer to finalizing the draft and preparing it for official release in October.