Articles and News

The worldwide HMI software and services market, which was $926 million in 2007, will reach $1.430 billion in 2012, outperforming the industrial automation market overall.

Propelled by strong growth in the oil & gas industry, the worldwide market for ultrasonic flowmeters is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% over the next five years.

Original Software Manager test-asset management web portal allows better organization of all the assets involved on test projects.

Reykjavik Energy selected ABB to upgrade five utility systems - geothermal power plants, district heating, water and wastewater – into a single state-of-the-art 800xA automation system.

Case study: Faulty electrical connectors cause 1000 amp safety issues. Pierced cables create short in automotive manufacturing plant.

MultiSmart Pump Station Manager monitors and controls water/wastewater lift stations. Version 2.0 includes a pump controller, a PLC, and ISaGRAF v5 for complex station control.

Brochure covers accelerometers, vibration transmitters, switches, meters, cables, connectors and accessories for machinery condition monitoring and predictive maintenance.

Remote Monitoring and Alarm site provides information on how intelligent Ethernet I/O can benefit building up an active remote monitoring and alarm system.

Emerson’s PlantWeb with Ovation control system will automate critical processes and equipment at two 300-MW power generating units at the PLTU 2 Banten-Labuan power plant.

A single Axium CNC platform from NUM controls the entire machining centre, including the 10 motion axes on the robot heads plus various sensors and actuators.

BisonGear.com added order processing for 235 countries, dependencies and territories.

Eaton's Electrical Group chose Kepware as their primary provider of device communications and joined Kepware’s VEP (Vendor Endorsed Protocol) Program.

ABB won an order worth $31 million from Kraftwerke Linth-Limmern AG (KLL) to supply power equipment for a hydro storage power plant at the Tierfehd plant in Switzerland.

FKI Logistex installed a new put module and routing sortation system at Forzani's distribution center (DC) in Toronto.

Invensys will offer Motorola's Enterprise Mobility solutions as well as wireless broadband and other technologies.

Honeywell and CPPEI will establish an Experimental Center, Operation and Maintenance Support Center, and Training Center.

Motion Engineering Performance Services has been expanded to help OEMs using embedded motion control.

Mel Hilderbrand, formerly Director of Strategic Projects for Meggitt Sensing Systems, is the new President of Endevco.

Aker Solutions, Scotland, will use a Softing Profibus board in a “Christmas Tree,” an assembly of valves, spools and fittings for an oil well.

ABB’s System 800xA will control production of ultra-pure chlorosilanes at Evonik Industries' plant in Essen, Germany.

ABB won orders worth $113 million from Vedanta Aluminum to provide automation and power products for a greenfield expansion of an aluminum smelter plant in Jharsuguda, India.

Allied Vision Technologies is acquiring 100% of the shares of the Canadian camera manufacturer Prosilica as of 31 July 2008.

American Inks and Coatings implemented DEACOM ERP software and was able to close its off-site IT office and cut its IT staff from four to one.

Honeywell will install Experion process and safety systems for a new Hoku Materials plant to produce polysilicon, a key material needed to produce solar panels.

CEView HMI/SCADA software is certified to run on many popular mobile devices, including the AT&T 5700, MOTOQ Global, Pantech Duo, the Samsung BlackJack and BlackJack II.

National Instruments reported record quarterly revenue of $210.5 million, up 17 percent in the second quarter of 2008.

This article gives a short overview of general-purpose robotics software platforms currently available for service robotics applications. The article is a compilation of the knowledge the authors accumulated during an experimentation work they’ve been recently involved in.

Since its introduction in 2004, ABB's IndustrialIT Extended Automation System 800xA has been sold to more than 4,000 customers in a diverse range of industries.

Could it be that high fuel prices, the weak dollar and crises in the U.S. manufacturing industry are creating opportunities? Andy Chatha of ARC Advisory Group thinks so. He says the U.S. industry has suddenly become competitive on the world market, and companies are no longer moving operations overseas. Instead, many are expanding their facilities, and he predicts a boom in automation right here in the U.S.

IntervalZero, led by a group of senior Ardence executives, acquired Ardence’s Embedded software business from Citrix Systems.

Guide describes specific tasks to successfully implement the commissioning process for HVAC&R systems.

The Power Transmission Distributors Association (PTDA)says overall sales of PT/MC products declined 7.2 percent in May 2008 compared to April 2008.

Easun produces and sells pneumatic cylinders, valves, maintenance units and accessories, and employs around 900 people.

Advanced Digital Measurement provides precision industrial measuring services, reverse engineering, and inspection capabilities.

Montage software from Danfoss enables users to monitor utility costs in a plant by department, line or Energy Account Centers.

Test Specification (FF-846 FS 1.0) helps coupler manufacturers perform a standard set of tests against their implementation.

The Rider Roll System, to be delivered to NewPage's Port Hawkesbury mill, will use strain gage-based load cells to control the winding process of finished rolls.

Data-Linc appointed Ren Ding its Sales Representative in China.

Sonomatic uses the Sprint Electric 200XLV low voltage linear DC drive to improve the accuracy of their Nautilus scanner, a diver-deployed automated ultrasonic system that can operate in depths of up to 250 metres.

ABB reported record orders, revenues and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the second quarter of 2008, with net income reaching $975 million.

Free CD contains RF testing resources, including application notes, articles, white papers, and product demonstrations.

Bison Gear has been selected for the second consecutive year as one of Chicago's 101 Best and Brightest Companies to Work For.

Booklet describes the 10 most common and costly errors that companies make when preparing product news releases.

ASHRAE announced the recipients of 16 scholarships totaling $85,000 for the 2008-09 academic year. The students are all pursuing courses leading to a career within the HVAC&R industry.

By using Inventor software, it was able to accomplish its design goals two to three times faster than if engineers had relied solely on 2D means.

Dr. Farshad Amir, technology manager of instrument and control systems for DuPont Engineering, has been named to the board of directors.

New releases for DD technology are compliant with the IEC 61804 and ISA104 Electronic Device Description Language (EDDL) profile.

Waveaxis will distribute and provide integration services for McObject’s real-time embedded database software in India.

Emerson is installing its Ovation expert control system at all four units of the coal-fired power plant as part of a comprehensive renovation and maintenance project.

Prior to joining Moore Industries, Fagundes was the Director of Aerospace Operations for Kavlico Aerospace in Moorpark, CA.

Peterson joins Phoenix Contact after 19 years at GE Fanuc Automation, where he held a variety of sales and leadership positions.

Yokogawa will introduce its integrated production control systems and operation support software at four of the company’s refineries.

Located in Bangalore, the new office will include all areas of automation engineering, training, field support, and development functions.

M-430iA/2F high-speed, food picking robot meets the hygiene requirements for meat and poultry processing.

The catalog includes photos of each product, compatibility charts to help users match accessories to the appropriate test tools, and application information.

Honeywell's Process Solutions business recognized industrial control providers Wilson-Mohr and AC Controls Company Inc. as its 2007 Distributors of the Year.

Douglas Sharratt, lost his life in a plane crash in Sunriver, Oregon. ProSoft Technology names CFO, Gary Joke, his successor.

Columbia Weather Systems is a manufacturer of Weather Stations for fixed mount, vehicle mount and portable applications.

ELKOMTECH will use Westermo time synchronization R208 Ethernet switches to equip 1700 substations within the Polish electrical distribution network supervised by PSE.

The eSimOptimizer solution will be used at the Avinger and Longview gas processing plants to calculate optimal process targets for the plants.

2600T Series pressure transmitters are compliant with CSA and ANSI/ISA 12.27.01 Dual Seal Standards for the oil and gas market.

MML Capital Partners and PaR's management have teamed to acquire the company from American Capital Ltd.

The group is helping exploration, drilling, and production organizations identify, define, develop, and deploy RFID systems.

The full-service subsidiary will provide application engineering, sales, and customer service for Japan.

The worldwide market, which is around $1.4 billion in 2007, is expected to grow 12% per year to over $2.5 billion in 2012.

Webb has been instrumental to the firm’s success in marketing its services to third-party customers worldwide.

The switch selection guide provides an overview of electromechanical and solid state switches and switch drivers.

InduSoft attained Gold Certified status in ISV/Software Solutions, Mobility Solutions, Business Process and Integration, and Custom Development Solutions.

Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan is the director of the Center for Applied Mechatronics at Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota, USA.

White paper describes the application of new SCADA security technology and outlines a sensible, cost-effective approach that is based on the latest developments in SCADA.

Hogan is currently CEO of GE Healthcare and is a member of the GE Senior Executive Council. He will join ABB on September 1, 2008.

Kepware was selected as the primary provider to extend device communications options for Wonderware’s System Platform 3.0 product.

Companies participating in the Innovation Partner Program will use the Wonderware System Platform software as the foundation for implementations of customer automation and information projects.

Build Something Student Design Challenge encourages students to showcase their skills in industrial design, architecture, civil and mechanical engineering and 3D animation.

The IPSO Alliance is focused on the use of Internet Protocol networking in building automation, utility metering, and other wireless sensor networking applications.