Articles and News

The main reason you wish your product releases to be published on an online site like Automation.com is to generate sales leads and send traffic to your web site. Therefore, it's important to write your headline and first paragraph so that (a) web site editors know what it is and will want to publish it and (b) once published, it can easily be found by search engines.

Software Toolbox products listed in the Siemens catalog include TOP Server and TOP Server UCON for Siemens Simatic WinCC and WinCC flexible products.

Rockwell Automation expects to host more than 8,000 attendees in Anaheim, CA, Nov. 11 and 12 at its 18th annual Automation Fair event.

Sierra mass flow controllers help conduct experiments to discover how rapidly increasing atmospheric CO2 levels are affecting the enormous variety of marine animals in our seas.

Equipment includes 29 ABB robots and related work cells, software and controllers for VU’s new $9 million industrial training facility.

By Tridium Whitepaper discusses the state of device networks and how IP and Web technologies can become enablers to tap the huge potential of smart devices.

Opto 22 will sell N-TRON's line of industrial Ethernet network switches and wireless access points.

White papers have become a popular online marketing tool of the times as they introduce a company's innovative products and demonstrate a company's strengths. Whether a paper is used for lead generation, education, customer retention or to close sales, the first step is making it attractive to your target audience.

Once global economic stability is restored, the use of high power AC drives will increase at a faster rate across all industrial segments.

PBC Linear’s Redi-Rail linear guide was installed as a replacement positioning system for Manchac Technologies’ fully automated pharmaceutical robot.

Greg Garcia, former Assistant Secretary for Cyber Security and Communications with the US Department of Homeland Security, joined Wurldtech's advisory board.

Website covers data acquisition, analysis, recording and archiving products and services.

ESK-COM and ESK-ETX StarterKits contain COM express or ETX CPU modules with one Micro-ATX or ATX carrier board for quick test and evaluation.

Program is aimed at accelerating the use of IP in embedded smart objects such as sensors and actuators in smart grid and energy management, building automation, and industrial and process automation.

The PI System stores, in a single database, electricity usage meter data for households, substation performance and status data for all four Boulder substations.

Established in 1979 in a small suburban Milwaukee office by one employee, WAGO operates out of a 75,000 sq. ft manufacturing complex in Germantown, WI.

PAS will provide Invensys clients with a comprehensive suite of system documentation and configuration management tools and services.

Deadline for conformity with EN ISO 13849-1 or EN/IEC 62061 remains 29 Dec 2009. Extension of EN 954 1 to be considered at December meeting.

Deflagration Flame Arresters are safety devices designed to keep the temperature of flammable vapor passing through the arrestor’s tube bank below its flash point, thereby preventing combustion.

DVD provides principle of operation animations, product cross references, and product literature. Multiple language versions are available in English, French and Italian.

The Solutions Center is staffed by a team of engineering veterans dedicated to advancing network protocol technology, industry protocol collaboration, and network security.

Industrial IT System 800xA and 11 operator workplaces will be installed to control and improve the output of the mill’s new fine paper machine PM23, supplied by Metso.

Analyzer provides real-time readings of steam silica content during warm start-ups of a combined cycle power plant, delivering savings of thousands of dollars per day at PPL Generation’s gas-fired plant in eastern Pennsylvania.

Umicore Precious Metals Refining (UPMR) uses Rosemount Analytical PERpH-X 3400HTVP pH sensors to monitor waste water at its Hoboken plant near Antwerp, Belgium.

Catalog has new products plus an extensive array of actuators, specifications and technical information to aid in the selection process.

Cyril Perducat, senior vice president of system consistency and innovation for Schneider Electric, has been chosen to serve as president of the board of directors for ODVA.

Diamond Phoenix, a material handling supplier and systems integrator, merged with Italian company System Logistics, a supplier of pallet and case picking equipment.

PcVue SCADA software centralized information from 10 Iberdrola Ingenier wind farms. Up to 2.5 million data items are monitored by 13 PcVue file servers and multiple FrontVue client stations, which communicate via OPC over a 1,000 Mbps redundant TCP/IP Ethernet network.

White paper details key considerations in making standard vs. custom decision with emphasis on maximizing overall lifetime value for electromechanical machinery and equipment designs

Control Station Sdn. Bhd will be run by Barry Martin, a process control practitioner with 17 years of experience in the Asia region.

AVI-SPL’s Control Room Group will use Matrox technology to deploy advanced display controllers for large-scale visualization display wall installations running mission critical applications.

Emerson's DeltaV, PlantWeb, AMS software, valves and instruments helped increase production by 10%, cut maintenance costs by 50% and reduce utilities and raw materials at a rapeseed oil processing plant in Kruszwica, Poland.

WiNetworks’ technology is used by large private networks and service providers to extend mobile broadband connectivity over metropolitan areas.

Effective Alarm Management Practices is written for engineers tasked with developing alarm management systems or rationalizing existing systems.

Prior to joining Adept Technology, he served as a General Manager for FANUC Robotics America.

Enduring Protection, a 28-page catalog, gives detailed specifications and current information on available surge protection devices, Active Tracking filters, and data/signal line surge protectors.

The ST50 thermal mass flow meter is now FM and CSA certified to meet the standards for safety, reliability and performance.

Resources include a training module, brochure showing Fluke solutions for food and beverage, and materials detailing which Fluke test tools are most helpful in the food and beverage industry.

Catalog details Portescap brushless and brush DC motors, TurboDisc, CanStack, CanStack vector and hybrid stepper motors, gearheads and encoders, as well as drives and electronics.

Gibson Engineering will offer the full line of SICK solutions for factory and logistics automation.

By Rick Zabel, Publisher Have you ever wished you could look back at what your operator was seeing at some point in history? Now you can. The Console Recorder from Longwatch is a virtual time machine - a software package that lets companies see what the operator was watching on the HMI when an event occurred.

Dan Sheflin from Honeywell was selected as the Institute’s first Chairman and Dr. Penny Chen from Yokogawa was selected as the Institute’s first Vice-Chairman.

The I/A ZCP 270 meets the Level 1 criteria, and has been Achilles-certified.

eLynx Technologies is a provider of web-based monitoring and field automation services to the oil and gas industry.

Syncade software and PlantWeb architecture will optimize performance of the Large Scale-Cell Culture facility in Portsmouth, New Hampshire

The $1.1 million order from KSG Kraftwerks-Simulator-Gesellschaft MBH of Essen, Germany, includes CPU blades, I/O controllers, associated software and support.

Fryer Machine Systems selected the Sinumerik 840D numerical control, together with Siemens’ ShopMill and ShopTurn software packages, for its job shop milling and turning machines.

July U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $149.51 million, according to AMTDA, the American Machine Tool Distributors’ Association, and AMT - The Association For Manufacturing Technology.

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com PLCopen finalized release 2.1 of the PLCopen Technical Committee 6 – XML Standard. This release 2.1 is based version 2.0 published in December 2008, as well as the feedback received from PLCopen members and the AutomationML organization. Here’s a synopsis of what the standard contains.

On June 23, 2009 in Frankfurt, Germany, the PLCopen Fluid Power Task Force had its first technical meeting to define function blocks for fluid power and hydraulic applications. Founding members of the task group include Bosch Rexroth, Eaton and Parker Hannifin bringing broad fluid power and controls experience; B&R, Eckelmann, ISG, Siemens representing control and integration expertise; 3S CoDeSys with a commitment of tightly integrated control software tools.

Sansteel chose Proficy Process Systems for its furnace revamp project in Shanghai. The solution, valued at $300,000, will provide critical control for both the metal furnace and the plant utility system.

Vendors include Custom Control Manufacturing, E-Technologies, Grantek, JNE Automation, Melfi Technologies, Power Engineers and The Stellar Group.

Lime Energy sold its eMAC and uMAC products to Elutions.

B&B Electronics will sell and stock N-TRON products and provide global technical and commercial support.

Gardner Denver builds large pumps, compressors and blowers for industrial use. It upgraded its distribution center to a picking system by Remstar.

The worldwide market for control valves will decline over the next two years but is expected to rebound in 2011.

The ISA Standards & Practices Board (S&P) has voted to approve the ISA-100.11a wireless standard "Wireless Systems for Industrial Automation."

Cisco Systems has selected Softing’s PROFINET stack to enhance the IE 3000 Series Switch family with PROFINET I/O capabilities.

Proficy iFIX HMI/SCADA and iFIX WebSpace are now available in Chinese, German, French, Polish, Japanese and Russian.

Latest Selection Guide for Encoders is designed to help users quickly select the appropriate incremental, absolute, wire draw or linear encoder for their application.

Snap Track aluminum cable tray system uses TURCK instrumentation tray cable (ITC), cordsets and quick disconnect junction boxes.

Yokogawa will supply an operator training system (OTS) for a natural gas liquefaction plant that is being built in Tananger, Norway.

MESA invites producers and manufacturers to respond to a new industry survey: Correlating Plant Performance to Business Performance.

Webcasts deal with the fundamentals of the LXI standard, LXI Class B instrument capabilities, and the most recent changes incorporated into Version 1.3 of the standard.

Manager of China business to take on new role as Head of Marketing and Customer Solutions.

The city purchased Proficy Workflow to computerize paper Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) documents including State-mandated Emergency Response Plan (ERP), Low Chlorine Residual, and other SOPs.

OASIS (Omron Authorized Systems Integrator Solution) introduces Omron-certified systems integrator partners who can design and deliver an automation system using Omron controls.

A federal strategy and support is critical if American manufacturers are to thrive in the post-recession global economy, leading U.S. manufacturing experts said Wednesday.

Founded in 1975, JBM has specialized in protocol conversion technologies, serving legacy environments such as SNA, Bisync, and async dial amongst others.

Because of the harsh environment and no way of sticking any labels or screwing and thick plastic RFID packages to the panels, the company sealed round RFID pills into the plastic panel material.

Guide on building information models and building information modeling (BIM) serves as a resource for professionals considering BIM tools and applications for their businesses.

Today, more than 100,000 buildings worldwide are automated using EnOcean-based controls - more than any other wireless standard.

Honeywell will license and sell Australia-based Synengco a suite of advanced applications that optimize operations and provide sophisticated asset management for utility power customers.

The Petronas LNG Complex is the world’s largest integrated LNG production facility, with eight production trains and a combined capacity of approximately 23 million tons per annum.

Longwatch signed Industrial Network Systems as its distributor and systems integrator in Illinois, Indiana, Western Kentucky and Eastern Missouri.