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February 2009 |
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| In this Issue |
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| Featured Articles |
New Economy Requires Manufacturers To Plan Better
Manufacturing.Net, January 2009
By Ric Ratkowski, Host Analytics
A manufacturer’s ability to plan and navigate its activities in a downturn can be critical to its survival. Integrated business planning is designed to help manufacturers become more agile; tie detailed sales forecasts at the production-line level to materials plans, plant scheduling and costing models.
Way to Grow
Mechanical Engineering, December 2008
By Jean Thilmany
Small companies often find that ERP systems give them better control of inventory, production schedules, and engineering projects than they’d previously had. However, Implementing an ERP system is usually not a simple affair.
Protocol Blenders and Information Creators
Automated Buildings, December 2008
By Jim Sinopoli and Neil Gifford
Middleware deals with the babble between building automation systems. The bulk of systems are legacy propriety systems in existing buildings that have little or no integration and generate little or no meaningful information about the performance of the building. Middleware can leverage those existing investments.
Call it convergence: Software strategists raise emphasis on integration
Plant Services, December 2008
By Paul Studbaker
Everywhere software is spoken, the emphasis is on what’s being done to make connections, build custom dashboards, enable automatic alarms and notifications, and empower individuals with the information they need when, where and in the context required to help them squeeze out higher productivities, reliabilities and efficiencies.
Is IT relevant to the chemicals industry?
South Africa Instrumentation & Control, December 2008
By Gavin Halse
Can the effective use of IT add significant value to a chemicals business and if so how should IT be managed as a strategic resource? From experience this appears not to be the case. We still see IT and the plant systems managed separately in many chemicals companies.
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| Browse more articles and white papers on the Digital Factory portal. |
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| Product Announcements |
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| Other Product Announcements
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Search all Products by keyword, category, manufacturer or release date. |
| White Papers |
Enterprise Mobility Barometer: Manufacturing Industry Whitepaper
By Motorola
This whitepaper shares the results of the Enterprise Mobility Market Barometer study that are specific to manufacturers. The study provides the industry's deepest view into the IT decision maker and mobile worker mindset via direct feedback from over 6000 IT decision-makers and more than 2500 mobile workers. (Registration required)
ISA-95: A Foundation Model For Business Intelligence for Manufacturing
By John Theron, Incuity
Although the ISA-95 standard was designed originally to facilitate information exchange, it also can be used as a model for organizing manufacturing information as part of a business intelligence solution.
Introduction to Industrial Augmented Reality
By Metalio
The digital factory offers a large database for factory planning. However difficulties arise when the real world does not correspond to the available digital representation, or when no digital representation is given at all. Augmented reality technology, which combines real and virtual data, becomes an interface between the real shop floor and the digital factory.
How Mobile Technology Can Optimize the Human Element in Manufacturing Operations
By Form Automation Solutions
Manufacturing companies need live workers to check production facilities frequently and to correct issues immediately before they escalate. AuditMatic software and mobile computers are being used to automate gathering, analyzing and reporting field data.
Digitize Work Processes with Industrial Workflow Execution
By GE Fanuc
Workflows are a key element to connecting and managing flexible work processes that can be very dynamic. By leveraging a common reference model and workflow engine layered on with transformational innovation specifically to improve production operations, companies can enable workflows to execute across many systems. (Registration required)
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Browse more white papers on the Digital Factory portal.
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| Resources & Literature |
Siemens Automation and Drives Interactive CD Catalog
The interactive catalog of Siemens Automation and Drives Business (CA01) gives you information on more than 80,000 products and systems used for industrial automation and control.
EPLAN announces Web-based Portal
EPLAN Data Portal streamlines the integration of device data into the design process, providing the user with access to data from many major component manufacturers.
ASCON offers Light Version of KOMPAS-3D for free
KOMPAS-3D V10 LT is a functionally reduced version of the three-dimensional solid modeling system, which can be used for free.
Longview publishes CAD Collaboration & Interoperability Market Report
Report includes results and analysis from Longview’s fourth annual Collaboration & Interoperability best practices survey, along with articles on related industry topics.
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Browse more resources and literature on the Digital Factory portal.
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| Application Stories |
IT sees light
Plant Services, January 2009
New Millennium decided to renovate and expand its voice and data network. That included laying fiber-optic cable to connect five manufacturing buildings with the main office facility. Fiber-optic connections among buildings set the stage for high-speed information transfer to and from production machines.
Arkansas Steel adopts Incuity manufacturing software
By Terrell Thompson, Arkansas Steel Associates
Arkansas Steel is a leading producer of railroad tie plates. It uses Incuity EMI business manufacturing software to gather information from multiple different data sources, to analyze and manipulate it better, and to share the resulting information with any users in the company.
DEACOM ERP software manages Canadian panel plant
Brockport Home Systems manages its accounting, labor tracking, production, inventory control, engineering links, purchasing, and sales order entry processes in one software system.
Securing Remote Internet Maintenance Services
By Innonimate
Applications in various industries illustrate how TCP/IP connections provide remote maintenance capabilities via secure links.
Solutions for lean manufacturing: integrating robotic automation with business systems
Robotics On-Line, November 2008
By Brette Christe, JR Automation Technologies
If lean manufacturing is a goal, it may be a good idea to investigate automation solutions that integrate with business systems. This method combines a business’s network and software with machinery and automation equipment. Three examples given.
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Browse more application stories on the Digital Factory portal.
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| Featured Training |
ERP Software Webinar
March 11, 2009 2 p.m. EST
The hour-long event will explore how using a single ERP software system for manufacturers of paint, coatings, etc can help manage all aspects of a business.
MatrikonOPC offers on-line OPC Training
“Introduction to OPC” introduces students to the basics of OPC including the most common version, OPC Data Access.
Deacom puts ERP software training courses on line
DEACOM University Online courses include Materials Requirements Planning (MRP) on Dec. 10-11, followed by monthly classroom and online courses on specialized DEACOM functions throughout 2009.
DEACOM offers Financial Reporting course for Manufacturers
During the two-day course, DEACOM users from the batch process and building component manufacturing industries learn how to create and run user-definable financial statements.
Benefits of Automation training course
Course shows engineers how to find improvement opportunities, how to capture them, and how to clearly document the financial results.
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Browse more training and seminar opportunities on the Digital Factory portal.
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| Company & Organizational News |
Hannover Fair's Digital Factory shows industrial manufacturing in action
The Digital Factory exhibit covers product development, simulation, calculation, virtual testing and production without the need for physical prototyping.
ARC says DCS market in Latin America continues to grow
The DCS market in Latin America will grow at an annual rate of close to 10% through 2012, reaching a total size of almost $1.5 billion.
Researchers say interaction with machines will cause a 'robotic gulf' by 2020
Vision Systems Design, December 2008
Spanish researchers have carried out a study looking into the potential future impact of robots on society. Their conclusions show that the enormous automation capacity of robots and their ability to interact with humans will cause a technological imbalance over the next 12 years between those who have them and those who do not.
Frost & Sullivan says wireless not taking over factory automation yet
Wireless devices are perceived as the next big technological wave in factory automation, but users are wary.
Cybersecurity collaboration to deliver advanced control solutions
European Chemical Engineer, December 2008
Wurldtech Security Technologies announced a strategic co-operative agreement with Kenexis Consulting to deliver specialised safety process designs and services to address the evolving cyber risks facing operators of real-time industrial automation systems.
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Browse more company and organizational news on the Digital Factory portal. |
| Project News |
GE to reduce energy and water usage at its data center
GE is updating the data center with 30 products from nine different GE businesses, including power quality, chilled water, electrical, security and IT services equipment.
Yokogawa to control Australia’s largest gas-fired power station
Yokogawa will supply CENTUM VP control system, ProSafe-RS Safety Instrumented System, Exaquantum Plant Information Management System, and a variety of transmitters.
OSI to supply SCADA System to Connexus Energy Electric Cooperative
OSI will supply a monarch SCADA system to Connexus Energy, the largest electric distribution cooperative in Minnesota.
IPS to automate Nuclear Power Plants in China
IPS will provide simulation, safety and control systems, using Triconex and Foxboro I/A Series, for two new nuclear power plant sites in China. The agreement is worth approximately US $250 million.
Emerson to automate Basin Electric coal power plant
Equipment includes PlantWeb, Ovation control system, SmartProcess optimization technology, Foundation and Profibus fieldbus, and Scenario high-fidelity simulator.
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Browse more project news on the Digital Factory portal.
Add an event to our calendar. |
| Featured Events |
HOUSTEX 2009
February 24-26, 2009 Houston, TX
Since 1976, HOUSTEX has been manufacturing's new product showcase in South Texas. Includes advanced machine tools, cutting-edge production systems, and pioneering technology applications.
Automation Technology Expo
March 11-12, 2009 Charlotte, NC
Covers a wide array of products and services, including adhesives/dispensing equipment, assembly systems, custom automation, control software/hardware, end-of-line packaging and more.
Supply Chain World
March 16-19, 2009 Houston, TX
This event brings together the people who deliver and create value in the supply chain — especially those accountable for supply chain results — to learn the latest trends and research, network, and discover critical strategies for supply–chain management.
SCADA & Industrial Automation 2009
March 23-24, 2009 Melbourne, Australia
Conference provides best practice case studies on the latest technologies, trends and challenges in the area of SCADA, Industrial security, automation and process control.
Logichem Europe 2009
March 31-April 3, 2009 Dusseldorf, Germany
The chemical industry's annual supply chain management conference addresses every critical concern to chemical supply chain professionals, from the current shortage of transport and storage capacity to topics including demand planning, collaboration and growing markets.
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Browse more industry events on the Digital Factory portal.
Add an event to our calendar. |
I hope you enjoyed this Digital Factory update. If you have any comments or suggestions regarding the content in this e-newsletter or on Automation.com, please don't hesitate to contact me.
Rick Zabel
Vice President, Publisher
Automation.com
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