Articles and News

The service offers customers customized ergonomic evaluation tools that can be embedded within standard ergonomic simulation software to improve their manufacturing process by automating repetitive tasks and providing detailed analyses.

Emerson acquired Damcos Holding A/S, based in Naestved, Denmark, a leading supplier of valve remote control systems, tank monitoring equipment, and complete marine tank management solutions to the global marine and offshore markets. It will immediately become part of Emerson's Process Management business.

GE Industrial will acquire the assets of Rochester, NY-based Microwave Data Systems (MDS), a subsidiary of Moseley Associates and a world leader in industrial, wireless, and networking solutions. The transaction is subject to customary government approvals and is expected to close in January 2007.

As a new Windows Embedded Partner, RTI extends its high-performance messaging and software integration solution, RTI Data Distribution Service, to provide support for Windows Embedded CE and Windows Mobile.

Schneider Electric purchased Power Measurement Inc. and its ION technology in 2005. It rebranded ION enterprise energy management products and solutions and will sell them as Square D PowerLogic products.

The Vishay Systems office in Sweden will install five custom-designed Vishay Nobel Reel Optimizing Systems in the Kondopoga Pulp and Paper Mill, located in the Karelian Republic in the northwestern part of the Russian Federation. Reel Optimizing Systems use strain gage-based load cells and transducer-based measurement and control technology to improve productivity at paper manufacturing plants. Completion is expected by May 2007.

The seminars will be held once per month and cover introductory, advanced, and popular topics in the automation industry. The first four seminars in the series are complimentary for members, while non-members will be charged $95 per connection. January's topic, "Make2Pack - The Automation Revolution," to be held January 31, 2007, will focus on the Make2Pack effort in the industry. The February seminar, scheduled for February 21, 2007, is entitled "Introduction to ISA-88."

This new facility provides Circonix Technologies with the increased space needed to accommodate their growing business and to better serve their customers. The Dayton office is the national service center for Circonix Technologies, coordinating service nationwide.

Providing accurate measurement of stroke, an embedded C-Series continuous position sensor located inside the electric, hydraulic or pneumatic actuator of a clamp ensures that a variety of parts can be clamped down in the proper position without sensor readjustment.

Shipments of SynqNet motion and I/O network now exceed 225,000 axes since 2003.

Ellison Technologies, a provider of engineered systems and industrial equipment to metal-working and metal-cutting manufacturers, has acquired Jackson Machinery Company, a privately held distributor based outside Cleveland, Ohio. The acquisition was effective November 3, 2006.

Nercon Engineering and Manufacturing,Oshkosh, Wisconsin, will use the KUKA KR 180 PA palletizing robot in its new system to load and unload mixed product from a tri-level accumulating conveyor system. The KUKA KR 40 robot will be used in the company's new order picking cell.

Rockwell Automation has named Christopher Zei vice president of its OEM initiative. Zei will be responsible for global sales, strategy and business development for all Rockwell Automation OEM-directed solutions. Zei, a 21-year marketing, strategic development, operations and management veteran of technology-related companies, was most recently the president/CEO of the North American operations at Schneider Electric’s ELAU group.

At ProMat 2007, Rockwell Automation will focus on critical issues facing material handling OEMs and end users including performance, life cycle cost, safety and information integration. The Rockwell Automation exhibit (Booth No. 1523) will showcase the company’s wide range of integrated control and information systems that provide manufacturers with significant productivity and cost savings benefits. ProMat 2007 is scheduled for Jan. 8 through 11 at McCormick Place in Chicago.

Webinar covers Ethernet basics, Ethernet Protocols, complex MAC Addressing, IP addressing, SNMP, ARC and IGMP.

Honeywell will upgrade the existing Honeywell Printa Press Control System at NYA Wermlands-Tidningen's main operations in Karlstad, as well as extend it to a new third printing press at the site.

Invensys Process Systems and INVAP S.E. have renewed an existing cooperative business agreement for an additional three years. Under this alliance agreement, the companies will continue to work together to provide mutual customers with product and service solutions for the design, engineering, construction, control, protection, and maintenance of nuclear facilities.

Invensys will supply a mesh network-based Foxboro I/A Series distributed control system (DCS) to Plasco Energy Group for use in Plasco's Plasma Gasification Process (PGP). The DCS will provide process and facility control in the Plasco PGP, a non-incineration thermal decomposition process, which breaks down municipal solid waste (MSW) into simple components such as hydrogen, nitrogen, and carbon monoxide.

Ralph Harris has been promoted to vice president, U.S. sales. Harris joined the company in 1991 as a regional sales manager in the Retail Products Division. Since that time, he has held numerous key leadership positions in sales, marketing and organizational development. Most recently, Harris held the position of regional vice president, Southern Region.

Another year is upon us, it's time to resolve, You promise to change, to improve and evolve. With all these revisions you get caught in a trance, Time goes to so quickly you don't have a chance.

The LS-4000E tilt-tray sorter and the LS-4000CB cross-belt sorter will be introduced at ProMat 2007, January 8-11 in Chicago, Illinois. The sorters offer a common platform that enhances system flexibility, as well as an energy system that reduces operating costs.

Middle-school students across the U.S. will be presented with positive, hands-on manufacturing experiences through exposure to careers in math, science and technology at the Science, Technology & Engineering Preview Summer (STEPS) Academies. Academy sites will expand from five to 50 throughout 2007.

Glen Pearson will assume the position of President of the Society of Manufacturing Engineering Foundation and Sandra Bouckley will become Vice President; Peter Mackie was re-elected as Treasurer and Dr. Winston Erevelles will serve as Secretary of the Foundation's Board. All terms will be effective Jan. 1, 2007.

The exhibit includes automated replenishment, sortation technology, and software in a fully functioning setting at ProMat 2007 in Chicago, Illinois, January 8-11 at McCormick Place.

Advantech has donated three lab setups of ADAM Industrial Ethernet hardware with ADAMView software to the University of Dayton with the aim of cultivating future talent. The products include analog and digital I/O modules, an industrial 10/100Mbps Ethernet Switch, and data acquisition software. The University of Dayton will use this product in three different classes.

ExperTune and TiPS have announced their 2007 User's Conference, to be held April 17-19, in Austin, Texas. The conference theme, "Build a Stronger Automation Foundation," will focus on technologies and techniques that restore and strengthen your automation infrastructure. TiPS is a pioneer in alarm management software.

Three seminars at the ProMat 2007 Knowledge Center, held January 8-11 at McCormick Place in Chicago, Illinois, will cover European material handling trends, automated replenishment, and order fulfillment

MHI has received a full-turnkey order from Empresa Electrica Guacolda S.A., an electricity provider in Chile, for a 152 MW (megawatt) coal-fired power generation plant to be built at the Guacolda Power Station in Huasco. The unit is scheduled to go on-stream in September 2009.

Manufacturing companies continue to increase investments in capital expenditures for automation equipment as they recognize the role of automation in the global market. As a result, the worldwide market for total process automation will grow robustly, with ARC expecting a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 6.4% over the next five years, to reach nearly $79 billion in 2010.

Souriau SAS will acquire the US operations of Pacific Aerospace & Electronics Inc. PAE designs and manufactures hermetic connectors, ceramic and metal components and assemblies, and advanced microelectronic packages. Souriau S.A.S. is one of Europe’s leading connector manufacturers. The transaction remains subject to US governmental authorizations and is expected to be completed by March 2007.

Just 25mm (0.98 in.) wide x 82mm (3.23 in.) long, the T2008 tongue-operated safety interlock switch is designed to provide a minimum of one million actuations in severely space restricted applications, and can be installed on one inch square tubing. 1 N/O and 1 N/C, or 2 N/C, contact configurations are available to satisfy Dual Channel Safety Monitoring requirements.

The new business division was formed to serve the requirements of system integrators and OEMs operating in the professional security market.

Shinden Hightex will distribute Imsys’ line of reconfigurable microcontrollers for the consumer and professional electronic product markets. Shinden Hightex is a leading distributor for electronics devices, LCD panels, various custom boards, etc. The head office is located in Tokyo, Japan, and eight local offices are located in industrial areas in Japan

Amplicon signed a rep agreement with Militram Israel. Militram, an expert in network and multi-process systems has sales expected to exceed $130 million this year. Based in Tel Aviv, it has over 30 years experience in both the medical machine vision and industrial control fields in Israel. Amplicon supplies Computing, Data Communications, Measurement & Control, and Security Automation solutions.

This year, Control Design sent out more than 15,000 surveys to its subscribers who are eligible to vote asking them for the industrial equipment suppliers that provide best value. Targeted readers included industrial machine builder professionals and system integrators.

The American Welding Society will release two new resistance welding standards: AWS D8.1M:2007, Specification for Automotive Weld Quality—Resistance Spot Welding of Steel; and AWS D17.2/ D17.2M:2007, Specification for Resistance Welding for Aerospace Applications. These ANSI-approved standards will be part of an extensive collection of technical documents related to resistance welding.

Intermec's donation includes the company's 761 ruggedized mobile computer and IP4 portable RFID reader along with a custom Intermec RFID application. The center works primarily in the retail, manufacturing and transportation domains to examine the use of RFID (radio frequency identification), its effects on business and society, and how best to use the technology within the supply chain.

Webinar presents results from a survey of 275 manufacturers and an in-depth analysis of what it means for your company. There are no vendors or sales pitches.

ABB has won a $4 million contract to supply an Integrated Central Control System for a new liquefied natural gas (LNG) import terminal in the Peoples Republic of China. It includes 800xA systems for the terminal integrated control system and safety systems and a SCADA Vantage system for the centralized Human System Interface that will be used on the pipeline and terminal.

The eAutomation Group of Advantech has been selected by M2M magazine as a top technology and service provider in the machine-to-machine technology area.

Emerson's Brooks Instrument Calibration laboratory is now in compliance with the ISO GUM and certified by the NMi. GUM is the Guide to the Expression of the Uncertainty in the Measurement. NMi is the Dutch Weights and Measures agency, and is internationally recognized as a competent authority in the measurement arena.

Nominations are open for the Matrikon Achievement Awards in technology innovations within petrochemical and refining, pulp and paper, mining and mineral, oil and gas, and power industries.

Texas Gov. Rick Perry asked National Instruments President and CEO Dr. James Truchard to chair the Industrial Advisory Council for the Texas Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (TSTEM) initiative, which directly addresses the declining interest and preparation of young people to pursue careers in technical fields.

The 240-page, full-color guide covers the Bayside brand of motion and control systems products, incluidng linear and rotary positioning stages, frameless kit motors, gearheads, integral gearmotors and a special section devoted to Parker Bayside's Engineered Solutions Group.

With the new LabVIEW toolkit, more advanced MINDSTORMS NXT users, including adults, students and secondary school and university educators, now can program the NXT using advanced programming tools available in LabVIEW.

'Twas the night before Christmas and all though the site, no visitors were browsing, not even one byte.

ABB has been awarded a $3.9 million contract to supply System 800xA Extended Automation for Australian Paper's Maryvale mill in Victoria, Australia. In addition, ABB has secured more than $782,000 in orders for MV switchgear, LV relays, and variable drives systems.

Berend Bracht, former CEO of Bosch Rexroth China and former head of the company’s U.S. industrial hydraulics operation, will take over as president and chief executive officer effective January 1, 2007. Bracht replaces Wolfgang Dangel, who has led the U.S. subsidiary of the German-based company since April 2003. Dangel is leaving to accept a leadership position with the Schaeffler Group.

International Climbing Machines (ICM) uses igus products in its climbing apparatus that removes lead paint or chemical toxins from tall surfaces. ICM develops portable, remote-controlled devices capable of removing lethal materials on virtually any vertical or inverted surface.

This Joint-Venture, dedicated to the manufacturing, marketing and distribution of Low Voltage products, will be named Delixi Electric and incorporated in Wenzhou (Zhejiang Province) as soon as the conditions, precedent and regulatory approvals are satisfied. Schneider Electric will own a 50% interest in the company while Delixi Group will hold the other 50%.

Wavetrend appointed RC Group (Holdings) Limited (RCG ) as an Accredited Channel Partner for the Asia/Pacific region. RCG combines expertise in both biometric and RFID technologies to offer solutions that enhance security and increase convenience for enterprises and end-users alike.

Advantech's Data Acquisition I/O modules will be sold through the Cole-Parmer catalog.

The 5 day class will help skilled trades and engineers learn the fundamentals of operations, troubleshooting, error recovery, program touchup and safety procedures. The program is designed to help line builders and OEMs bring up automotive assembly lines and integrated cells and includes training on robot programming, PLC debugging, safety systems and setting up weld guns and other peripheral equipment.

Honeywell won the 2006 Pioneering Innovation Award at the Governor's Celebration of Innovation (GCOI) in Arizona. The award is presented each year to a company that has gone to great lengths in contributing to Arizona’s technology industry through sustained business presence, corporate citizenship, community involvement and business success.

Matrikon has acquired Industrial Control Software Limited (ICS), a private company based in Matlock, England. Established in 1989, ICS provides process control software and alarm monitoring and analysis solutions which are complementary to Matrikon's solutions. The purchase price was £1.78 million in cash for all outstanding shares of ICS. The net assets of ICS are estimated at £0.78 million.

PAN-STEEL Metal Embossing Hand Tool (MEHT) and Metal Indenting Machine (MIM) have been enhanced to provide durability and allow embossing or indenting of alphanumeric text onto aluminum or stainless steel marker plates, tags, tape and cable ties.

The full-day Industrial Ethernet Training Course covers: Networking Essentials; How Industrial Ethernet Is Different From Traditional Office Ethernet Networking; TCP/IP Tutorial; Comparison of Popular Ethernet Protocols including Ethernet/IP, Profibus, Modbus, etc.; Industrial Network Design and Hardware; Real-Time Ethernet; Achieving Deterministic Communications; and Best Practices When Implementing an Industrial Ethernet Network.

The Distributed Control System (DCS) market experienced the strongest growth in a decade between 2004 and 2005, increasing at a rate of close to 9%. This strong growth is expected to continue through 2010, with the global market increasing at an average annual rate of almost 7%, according to the new ARC Advisory Group study, “Distributed Control System (DCS) Worldwide Outlook”

ARC is predicting that the HMI software market is going to experience double or near double digit growth over the next two years, with growth slowing over the following three years. The HMI software services market is expected to grow faster than the total HMI Software market over the next five years.

A three-step migration program from Rockwell Automation helps manufacturers replace aging DCS systems with the Logix Control Platform. Phase one involves replacing legacy HMI consoles with FactoryTalk; in phase two, the legacy process controllers are replaced with Logix controllers; phase three involves removing the legacy I/O infrastructure and replacing it with the Logix 1756-based I/O platform.

“ABCs of the Internet Protocol” explains the IP (Internet Protocol) portion of the TCP/IP stack as it applies to control networks. This document defines TCP/IP and other topics including data encapsulation, routers and hosts, IP addressing and the IP header.

The Multi-Spectral Infrared (MSIR) FL4000 Flame Detector has been certified by Factory Mutual (FM) for application in hazardous environments. The FL4000 provides reliable flame monitoring with false alarm immunity, a wide field of view (FOV) and long range.

Honeywell has been awarded a $2.5 million contract from TonenGeneral Sekiyu to oversee the Wakayama Control House Consolidation Project – which will combine the oil refinery’s existing process control operations into one central location. Honeywell will also monitor three other subcontractors performing DCS relocation, civil, structural, electrical and instrumentation work.

An online catalog of 2D and 3D configurable product models using SolidWorks 3D PartStream.NET allows customers to configure, view and download 2D and 3D CAD drawings directly into their designs to check for fit and function. SolidWorks product models are available for SICK STEGMANN’s absolute and incremental encoders, length measuring systems, and motor feedback systems.

Yokogawa has entered into a formal agreement with Dresser-Masoneilan, Flowserve, Metso Automation, and Samson AG for standards-based interoperability in control systems, sensors, and control valves in the process automation field. The agreement ensures that Yokogawa's PRM asset management system and CENTUM series production control system are interoperable with their control valves.

ABB won a contract worth $36 million from ThyssenKrupp for engineering and power equipment at a new steel plant in Brazil. ABB will carry out extensive engineering work and supply power equipment, including a 138-kilovolt (kV) substation, high- and medium-voltage switchgear, transformers and power cables.

To increase sales and engineering support for customers in South America, Beckhoff Automation has opened its newest subsidiary in Brazil. Together with distribution partners in Argentina, Uruguay and Chile, Beckhoff is now represented in four countries on the South American continent.

JetNet 5010G and 3010G/3010GT Gigabit switches are suitable for a high bandwidth media networking environment, or a gradual migration to Gigabit speeds for industrial automation.

Honeywell will install an extension to its existing Printa Press Control System in Harmsworth Quays Printing's plant in Surrey Quays, London. HQP is a subsidiary of UK publishing group Associated Newspapers. The system extension is part of HQP's expansion of its Koenig & Bauer printing presses and will significantly speed up the printing process.

NI application software, including LabVIEW, LabWindows/CVI, Measurement Studio and SignalExpress, as well as NI hardware drivers for PCI Express, PCI, PXI and USB devices, will be available for use with Windows Vista shortly after Microsoft releases the operating system to the general public.

Enhancements to Version 2.1 of STSA toolbox includes Nonparametric, nonlinear time series analysis; Singular Spectrum Analysis (SSA) on univariate time series; Proper Orthogonal Decomposition (POD) analysis; additional functions for general statistical analysis and visualization. The STSA toolbox is a collection of O-Matrix functions for analyzing time-dependent observations (time series).

The User Working Group (UWG) will be meeting this week at the ISA SP-100.11a committee meeting in Amsterdam. WIB, the International Instrument Users' Association, is also sending a contingent of European users to provide input to the ISA SP-100.11a effort.

Chris Curtis, president of Schneider Electric USA, has been honored as a pioneer of sales and marketing with a 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award from Frost & Sullivan.

These spring clamp blocks come as small as 4 mm wide for a 16 AWG wire, all the way up to a 16 mm wide terminal that will handle a 2 AWG wire. They carry ratings from 15 amps at 300 volts up to 115 amps at 600 volts.