Articles and News

Guide covers two-way radios, team communication systems, push-to-talk phones and broadband cards, WLAN systems, IP video surveillance cameras, mesh broadband networks, point-to-point bridges, and more.

December U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $499.43 million according to AMT, the highest order total in 13 years.

The qualification encompasses the requirements of the Westinghouse AP1000 commercial nuclear reactor design.

Moxa's ioLogik E1212 Ethernet remote I/O is being used on the Gateway Bridge upgrade project in Brisbane, Australia.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) provided a review of industry growth and hosted the IFR CEO Round Table discussion at AUTOMATE in Chicago. The bottom line is...robots create jobs by enabling manufacturers to be globally competitive and grow more quickly.

ABB will supply complete electrical systems including generators, distribution switchboards, transformers, drives and motors to power the ships’ thrusters and drilling systems.

As a silver member, InduSoft joins over 80 of the leading building automation vendors in the world in pursuing advancement of BACnet as a communication protocol.

Setpoints in industrial automation and manufacturing processes can be improved by achieving a higher level of control and knowledge.

By Bill Lydon, Editor A survey conducted by pharmaceutical companies of their operations management indicates management has higher expectations of benefits from automation than is being realized in their plants. Responses of that survey are highlighted in this Part 1 article from the 2012 Pharmaceutical Automation Roundtable.

IMS Research projects fewer instabilities in the US and Chinese MV drives markets in 2013, and predicts global market growth of 10 percent--despite a contraction of 4.6 percent in Europe.

For manufacturers of power transmission and control technology, MDA South America will be held in São Paulo in March.

Brookfield Renewable Energy uses Exele Information Systems’ TopView Alarm Notification software to monitor values in the data historian.

FL4000H flame detector has been certified by the Building Research Establishment (BRE) Global Group to the EN 54-10 standard of the European Construction Products Directive (CPD).

The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) announces that Electro Controles del Noroeste SA de CV, Hermosillo, Sonora, Mexico, and P.J. Kortens and Company, Inc., Appleton, Wis., U.S., became CSIA Certified.

Hilscher enters U.S. market by signing Professional Control Corporation (PCC) in Germantown, WI and Electro-Matic Products (EMP) in Farmington Hills, MI, as distributors of fieldbus products.

Series 9411/21 and 9411/24 isolating device couplers met the FF-846 test specification to obtain formal Fieldbus Foundation registration.

Handbook provides expert advice on the design and application of load cells and weigh modules for tanks, silos, vessels, hoppers and conveyors.

ABB will upgrade the existing Celilo HVDC (high-voltage direct current) converter station in Oregon with valves, controls, transformers as well as switchgear and cooling equipment.

Tuning PI controllers for stable processes with specifications on gain and phase margins

American School of Gas Measurement Technology is the largest gas measurement school in the United States devoted to natural gas and natural gas liquid measurement, regulation and control.

A total of 22,598 robots valued at $1.48 billion were sold to companies in North America in 2012, beating the previous record of 19,337 robots sold in 2011.

By Bill Lydon, Editor With higher speed and more reliable Ethernet networks, lower cost more powerful computers, and virtualized systems, Thin Clients are becoming effective replacements for PCs.

Dennis Brandl, founder and chief consultant for BR&L Consulting, has been named Chairman, Americas Board of Directors, MESA International.

While much is written about RFID and how it will change the face of distribution, it is time to address several misconceptions about the technology and discuss the effects that recent developments have had on the discrete manufacturing sector.

This article examines how this new networking method compares to traditional wiring and the advantages of implementing safety networking.

Two examples are given here where the gain variation was sufficient to cause control problems, and was corrected by applying characterization.

Advancements in linear encoder technology allow higher speed operation too. Today's linear encoders and other devices are able to meet this challenge, are less noise susceptible, and cost less.

One of the most important and difficult decisions is often the very first decision: do you upgrade with internal resources or hire an outside consultant? Some of the arguments for each side in this debate are obvious. You know what you want better than anyone, but a consultant may have more experience in the actual process of acquiring a SCADA system. There’s a lot to be said in favor of both approaches. Neither is an inherently good or bad approach. We summarize below the key issues and how they affect both of these approaches.

For many OEMs, choosing the right sensor manufacturer is concern number one. OEMs want a manufacturer with a trusted name in the material handling industry.

As more and more "nodes" become connected – products, equipment, people, organizations – Metcalfe's Law comes into play. The effectiveness and value of the Internet continues to increase exponentially.

The level of control and the amount of information available are significantly improved over earlier methods. Most importantly, with web-enabled Ethernet, the ease of both getting information and displaying it is on an entirely new level than was possible with older technologies

Historically, expert knowledge of vibration analysis was required to start and maintain a vibration-based predictive maintenance program. This white paper describes how using intelligent sensors can alleviate the need for vibration experts.

OPC middleware products are designed to enhance any OPC-based application. An intelligent set of OPC products simplifies the commissioning and operation of OPC clients and servers, significantly improves the data throughput of your OPC interfaces, and ensures reliable OPC communication links.

Because the machines may be in remote locations where network infrastructure is not available, or on moving platforms where hardwired network connectivity is not practical, wireless communications is a networking alternative that offer installation cost savings, quicker deployment and even improved reliability in certain situations.

Wireless monitoring of valves can revolutionize industrial processing and help industries meet the demands of increasing competitiveness. Intelligent wireless valve monitoring in industrial environments enables real-time data sharing throughout a facility and this, by definition, increases industrial safety, efficiency, and productivity.

Enhancements in Revision 1.0 include an improved user interface, servo tuning capabilities with multiple tuning methods, real-time scopes, multiple device management and simplified communications.

Westermo will supply Viper EN50155 data communications equipment for Stadler Pankow's new FLIRT trains (Fast Light Innovative Regional Train).

Honeywell will supply integrated control and safety systems for the Borouge petrochemicals complex in Ruwais, Abu Dhabi.

Here are just some of the reasons why you should use intelligent temperature transmitters in place of direct wiring strategies

When using photoelectric sensors in simple diffused mode (a.k.a. proximity mode), the sensor uses the target to reflect light back to itself, eliminating the need for a secondary device such as a reflector.

Proactive monitoring of rotating equipment and control systems can increase plant efficiency and reduce unplanned downtime, operating and maintenance costs

Kanban is a visual signal that something needs to be replenished. Lean Manufacturers today use Kanban to drive a process to make, move, or buy the appropriate parts. Thus, Kanban becomes one of the fundamental building blocks of a pull (or consumption based) replenishment system. No card? No Replenishment. Paper kanban intent has efficacy; the reality of cluttered transport routes, overflowing finished goods stores, immense quantities of WIP (work-in-progress) and unscheduled machine downtimes, often make the merits of this lean manufacturing functionality questionable. When there are also frequent complaints about delivery problems, the reality is quite distant from the theory. Poor implementation of kanban is quickly overcome in an e-kanban environment. Sue Via, Senior Project Engineer with TechSolve (www.techsolve.org) suggests that Kanban is only part of the lean process, “Kanban is a higher order concept and many things must be in place before implementation of the concept is feasible. For instance, the foundation of Standard Work, 5S/Visual Management, and Quality at the Source must be in place and functional. All affected processes should go through an initial lean transformation to eliminate waste, establish Flow and initiate a Pull mindset. All processes including equipment must be reliable in order to minimize the inventory requirements.” Two of the primary limitations of a manual (or paper based) Kanban system are data availability and scalability. According to Justin Diana, VP of Datacraft Solutions (www.datacraftsolutions.com), “In a typical manual Kanban implementation, most transactions and orders are placed with faxes and emails and recorded in an Excel spreadsheet. At the end of the day, this information is limited to the individual managing and recording this data. The individuals responsible for growing and improving the process, have limited or no visibility to the data. As the number of parts, suppliers, and cells grow, managing this process only becomes more convoluted.” e-kanban, in contrast, focuses specifically on centralizing and managing all of the mission critical data. Real-time transaction capture and tracking builds a repository of information, ripe for process improvement analysis. Allowing an e-kanban system to handle and manage the collation and reporting of this data helps to remove the element of human error prevalent within a manual kanban system. The difference between kanban (a signal to trigger specific quantities of supplies in a just-in-time system) and e-kanban, is working more efficiently and effectively with a lean process. Blanket Purchase Orders, Internal SuperMarket Consumption Signals Replenishment, and Breeding proactive suppliers are three Direct Benefits of Lean e-Kanban. Justin Diana also suggests that, “One other limitation to a manual kanban system is the unpredictable and undependability of the communication... questions such as did they get it? Do they understand it? Am I going to get it? keep buyers awake at night.” Indeed, e-kanban collaboration erases those fears. Electronic records of pull requests, receipt timestamps and electronic acknowledgements all work towards a more unified and dependable method of pull communication. Via suggests that even e-kanban may have limitation in certain environments: “Electronic kanbans are effective when distance is a factor in the process; such as multiple buildings, locations; however, it may be too time consuming when the handoff points are adjacent or close to each other; such as different departments or processing equipment.” Once the discipline and visual aspect of kanban has been implemented internally, the next logical step is to apply the process externally to outside supplying entities. Lean Manufacturing relies heavily on trusted relationships with those suppliers and pre-negotiated terms of engagement. Through the use of quality certification and blanket (long-term) Purchase Orders, the manufacturer can accurately and effectively calculate the optimal level of inventory needed to fulfill demand requirements through the duration of Replenishment lead time. At the end of the day, effective kanban is the sum of a simple calculation. e-kanban products must provide a steady and predictable demand over a forcastable period, supplied by an entity that provides virtually defect free product in the negotiated period of time in the negotiated quantity at the negotiated price. e-Kanban: Vendor requirements When a relationship is setup with a supplier a service level agreement is defined. Items such as negotiated lead times, packaged quantities, order receipt confirmations, and advanced shipment notices must all spelled out very specifically. An e-kanban system monitors that each of these service level agreements are being met by the supplier in real time. If they are not, a series of alerts and notifications starts to be issued to all interested and affected parties. This gives everyone a chance to adjust their behavior to bring performance back in line in real time. e-kanban also captures all of this real time information and makes it available for historical analysis. It is made available over the internet twenty-four hours a day, so that all parties can see trends in performance. Late shipments, short shipments, and other supply chain performances are all captured and presented in terms of percentage of conformance to the service level agreement. These visuals give everyone in the supply chain information about how to focus their continuous improvement energies. e-Kanban: Only one Lean Manufacturing component e-kanban is heavily based on Lean and Six Sigma principles and tools, and the ability to effectively support a production system is critical to Best Practices. e-kanban is a critical Lean element focused on improving flexibility through the elimination of waste; e-Kanban is focused on quantifying the flexibility so that manufacturers and suppliers can rapidly evaluate the true capability of the system to respond to a specific change. Even a Lean production system could struggle to accurately respond to a new order requirement from a customer because it would take longer to identify the source of the constraint and begin resolving it. Implementing pull systems (e-kanban) with more customers is the increasing direction of manufacturing operations utilizing lean. Via argues that e-kanban only makes sense as part of an overall lean process, “Kanban in conjunction with other Lean concepts focuses on Just-in-Time delivery and the reduction of inventories. An effective kanban system requires that all non-value-added activities be eliminated or reduced in order to shrink the required Lead Times.” ***

With xPC Target Turnkey, users can do virtual design and debugging of machines, production lines and processes and the results will be automatically implemented in real control systems.

Structured cabling in commercial buildings based on TIA/EIA standards has become a common practice in many building automation system applications. Panduit is promoting similar approaches for industrial automation. Jeff Paliga of Panduit answered the following questions about their approach.

The paper, “Nonlinear Control and Decision Making Using Fuzzy Logic in Logix,” provides best practices for designing with fuzzy control and examines its benefits compared to conventional control methods.

The development of fieldbus for safety-related applications and new International and European Standards have fundamentally changed the manner in which safety is now being engineered in the plant. BMW are the first to directly integrate robotic safety functions using a safety-related fieldbus.

Most people consider low price to mean lower margins. This is not necessarily true. A high priced control system may still only generate low margins. And too, low-priced, high value, high volume products could generate healthy margins. The key, of course, is to pursue a balanced value proposition.

A quick examination of how guided-wave technologies compare against other time-of-flight technologies, such as through-air radar and ultrasonic —along with a discussion of application guidelines—can serve to elucidate the benefits that this new technology can bring to engineers needing to improve process operations.

The benefits of Pick-to-Light solutions cannot be overlooked as a best-of-breed, lean manufacturing, continuous process improvement, cost-saving technique. There are extensive benefits of Light-Directed Order Picking. The flexibility of Pick-to-Light technology solutions offer cable-free light module hardware; this flexibility enables the productivity of light-directed order fulfillment to virtually all popular material storage and handling media found in distribution centers and manufacturing plants.

There can be some great lessons learned from professionals when they put their skills and knowledge to work. I saw this when visiting a 34,100 square feet light commercial building where technology and knowhow were applied to create an efficient, sustainable, and productive environment. The building is a notable exception when contrasted with the typical light commercial building built for lowest first cost resulting in high energy cost, extra maintenance, and an uncomfortable environment.

Automation has already had a big impact on productivity. Indeed, most of the so-called “jobless recovery” has been caused by the increased effectiveness of automation, which reduces headcount. Off shore outsourcing is responsible for just 15% of recent job losses.

OPC can take advantage of real-time values from what once was a relational database by using Generic Database Access (GDA) technology. This technology continues to reinforce why industry is turning to OPC as their connectivity standard.

The cellular technology can be also used with SCADA applications to improve productivity, increase plants’ uptime and prevent damages. The device that makes the difference is the cellular modem.

The Control Trends Awards recognize and honor leading companies, products, technologies and persons in specific categories from the Building Automation and HVAC Controls industry.

A3 is the umbrella trade association for the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), AIA - Advancing Vision + Imaging, and the Motion Control Association (MCA).

Call for Papers invites authors, experts, innovators, thought leaders, and automation and control professionals to submit abstracts for presentation consideration at the conference, which will be held 5-7 November 2013 at the Nashville Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

ABB will provide new electrical systems as well as the necessary mechanical equipment and automation systems to extend the export terminal of the eni refinery in Taranto, located in the “Mar Grande” bay on the Ionian Sea in southern Italy.

Schischek manufactures explosion-proof electric actuators, sensors, transmitters and controllers, principally for HVAC, chemical, pharmaceutical, shipbuilding and offshore industries.

When interconnecting Ethernet equipment within a control panel, the temptation is to select an office-grade or small office - home office (SOHO) Ethernet switch from one of the mass merchandisers. This equipment is readily available and inexpensive! Since the equipment works at home or on the bench, it should certainly function in a control application. This can lead to large problems in a Building Automation System.

IXXAT Automation is a supplier of communication technology for industrial automation, machine manufacturing and the automotive industry.

Joseph Paradiso, Director of the Responsive Environments Group at MIT, and Raymond Arvidson, Participating Scientist on NASA's Mars Curiosity Rover Mission will give keynotes on June 5 and 6.

On 1 February 1953, Swiss engineer Georg H Endress and German banker Ludwig Hauser set up their company in a backyard in Lörrach, Germany.

Instron’s implementation involves five manufacturing sites in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Italy and 17 sales/service sites throughout the world.

This intralogistics show will take place in Milan, in parallel with the packaging trade fair, Ipack-Ima, from 19 to 23 May 2015.

HART, FDT Group, Fieldbus Foundation, OPC and PI (PROFIBUS & PROFINET) are co-sponsors of the Field Communication Lounge exhibit at Hannover Messe (8-12 April).

The ISA section presented a “Best Use of Automation” award to a Lino Lakes, Minnesota middle school in conjunction with a national engineering competition.

Automation engineers love to create complex solutions. But try not to complicate a solution any more than necessary.

The continued global economic slowdown has had a severe impact on worldwide machinery production, with growth in all regions falling significantly in 2012 compared with 2011.

Roughly two months before the start of HANNOVER MESSE 2013 (8 to 12 April), its organizer, Deutsche Messe, is expecting a strong trade fair performance coupled with a winning Partner Country showcase.

Flow Conditioners fix flow disturbances caused by irregular pipe runs, valves and other conditions that adversely affect the accuracy and repeatability of flow measurement instrumentation.

The InduSoft Visualization App offers mobile access to InduSoft Web Studio applications from any Windows 8 device, including iPhones, tablets and laptops.

ABB’s cpmPlus Knowledge Manager software will ensure lower energy consumption with automated and centralized data collection.

Emerson successfully replaced existing controls on the Nikiski Generation Plant's GE Frame 6B gas turbine with its Ovation control technology.

This brochure explains the oscillation phenomena of servomotors and shows how to evaluate resonant frequency of a ball-screw system, which is an important consideration in the selection process of couplings.