Articles and News

In February 2013, almost 9 years after introducing VEGAPULS 68 radar sensor for bulk solids, VEGA delivered the 100,000th sensor.

GuiXT Liquid UITM Client app, available through the App Store, requires no additional infrastructure for users to experience SAP GUI on Pads, iPhones and iPod touch devices.

E.ON will use Ventyx software in its new smart grid control center in Malmo, Sweden.

Honeywell will install an Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) to modernize the integrated control room at the Tokuyama Refining and Petrochemical Complex in Japan.

176 Russian exhibitors took part in HANNOVER MESSE, occupying a display area totalling 5,000 square meters.

Increased investments, government regulations and the exploration of new oil and gas deposits will favor the development of the automation and control solutions (ACS) market in Russia over 2013-2016.

Products in the catalog include hazardous and emergency lighting, and surge suppression products.

Beckhoff Automation relocated to Savage, Minnesota where the company has constructed a modern business complex with over 44,500 square feet.

ITS will upgrade nine Siemens S5 PLC Water Distribution Systems with Siemens S7 equipment in the QAB and Formulation 1 plants at AstraZeneca’s Macclesfield site in the UK.

Manufacturing IT Project Pitfalls (Part 2)

The free tool allows a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the data traffic in sercos III networks, easing development, testing and troubleshooting.

Using CNC hardware and software from NUM, Favor Laser in Taiwan developed a high precision laser cutter that is capable of producing very small or very large parts from sheet metal.

IMS says the oil and gas business along with the water and wastewater industry will generate the largest growth of all application markets for medium-voltage motor control centers (MCCs) and soft starters.

The Chinese Society for Electrical Engineering (CSEE) presents the award annually to companies, institutes or individuals that have played an important role advancing China’s electric power industry.

The guide includes both selection criteria and guided workflow steps for choosing an HMI/SCADA software supplier.

This year’s HANNOVER MESSE attracted 6,550 exhibitors from 62 nations and a total of about 225,000 attendees.

The eleven trade fairs staged under the umbrella of HANNOVER MESSE 2013 from April 8 to 12 had 6,550 exhibitors.

The entire auto seat assembly process is managed by an Integrated Systems Design (ISD) PC-based quality assurance system that improves overall seat quality by monitoring the seat assembly and sequencing process.

The 48,000-square-foot building is expected to be completed in March 2014, and will be a state-of-the art customer support, training, and sales and marketing center.

By Bill Lydon, Editor At the recent Manufacturing in America Symposium, hosted by Siemens and Electro-Matic, automation professionals from Ford and General Motors shared their perspectives on a number of automation issues including the lack of engineers, data connectivity, integrated safety, demands on global suppliers, and much more.

Yokogawa will supply control systems and operator training simulators for the Shoaiba II combined cycle power plant, which is being built in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for the Saudi Electricity Company.

New equipment includes a CNC lathe, a box fabricating machine, and a flame cutter to increase production of Valvekits.

Manufacturing IT Project Pitfalls (Part 1)

Software PDLP simplifies functional safety software project management. Three training courses are scheduled.

Users of enterprise asset management (EAM) and computerized maintenance management system (CMMS) software report low levels of access to these systems through handheld mobile devices.

Fairbanks Scales is now running IFS Metrix Service Management, encompassing service functions ranging from work orders, service inventories, contract management and mobility.

The videos report feature product launches, customer and employee interviews and other top stories from the fair.

The Experion Process Knowledge System and Experion Orion will be among the Honeywell control and safety systems showcased in this facility.

The successful industrial manager has to have the skill and desire to manage clients, motivate and develop others, provide technical direction, ensure quality, keep the schedule, watch the budget, mit

The country’s economic slowdown impacted multiple markets that use the devices, including appliances, automotive and housing. But they'll be back.

By Pat Garrehy, Rootstock ERP software providers often confuse potential customers with cost comparisons relating to software license, implementation, ongoing maintenance, future enhancements and customizations between Cloud and On Premise solutions. The costs are actually about the same.

Frost & Sullivan says the market earned revenues of $704.2 million in 2012 and is estimated to reach $928.0 million in 2016.

The factory expansion - an investment of more than CAD $3 million for the company - follows a period of sustained growth, with demand for field shelters increasing by some 500% during the last two years.

Emerson will supply 600 Fisher control valves and regulators, including rotary, globe and butterfly type devices. The valves will be deployed throughout the refinery, including within the residual fluid catalytic cracking unit, naphtha processing units and new LPG storage unit.

ABB will supply and install four complete mine hoist systems between 2015 and 2018.

Certification provides a formal recognition of individuals who have demonstrated proficiency within, and comprehension of, a specialized body of knowledge at a particular point in time.

KUKA Roboter won, followed by EEP Maschinenbau and Zurich University of Applied Sciences.

Point Grey added 15,000 square feet to its Canadian headquarters to increase manufacturing capacity and accommodate a warehousing facility.

The 12th Annual Outage Management for Power Plants Conference will be held August 6-8, 2013 at The Westin Dallas Park Central in Dallas, TX.

PTS Mobile allows users to initiate a replacement order for hoses and fittings directly at the point and time of need from their smartphone.

Beamex develops, manufactures and markets calibration equipment, software, systems and services for the calibration and maintenance of process instruments.

The company provides industrial automation, maintenance, repair and operations (MRO) distribution services, controls engineering, field service, maintenance and engineering services.

IMS Research says the global market for direct drive torque motor modules has grown from $98 million in 2008 to $195 million in 2012 and will grow to nearly $300 million in 2016.

The Pneumatics Technology courses introduce the principles of pneumatics and pneumatically controlled systems commonly used in automated manufacturing environments.

App allows engineers to input any two of the key variables of volts, amps, ohms and power, and calculates the other two.

KW Software of Ann Arbor, Michigan, is the 50th PI Competence Center (PICC) for PROFIBUS and PROFINET.

Both companies will work on a system that will allow the capture, exchange and utilization of data and information spanning the entire plant lifecycle, from engineering through to plant operations.

Essential Asset Monitoring solutions provide 24/7 automated monitoring and continuous asset health analysis of the CO2 separator’s bottoms pump, air water column blower, stripper cross exchanger and boiler blower.

The commissioning and configuration of digital communications of a field-level network at an industrial operation, such as Foundation Fieldbus, is fundamental to obtaining certification of the digital

The ION SA5600-SAL is a security appliance with an embedded Avaya Secure Access Link (SAL) Gateway that provides IP and secure dial-up connectivity to Avaya and heritage Nortel systems.

The FDT Group will develop an annex to the FDT2 specification for users of EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, CompoNet and ControlNet.

Based on ODVA’s industrial EtherNet/IP, the results of this initiative will provide end users with more choices to deploy a complete Ethernet solution for process automation starting with connectivity down to the field level.

The SIG will develop standards for the exchange of information between machines, and between machines and supervisory systems using EtherNet/IP and CIP, sercos III and/or OPC UA, whenever possible.

Orders totaled $385.89 million, up 5.7% from January but down 10.6% when compared with the total of $431.63 million reported for February 2012.

MDIS selected OPC UA as the Master Control System (MCS) and Distributed Control System (DCS) protocol standard for offshore oil and gas production.

The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) announces that seven control system integration firms recently joined the association.

NANOFLEX hygienic control, power and data cables can be used in U.S. and Canadian industries that require machinery and their component parts to resist the growth of micro-organisms.

Honeywell's Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS) will be deployed throughout the Azzour Water Distribution Scheme so that operators at a central location can control a network of six different treatment plants.

Bosch Rexroth won the award for its Open Core Engineering project, which unites the previously separate worlds of programmable logic controllers (PLC) and information technology (IT).

The Embedded Microprocessor Benchmark Consortium (EEMBC) adopted GrammaTech’s static analysis tool, CodeSonar, to analyze, review and test the robustness of code-based benchmark suites.

Burns Controls is now an Authorized Epson Distributor for the states of Arkansas, Louisiana, Oklahoma and Texas.

A simple method to find a robust output feedback controller by random search approach

PLCopen and its members published PLCopen Safety Part 4 safety specification, specific to the application of presses.

At the request of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), representatives from the Automation Federation participated in the first NIST meeting for developing a national cybersecurity program called for by President Barack Obama.

The ISA100 Wireless Compliance Institute (WCI) will display a live demonstration at the upcoming Hannover Messe Industrial Fair 2013, (8-12 April), Hannover, Germany.

Website helps to explain Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) and how to automate OEE reporting.

Flowserve will provide a pump package and energy recovery devices (ERDs) to be used at Larnaca, a 15.9 million gallons/day seawater reverse osmosis (SWRO) desalination plant located in the Republic of Cyprus.

Field analyzers enable a higher level of control, such as model predictive control, to improve product quality and process efficiency and capacity.

IMS says machinery production in China will rebound 11 percent to $426 billion after suffering from overcapacity in 2012 that limited industry growth.

PAC will supply laboratory analytical instruments for Petroleum Testing application to JAC, including instruments for gas chromatography, sulfur, nitrogen, halides, and elemental and physical properties.

The exploration of new oil and gas fields, with the corresponding increase in investments in refineries and pipelines in key growth regions, is likely to have a high impact on market prospects.

Oldham specializes in providing safety, gas and fire detection systems.

SubDivFormer for Android devices is available free of charge through the Google play store.

Wibu-Systems, a supplier of security solutions, joined the OPC Foundation as a new active member.

Banda now manages the Beckhoff Central Region direct sales team as it delivers advanced automation and controls solutions to machine builders and manufacturers.