Articles and News

Matrikon Deutschland entered a license agreement with BASF for all production facilities worldwide to integrate and use Matrikon’s Control Performance software.

Siemens Industry will be hosting its next Answers for Infrastructure and Industry (AFI) event in the Washington D.C. area, March 23-24, 2010, at the Sheraton Premiere Tysons Corner in Vienna, Va.

I recently visited Siemens Energy’s Instrumentation, Controls, and Electrical group to learn more about the SPPA-T3000 system and how customers are using it.

Ubisense location solutions will provide Airbus with a real-time view of business operations such as the tracking of components and assembly processes.

Founded in Sweden in 1988, Jokab Safety develops innovative products and solutions for machine safety.

The site covers CNC, PLC and Motion Control technologies for manufacturing automation.

Emerson's total chlorine analyzers are being used by DOW Benelux to improve the monitoring and control of chlorine in cooling water prior to its return to the sea.

Converting Toolbox is a set of standardized automation tools for the integration of various machine components that previously had to be performed individually.

Shimadzu now provides CAMO Software’s multivariate data analysis (MVDA) software to FTIR customers requiring chemometric analysis.

FANUC CNC America is a result of the merger of the former GE Fanuc CNC parts and systems business into FANUC AMERICA Corporation.

EnOcean is sponsoring four-time Olympian, Catherine Raney-Norman. She competed in the Ladies' 3000m speed skating event on February 14th. and will be part of the Team Pursuit team event on February 26th and 27th.

Upgrade improves reliability and efficiency of alternative fuel use for Votorantim’s Itau and Salto plants in Brazil. Expert Optimizer was first installed at the plants in 1995.

ISA issued a Call for Papers for the Water/Wastewater Automatic Controls Division Symposium (WWAC) to be held 3-5 August 2010 in Orlando, FL. The deadline for abstract submittals is 16 April 2010.

Hardware from MicroSys will be delivered with a test-CD containing the logi.cals system solution.

The former Prosilica is now Allied Vision Technologies Canada Inc. Allied Vision Technologies acquired Prosilica in July 2008.

In December 2009, B&B Electronics successfully completed the ISO registration process.

APC will use Kepware’s “IT and Infrastructure Suite” to deliver OPC interoperability standards, including OPC DA, OPC AE and OPC-UA.

Emerson will install six Ovation expert control systems, AMS software, and HART intelligent field devices at the new Samra Combined-cycle Power Plant in Zarka, Jordan.

GE will supply Proficy software including Plant Applications, Historian, iFIX and Portal rolled out in a phased format led by a significant pilot project.

Predator Software will use KEPServerEX client interfaces with its shop floor control system (SFC) software tools.

Audelo will serve Northwire customers in the Western United States region, Mexico, Puerto Rico and South America.

Process industry system integrators include 18 Latin American Solution Provider partners.

By Nathan Pocock, OPC OPC is still the connectivity standard for Process Control, for ADI, a part of FDI and FDT and STILL the connectivity standard for manufacturing, and PLCs. OPC is a Unified Architecture, and OPC is an Express Interface.

Immediately prior to Daintree, Yu was Vice President of Segment and Strategic Marketing at Philips Lumileds

By McObject In-memory database systems (IMDS) have changed the software landscape, enabling "smarter" real-time applications. But IMDS' popularity has sparked a flurry of products falsely claiming to be in-memory database systems.

Emerson’s WirelessHART network delivers real-time compressor data while saving $200,000 installed cost and overcoming difficult conditions for wired approach

exida certified the communication security and robustness of Experion Safety Manager to the Achilles Level I evaluation standard.

The capabilities of PLCs and weight controllers are maximized and costs reduced when a strong bidirectional interface is used. The PLC is capable of performing a variety of tasks, but a wiser (and now easier) solution is to offload some functions to a dedicated weight controller.

Manufacturers working to the new standard still need to exercise a high level of skill and caution in relation to the ratings they adopt for components used in their assemblies.

The LXI Consortium recently held its annual elections for the Board of Directors, officers and committee chairs.

Centro Energia Teverola optimized their maintenance strategy for inlet filters on gas turbines, contributing to an overall efficiency improvement of more than 1%.

Catalog is a collection of MMC-related product and solution literature, specifications and engineering software for mining.

Edwards was previously at Molex Incorporated (MOLX), Woodhead Industries and Rockwell Automation.

Klein is a graduate of Cornell University with a BS in Engineering and four years with Lenze-AC Tech, 16 years at Toshiba and four years with Reliance Electric.

TM Robotics formed a partnership with Italian vision specialist Tattile srl to provide a complete robot vision solution

AMT says U.S. manufacturing technology consumption was up in December but down 60% from 2008.

Web site covers maintenance and asset tracking software for all types of facilities.

Microsoft and MatrikonOPC will be demonstrating OPC UA connectivity for Microsoft StreamInsight at this year’s OPC Foundation training seminars.

Rockwell Software will help university staff determine optimal production levels for steam, chilled water and electricity generation to help reduce energy consumption, costs and environmental impact.

There is no doubt that the global competitive landscape has changed over the past few years. As emerging economies continue to grow and their demand for consumer products increases, new suppliers will sprout up within those economies to help local manufacturers meet those demands. Those suppliers and manufacturers could, and likely will, be your next competitors. Of course, there are challenges to being global, including geography, language and finances. Hannover Messe help you navigate the “unknown waters.”

ISA issued a Call for Papers inviting authors, experts, innovators, and automation professionals to submit abstracts for presentation consideration at the conference to be held in Houston, TX, 4-7 October 2010.

Local students from Cypress, Kennedy, El Toro, Tustin and Trabuco Hills high schools will be introduced to prototyping, tooling and additive manufacturing industries as prospective career choices.

Global Automation Partners has more than 130 employees in six offices who specialize in the definition, design, implementation and support of automation and manufacturing IT

Live chat service quickly answers questions Fluke customers may have about thermal imaging and Fluke thermography tools.

Fiberguide received ISO 9001:2008 certification for establishing and maintaining a quality management system for manufacture of fiber optic assemblies and optical fiber.

Saia Burgess, a manufacturer of motion control solutions, replaced stockroom shelving with four KardexRemstar horizontal carousels, pick-to-light technology and FastPic inventory management software.

The Control System Integrators Association (CSIA) announced a list of companies that have been certified, recertified, or just joined.

Dust Networks' SmartMesh wireless sensor networking technology is being used by Federspiel Controls to monitor cooling systems in data centers and reduce energy costs by up to 25%.

The Montezuma Valley Irrigation Company replaced open ditch irrigation with a closed pipe system and Dynasonics wireless flow meters communicating to a SCADA system, and is saving 1,000 acre-feet of water per year.

The project will tap methane gas at the Baton Rouge landfill and deliver it to ExxonMobil and Novolyte Technologies, where it will be used to fire boilers.

Management uses Visual KPI to monitor and manage operations, predictive maintenance engineering, vibration analysis, emissions tracking and daily reports.

European research initiative EUREKA will be represented with its own stand at Research & Technology, which forms part of HANNOVER MESSE 2010 (19-23 April).

Evaluation Engineering, January 2010 By David Owen, Pickering Interfaces Article has case histories and gives selection advice on the two most common platforms for switching systems, PCI eXtensions for Instrumentation (PXI) and LAN eXtensions for Instrumentation (LXI).

Mountz website provides a comprehensive overview of torque tools.

Net Safety Monitoring's UV/IR flame detection line has received qualification as SIL2 devices by exida.

Held from March 2 through May 18 in 11 cities, the seminar focuses on time-saving techniques for measurement and analysis using Tektronix oscilloscopes with NI LabVIEW software.

Roxar subsea wet gas meters are to be installed in the Greater Gorgon fields, one of the world’s largest untapped natural gas fields.

Prior to joining BlueCielo ECM Solutions, van der Scheer served as CEO of HITT NV, a company focusing on traffic management and navigation systems in the marine and aviation industries.

ABB Robotics will provide 15 robotic automation systems for the assembly and manufacturing of lithium-ion battery modules and packs.

Emerson's wireless pressure sensors were installed by Nynas AB to upgrade an underground storage tank monitoring system, reducing installation costs by €10,000 compared to a wired alternative.

Savings Predictor software is now available on Apple iTunes for iPhone (OS 3.1.2 or later) and iPod touch. It estimates energy savings when using a Variable Frequency Drive.

By RNA Toy manufacturer Tampoprint is using RNA robots and a vision system to feed 15 types of small plastic vests in 10 different colours to dress firemen, pirates or school teacher toys.

Yaskawa Elétrico do Brasil received ISO 9001, ISO 14000 and OHSAS 18001 certifications from Bureau Veritas

Eight-page color brochure covers OriMaster, a complete one-piece, orifice-plate DP flowmeter.

The 140-page issue covers serial conversion products, Ethernet serial servers, switches and gateways, wireless products, USB and remote I/O devices, enclosures, terminal blocks, power supplies, cabling, and surge protectors.

Unilever uses Astech automated testing systems to ensure that hair care products are developed to the highest possible performance

By Jako Winter, Metacom An automated electrical distribution automation network in Rawsonville, South Africa, proved its worth when a line fault briefly affected power supply to farms and packing houses in the area. Power was restored to 75% of these customers in 90 seconds.

Megah Suria will sell CoroWare's CoroBot and Explorer robots in the Asia-Pacific region.

The nine flagship shows that make up HANNOVER MESSE 2010 will bring together all the key industrial sectors at a single venue and cover a unique thematic spectrum.

The official information event kicking off Italy's participation as the Partner Country at HANNOVER MESSE 2010 (19 to 23 April) took place at the Italian Embassy in Berlin.

Courses help SCADA engineers and other utility personnel evaluate, test, implement and troubleshoot multi-vendor substation communication devices.

All 168 turbines at two wind parks will be equipped with an ABB integrated ring main unit (RMU) and switchgear solution.

Silver Spring Foods will use the ERP system to manage its recipe management, quality control/quality assurance, accounting, lot tracking/inventory control, purchasing, sales order entry, and production processes.

Specializing in the electrical, instrumentation, and control integration fields, Supra Controls uses MatrikonOPC products for its OPC data connectivity solutions.

By Rockwell Automation Paper summarizes key features and capabilities of an effective arc-resistant MCC design and explains how this technology can help reduce arc-flash hazards and minimize risks.