Articles and News

16 Rotork IQ40 actuators, one Pakscan P3 wireless master station and three network repeaters are used to control six 100,000 barrel tanks and four booster pumps at Martin Midstream Partners tank farm in Corpus Christi, Texas.

Metso will provide automation systems for two greenfield 1000 MW power plant units located in Xiashu Town, Jurong City, Jiangsu Province, China.

ABB will supply mechanical hoists, skips, cages, and four feeding conveyors to Uralkali, one of the world’s largest potash producers.

ARC says India’s water & wastewater SCADA systems market is spurred by the need to improve the sustainability of its water utility infrastructure.

VYCON will supply environmentally friendly VDC-XE flywheel systems to EasyStreet Online Services to protect their data center, deploying a total of approximately 800kW of clean energy storage.

IPA selected Rootstock Software to support their design, engineering, assembly and service operations.

By Bill Lydon, Editor John Carey of BP Castrol challenged capital intensive industries that generally think they are impervious to change. Carey suggests that there is a great of chance for change and emphasized that it is important to consider how we need to adapt, change our behaviors, and organizations to compete.

By Robert Myles Given the issues present in large-scale PLC/DCS systems and the advantages offered by Dedicated Alarm Annunciators, the additional cost to include one as a redundant system is well outweighed; particularly when the system or the process they are protecting and the cost of a shutdown (or worse) is taken into account.

Yokogawa will supply the integrated automation and safety system for the new liquefaction trains at Cheniere’s LNG facility in Sabine Pass, LA.

Water World will deploy the financial, logistics and manufacturing modules of Epicor ERP in its offices in Egypt and the USA.

Development of a Virtual Linearizer for Correcting Transducer Static Nonlinearity

ARC says globalization drives manufacturers to address initiatives for energy cost savings and reducing energy consumption, as well as for safety and sustainability needs.

sercos international participated in four events in four countries in four weeks world-wide in March 2013.

Valvekits is supplying 250 valve mounting kits and spool pieces for a Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) facility under construction for Cheniere Energy Inc. on the Sabine River in Cameron Parish, Louisiana.

ABB will provide electrical equipment, including gearless conveyor drives, for Codelco’s El Teniente copper mine at 2,300 meters above sea level.

EFD was founded in 1963 and after years of steady growth was acquired by the Nordson Corporation.

Pradeep Metals manufactures closed-die forgings for the oil & gas, valve, instrumentation, petrochemical, and general engineering industries around the world.

Fast Track simplifies the ordering process by turning job estimates into orders and it ensures that Honeywell assembles the exact valve/actuator combination for accurate order delivery and easier installation.

The Copper Development Association created a comprehensive three-part Motor Management Program. Part 1 involves creating a motor inventory and developing repair and replacement guidelines.

Stewart was formerly President and Co-CEO of Daifuku Webb. He joined the Jervis B. Webb Company in 1981 as a Junior Engineer and has held numerous positions, including COO, Vice President of Engineering and Senior Vice President of Operations.

ARC says automation expenditures in the water & wastewater industry will grow at a rate of 7.8 percent over the next five years.

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

By Bill Lydon, Editor For a new project or existing systems replacement/migration, life cycles should be part of the analysis when making a decision to purchase a control & automation systems. Your company’s manufacturing competitiveness and TCO (Total Cost of Ownership) are directly impacted by the supplier’s lifecycles of the automation products that you purchase.

DeLaura was named ISA’s Water and Wastewater Industry Division Member of the Year for his work to promote collaboration between WEF’s Automation and Information Technology Committee and the ISA Water and Wastewater Division.

By Bill Lydon, Editor At the recent opening ceremony for Eaton’s new building in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin, I gained a better understanding of Eaton as a company and their commitment to developing products that meet world needs. The company has a very rational approach to applied research and development.

As a project manager, continuously monitor everything for signs of problems and immediately inquire if something seems amiss.

ZigBee IP for an IPv6-based full wireless mesh networking solution provides seamless Internet connections to control low-power, low-cost devices.

Kyle Voosen of National Instruments is the AIA ambassador to Europe and Steve Mott of Components Express is the AIA ambassador to South America.

Rotork supplied 100 intelligent electric valve actuation with digital 2-wire monitoring and control for valve automation at the Olivenza Thermosolar power plant in Spain.

Of the five nominees, two--Bosch Rexroth and Hirschmann Automation--are from the automation and control industry.

More than 50 percent of the companies represented at HANNOVER MESSE 2013 on 8 April are based outside Germany.

The Smart Manufacturing Leadership Coalition (SMLC) won a 2013 Clean Energy Manufacturing contract to start developing the nation’s first open smart manufacturing technology platform for collaborative industrial networked information applications.

ISA Automation Week will be conducted 5-7 November 2013 in Nashville, Tennessee.

A Maverick study says that 60 percent of respondents indicated that "U.S.-based support" on a 24/7 basis is an important part of maintaining process controls. Can't get that overseas.

After years of limited growth, the MEMS pressure sensor market is growing due to consumer electronic applications and is expected to show a 22% CAGR.

By Hugh Davies, Optical Metrology Services How high precision laser profile measurement tools and video inspection equipment are helping companies verify the quality of CRA-lined pipes by detecting the presence of wrinkles or buckling.

Honeywell’s Energy and Environmental Optimization (EEO) program certifies contractors to assess and recommend energy savings for commercial buildings.

Exlar is a designer and manufacturer of electric actuators used in motion control solutions in industrial and military markets.

Installation of five Smart Wireless networks and more than 100 wireless measurement devices has increased visibility into the process, enabling the plant to improve control and run closer to its capacity.

Improperly designed UPS in harsh working environments decreases operation continuity and increases the risk of expensive control system shutdowns.

The PROFIBUS Tester identified potential, covert failure nuisances within the PROFIBUS network before DCS commissioning started, reducing the overall time needed for commissioning the DCS by about 25%.

Aegis’ software provides setup validation and traceability, Route Control and WIP Tracking, automating quality data collection and repair, and Interactive Paperless Documentation.

The new building in Webster, New York, is approximately 41,000 square feet.

Shipments for the U.S. industrial valve industry will grow to nearly $4.3 billion, according to figures released by the Valve Manufacturers Association (VMA). This exceeds the industry’s previous 10-year peak in 2008.

Eight-page full-color brochure describes ABB's life cycle services for optimum performance of the company's measurement products.

Rate Your Operation survey analyzes a distribution center’s material handling processes, equipment and maintenance programs.

Catalog covers the company’s selection of electric linear and rotary actuators, performance capabilities, features, specifications and application suitability.

There are many opportunities and some challenges for new engineers entering careers in industrial automation and manufacturing. A Q&A offers many insights.

Masters will succeed Ron Helson, who has been the Foundation’s chief executive since 1993 and will retire from his position as Executive Director.

CALgrafix software enables a user to set up and monitor CAL temperature and process controllers in individual machines or complex automation systems.

Do not go with cheaper instrumentation unless you are certain the impact on maintenance and process performance is (and will continue to be) negligible.

By Mark Howard, Zettlex Nowhere is the trend towards non-contact sensing more evident than in position measurement. With such a bewildering array of options, it can be difficult to select the most appropriate instrument for a specific application.

On February 6th, 2013 the EtherCAT Technology Group held its kick - off event, “EtherCAT in Mobile Applications,” with 115 participants.

As a result, the ETG now has the opportunity to actively collaborate in the maintenance program for Part 7 - xxx of the IEC 61800 series.

Northwire is working with Boeing and the U.S. Air Force to upgrade obsolescent aircraft and technologies with fuel efficient, capable and mission ready aircraft.

The HART Communication Foundation will exhibit at Hannover Messe 2013 (8-12 April, Hannover, Germany).

FactoryKPIs for iOS starter kits, which allow the use of 10 metrics across multiple devices, are now available for $99.

Total energy consumption in the manufacturing sector decreased by 17 percent from 2002 to 2010, according to the U.S. Energy Information Administration.

Position Sensor Guide quickly identifies the right LVDT Linear Position Sensor for an application based on desired options such as measurement range, output, body diameter, operating temperature and other specs.

Flowserve will supply Worcester 44 series ball valves, Durco T4E lined plug valves, Atomac lined ball valves and McCanna top-entry ball valves to the Vale Long Harbour nickel processing plant in Newfoundland, Canada.

PLC Checker website is a static code analyzer and collaborative cloud application, used to enhance the quality of PLC programs.

Research details use of a pseudo-partial derivative (PPD) to dynamically linearize a nonlinear system, and aggregation is applied to the predicted PPD, resulting in a model-free adaptive predictive co

China’s move to corner the market for rare-earth minerals (REMs) has prompted manufacturers of low voltage industrial motors to adopt alternative technologies that reduce or eliminate the use of these materials, spurring new growth in the motors market.

Topics of focus include a variety of new technologies and processing techniques for improved speed, accuracy and quality in die/mold and job-shop environments.

The Ubisense Smart Factory System solution for automotive assembly lines has achieved the pilot acceptance in Daimler’s project to equip the assembly line for the Mercedes S Class premium cars in Germany.

Altendorf was Managing Director of Endress+Hauser’s largest plant in Maulburg, Germany, and since 2009 also a member of the Group’s Executive Board.

Datria, with offices in Denver, provides voice-enabled solutions for distribution and logistics, mobile field service management, and manufacturing processes.

ST100 Series Thermal Mass Air/Gas Flow Meter received ATEX and IECEx approvals, for safe operation in potentially hazardous environments.

U.S. Deputy Secretary of Commerce Rebecca Blank announced that Michael Laszkiewicz, Vice President and General Manager, Rockwell Automation, will Chair the Manufacturing Council.

More industry clients are requesting certification for control system integrators as they consider the pool of candidates for industrial automation projects, according CSIA.

Four instrumentation inventors won Patent Rights Incentive Awards, each worth 15,000 euros.

Through its online training modules that cover theory and concepts, the End User Academy (EUA) gives field technicians the preparation needed to successfully begin on-site and classroom training.

By Peter Seeberg and Jürgen Lange, Softing Industrial Automation The eighth and last part of this series provides a summary and gives an outlook on the future of OPC technology.

The decline in experienced controls engineers and technicians is occurring while engineering schools are not replacing these people fast enough.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Manufacturing automation has been doing the heavy lifting to improve productivity in the United States while the country’s educational systems continue to have disturbingly low productivity. After talking with management of many manufacturing companies, reviewing surveys and statistics, it is obvious to me that this situation is dramatically out of control.