Articles and News

Verizon Wireless will use deviceWISE M2M smart device application platform as a component of its Machine to Machine (M2M) Management Center and other smart service offerings.

The catalog features Slat-Wall consoles, ready-to-ship M-View monitor walls and a section detailing the capabilities of Winsted's Custom Division.

Willett, the company’s President and Chief Operating Officer, has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer.

The link will supply hydropower from northeastern India to the city of Agra over a distance of 1,728 kilometers.

Honeywell will provide its Safety Manager, Experion Process Knowledge System (PKS), Da Vinci Quality Control System (QCS) and OptiVISION manufacturing execution system (MES).

The program allows customers to bring "clean" solar energy projects on their properties without making an initial capital investment in solar equipment.

By Stewart Robinson, Pilz Automation Technology. The Machinery Directive 2006/42/EC came into force at the end of 2009. While machine builders have to deal primarily with ‘scope’ and ‘conformity assessment,’ the main challenge for end users is the issue of 'upgrading' or 'interlinking' of machinery.

By Geoffrey Miller, OCWA, and Jim McConahay, Moore Industries Part of the upgrades at Onondaga County Water Authority included distributed and remote I/O that reduced wiring costs for field instrumentation while improving operational readiness and reliability.

Prior to joining ARC, Barry served as an account and project manager for New England Controls, Emerson Process Management’s local business partner in New England.

The booklet, "A Common Regulatory Framework for Equipment Used in Environments with an Explosive Atmosphere," can be used by countries that lack regulation in this sector as a blueprint for their legislation.

The 2011 catalog wraps Banner's sensor products together with lighting and indicators, machine vision, wireless and machine safety products.

The system is designed to pick 300 SKUs at a rate of more than 250,000 cases per day.

Semaphore will supply 370 remote terminal units (RTUs) over the next 3 years, along with master telemetry units (MTUs), Ethernet UHF radios, and associated equipment.

GE will integrate controls at 13 water treatment plants and 62 sewer pumping stations, covering an area of 36 square miles.

Yokogawa joined the PROFIBUS Nutzerorganisation e.V. (PNO), an interest group for the PROFIBUS and PROFINET standard communication protocols.

The combined system provides security for SCADA networks, including protection from sophisticated cyber threats such as Stuxent and Night Dragon.

ARC predicts strong growth of the PLC and PLC-based Programmable Automation Controller (PAC) market through 2014 in China, but provides no numbers.

Automation.com, March 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor The intent of this energy initiative is to create a comprehensive approach to the optimization of energy usage for the industrial consumer that is scalable, open and inclusive for both users and suppliers.

Automation.com, March 2011 By Tony Paine, Kepware Technologies Expect in 2011 to see smart grid solutions, smart meters, and a real-time, automated, metering infrastructure (AMI) to be rolled out across the country.

AchieKundinger, based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, distributes, designs, engineers, manufactures, installs, and provides ongoing service support for machine applications.

The new UK service center has the capacity and technology needed to handle large-scale shutdown turnarounds, general repairs, spare parts, training programs, field support and diagnostic services.

As for the economy, 60% believe that the U.S. economy will improve in the next six months, up from 49% in November. However, those planning to increase hiring in the next six months saw a drop to 44% in February from 49% in November.

The SAFEcontractor certificate was awarded for all of the company’s activity, including technical consultancy, industrial automation hardware, industrial automation software, training and support.

O’Brien has 18 years of experience in the process automation business as a research director and analyst at ARC, and has been closely tracking and reporting on developments surrounding FOUNDATION fieldbus for much of his career.

Flow Research study finds one cause of this upward growth is the versatility of vortex flowmeters, which can readily measure liquids, steam, and gas.

POSITAL's rotary encoders and inclinometers play an important role in solar tracking systems, providing the controller with instantaneous information on the exact orientation of the solar panel array.

Consisting of two identical vans, IIAT presents WAGO’s latest Automation, Interconnect and Electronic solutions directly to industrial professionals.

Novatec Solar is a leading provider of Linear Fresnel CSP technology using flat mirrors to concentrate the sun’s energy onto a receiver to produce steam.

Revenue for the quarter was $410,532, an 18% increase over $347,023 for the same period last year.

By Eaton Optimize your panel designs. Learn options for distributing loads in industrial control panels and how to safely apply them, while adhering to Underwriters Laboratories® standard 508A and National Electrical Code®, NFPA® 70-2011.

Automation.com, March 2011 ODVA is taking IPv6 seriously because it could have major implications for existing EtherNet/IP installations and product developers. This is not unique to EtherNet/IP, the change has an impact on all Ethernet devices and infrastructure including business, industrial, home, and mobile communications.

OSIsoft was an ISA Automation Week Partner in 2010 and made the decision to sign a higher level partnership, the ISA Corporate Partnership, in 2011.

Transpara Visual KPI extends visibility of equipment performance data by delivering KPI), scorecards, trends and alerts to more than 400 smartphones and PDAs.

Markopoulos, who will report to GE Home & Business Solutions President and CEO Charlene Begley, succeeds Maryrose Sylvester who was recently named as president and CEO of GE Lighting.

Multi-variable predictive control technology such as Profit Controller allows mining companies to design, implement and maintain advanced control systems, which can drive processes to maximum economic benefit.

Fox-IT will integrate MatrikonOPC’s full range of OPC Servers into its Fox DataDiode - a solution used to securely transmit data between networks that have different levels of security.

This total consumption was down 16.3% from December but up 188.3% when compared with the total of $128.82 million reported for January 2010.

When completed at the end of 2011, the Nemmeli seawater desalination plant will supply up to 100 million liters of potable water a day and reduce the stress on Chennai’s dwindling groundwater resources.

By Mark Humphlett, Infor Soon after starting a continuous improvement program, Overly Door realized that its largest source of waste came from the way that it took orders and translated those orders into information that drives manufacturing — a process affecting the entire business.

The agreement helps manufacturers minimize the serious financial consequences due to extended unplanned downtime when spare parts or speedy repair are unavailable for outdated Rockwell Automation components.

The new office will allow ACC to enhance support of local biotech and utility customers.

Machine manufacturers will benefit from the synchronization of Cognex In-Sight products and the B&R control system, as well as easy integration with a wide range of machine designs.

Industrial Controls' continuous growth, progressive approach to the market, large and diverse inventory, excellent technical support, and large geographical footprint weighed heavily in the decision-making process.

Automation.com, March 2011 In just a couple weeks in Chicago, ProMat 2011 will take place. The largest material handling event of the year will be display new automation solutions. Ironically, perhaps something familiar will take center stage, with a twist: A forklift.

At the heart of the lighting systems are ControlLogix PACs utilizing Ethernet/IP wireless communications modules. Airfield lighting circuit status is served to a FactoryTalk SCADA operator console located in the Air Traffic Control Tower.

Among the factors driving the rapid growth in the application of machine vision technology is the creation of new industry standards, according to industry leaders.

Eighty-six fire stations have adopted this system which utilizes the latest technology in wireless data communications, intelligent process control equipment and VTScada HMI software from Trihedral.

The accuracy of the radar level system at the WWTP is extremely important and the data collected has helped addressed an ongoing problem with I & I (infiltration and inflow).

Recent improvements to the EDDL standard include support for offline configuration with default parameters, Unicode character sets, and ability to display all device diagnostics and setup information.

The solutions include a mine-wide electrical package integrated with a System 800xA process control system, and gearless mill drives – all engineered to operate at the 4,600 meters above sea level.

The new eight page guide allows engineers to locate the ideal position sensor at a glance. Easy-to-read charts summarize the most critical specification criteria side-by-side, which allows for quick comparison and part selection.

The 16 page short form catalog contains specification summaries, part number selection tables, and pricing information for each family of off-the-shelf Programmable Logic Controller products.

"Tips and Techniques for Today's Challenging Electrical Measurements" is a collection of their most popular web tutorials and seminars in a convenient CD format and is available free upon request.

Following machine risk assessments, BVM Brunner decided to implement a new safety design for one of its machines, which incorporated safety solutions from Pilz.

Built in partnership with General Motors and the Oceaneering Space Systems of Houston, NASA’s Robonaut (R2) is a highly dexterous humanoid robot designed to execute simple, repetitive or dangerous tasks on Earth or on board the International Space Station (ISS).

The $1.2 million initiative includes a $632,000 commitment over five years from ABB plus anticipated state and private matching grants, aiming to strengthen the organizations’ cooperative research in electric power technologies.

Process Data Monitor (PDM) learns from the day to day operation of your systems and automatically generates an experience database. It then generates confidence metrics for usual behavior and delivers notification on unusual behavior.

Exploring critical business areas for both project and asset performance, the paper seeks to identify how Owner Operators can reduce operational cost and risk through an optimised information management strategy.

The three ABB gearless mill drives (GMDs) are part of an expansion project at the Tasiast gold mine that is scheduled to go into commercial operation in early 2014.

The latest edition features a completely revamped, easy-to-use layout and a number of either new or expanded product lines.

Ohio Congresswoman Jean Schmidt received the NAM Award for Manufacturing Legislative Excellence in recognition of her consistent support of manufacturers and their employees.

By Teledyne Dalsa Many key tasks in the manufacture of products, including inspection, orientation, identification, and assembly, require the use of visual techniques. By replacing human inspection with machine vision, the net result is greater productivity and improved customer satisfaction through the consistent delivery of quality products. This paper helps users match machine vision options with application requirements.

Siemens will provide electrical and control technology to the largest North American sugar refinery, a joint venture set up with Sugar Growers and Refiners, Cargill and Imperial Sugar Company.

Research Project 1633, "Data and Interfaces for Advanced Building Maintenance and Operation," will result in development of a set of standard data-driven metrics, interfaces and dashboards for advanced building operation and management.

In this expanded role, Knebusch will lead the company's business operations for all product development and will continue to focus on new business expansion.

The Leitz measuring machine has a supersized measuring capacity of three meters wide by four meters long, and two and a half meters high, tailor made for the large scale machined components.

Douglas Machine Inc., Kliklok-Woodman and Nercon Engineering & Manufacturing will have the opportunity to increase market awareness with customers, expand into new market sectors, and improve technical and functional excellence.

PMMI’s support will enable OMAC’s volunteer leadership to expand its membership domestically and internationally, plus engage customer and supplier teams in further developing OMAC standards, including PackML.

When the Rock-Tenn paperboard mill in Aurora IL wanted to automate the positioning and tensioning of the belts on its paperboard dryer conveyor system, it took an innovative combination of high-end, absolute encoders and basic, low-end control and drive technology to get the job done.

The brochure highlights a comprehensive range of pressure measurement products, stressing reliability and simplified installation and configuration.

Originally founded in Cincinnati Ohio in 1836 by James Foster, Jr., Palmer Wahl has been a consistent innovator since the 18th century, developing the first thermometer made in America - the Foster Cup - in 1852.

Granger Electric operates a landfill-gas-to-energy program that extracts methane from decomposing waste and supplies it to customers as an alternative "greenhouse" fuel. This story highlights the communication system used between the control center and customers’ sites, to remotely access and monitor energy consumption.

This article describes how a midstream oil company sought to improve their pipeline integrity by adding a dozen non-critical data points to their satellite SCADA monitoring system using cellular technology.

AutomationDirect’s volume 14 catalog offers thousands of industrial automation products for a wide range of applications. The latest edition features product descriptions, technical data, and photos for PLCs, touch screen monitors, AC and DC motors, sensors, switches, drives and more.