News
ISA and Automation Federation highlights growing need for skilled manufacturing workers ahead of Manufacturing Day 2018
Posted on Thursday September 27th, 2018
As Manufacturing Day, 5 October 2018, approaches, the International Society of Automation (ISA) and its affiliate association, the Automation Federation, celebrate the importance of manufacturing to the world’s economic health and future. Read more...
Demo Illustrates IIoT Technology Integration
The energy drink RAGE (Rockwell Automation Global Energy) doesn't exist in the real world, but the premise behind it allowed Rockwell Automation to demonstrate the integration of its automation technology with PTC’s software in the wake of the companies’ recently announced partnership. Read more...
Making Sense of IIoT Analytics
Posted on Wednesday, January 18th, 2017
As the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) picks up steam, attention is pivoting from connectivity to analytics, flooding manufacturers with a wave of new offerings that all promise to facilitate real business change.
Startups as well as familiar automation providers are pulling together new platforms and tools designed to spin the treasure trove of data collected from plant floor equipment and industrial assets into nuggets of actionable insights that can help optimize decision-making. Much of this data has existed in some form for decades, but it’s primarily been locked away in siloed and incompatible plant floor systems. Read more...Industrial-Strength Mobile Apps
Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2017
When Chris Smalt receives a call for help at night, he does what has already become commonplace in the consumer space. He reaches for a mobile device—in his case, the iPad beside his bed. “I can see what the operator is up against and what the campus needs, and immediately help with troubleshooting and decision-making,” says the plant manager for the water, steam and power-generation facilities at Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y. Read more...
How Smart Instruments Enable Improved Pumping
Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 201
By Nathan Hedrick, Flow Product Marketing Manager, Endress+HauserSmart pumping applications are designed to adjust the speed of a pump to compensate for changing process conditions or plant requirements. To accomplish this, they typically use adjustable speed drives to control pump speed; smart valves to control flow; pump controllers ranging from on-board microprocessors to PLCs, PACs and DCSes and—of course—smart instruments. Read more...
DHS Best Practices to Secure ICS Communications
Posted on Tuesday, January 17th, 2017
By Daniel Crum, Content Marketing Manager, Owl Computing Technologies, Inc.
Modern advancements in industrial control systems (ICS) enable marked improvements in efficiency, production, reliability, and safety, all through increased use of “smart” assets and digital communications. However, this has led to a dependency on communication technology that is seemingly at odds with the ever increasing pressure to enhance cybersecurity in ICS networks. Read more...
Emuge introduces tool reconditioning at Massachusetts facility
Posted on Monday, January 9th, 2017
Monday January 09, 2017
Written by MA Staff
Emuge Corp. has introduced tool grinding and reconditioning services based out of the company’s North American headquarters in West Boylston, Mass. Promising a “clean, new state-of-the-art” manufacturing facility, the company says it is now equipped with the “latest technology” high precision CNC grinding machines and inspection equipment, providing tool reconditioning for Canadian and American customers for taps, drills and end mills, in addition to other brands of carbide drills and end mills. Read More...
Inside Turck’s Industrial Control Edge Devices – Embedded PLC & ARGEE Logic Engines
Posted on Monday, January 9th, 2017
By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com
The whole point behind the rise of the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) and Industry 4.0, in the industrial space, is to help take control to the industrial network edge. At Pack Expo 2016, Turck demonstrated new leadership products that are designed to do exactly that. Keeping consistent with Internet of Things and Industry 4.0 concepts and architectures, Turck has embedded PLC control into their traditional products, thereby extending capabilities to be a control company. Read more...
Opening Eyes to Machine Vision
Posted on Thursday, January 5th, 2017
System integrator adds machine vision lab to its technology showcase to help manufacturers better understand the technology’s range of applications.
By David Greenfield , Director of Content/Editor-in-Chief, on January 5, 2017
Machine vision system applications came to the forefront across manufacturing industries in the 1990s, with numerous technology suppliers entering the market. Even though the cost of these systems dropped dramatically in the 1990s compared to the 1980s, the technology was still seen as costly and, in some cases, complex enough to only find wide application for critical inspection use in regulated industries. Read more...
Be a Big Hero With a Little Automation
Posted on Wednesday, January 4th, 2017
Although the big, flashy plant startups might be what you find most exciting, the little sequential programs—mini-automations—can save your operation big money over time.
By Aaron Hand , Executive Editor, on January 4, 2017
For a control engineer, it can be pretty exciting to get your hands into a big startup project—launching a greenfield site or undertaking a major system install. But if you take a good look around your plant to find all the little tasks that could be automated, you’ll likely find that you can save your organization some major bucks. Read more...
