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		ITAC installs control system at tobacco company - 05/17/12 System integrator ITAC installed Rockwell Automation ControlLogix, RSLogix, PlantPax, drives, DeviceNet and EtherNet/IP hardware and software at an unnamed tobacco company.

		SERAPID Builds five Die Change Systems for Press Builder in Brazil - 05/09/12 The push-pull quick die change systems were made up of three floor mounted and two cart mounted die transport and positioning systems, using Serapid’s Rigid Chain Technology.

		B&R's Automation Studio integrates with EPLAN Electric P8 - 05/03/12 The seamless interaction between EPLAN Electric P8 and Automation Studio allows development to occur in parallel processes.

		Maybe You Should Think About Integrating Safety with Machine Control - 04/25/12 Automation World, April 2012 By James R. Koelsch Machine builders are finding that integrating these two functions boosts productivity and streamlines design. Two explain how they benefit from the integration, usinf Sercos and EthherNet/IP.

		Plant-wide drives save £100,000 annually for Ricoh - 04/07/12 Control Engineering Europe, March 2012 Variable speed drives supplied by ABB are saving office equipment manufacturer Ricoh, over £100,000 per annum on energy costs at its UK-based production plant.


		ABB drive cuts costs by £25,000 at GKN - 04/07/12 Process and Control Today, April 2012 GKN’s plant at Telford produces a wide range of components for major vehicle producers around the world. One part of the line involves a walking beam that was jamming. ABB replaced the drive, eliminating the jamming.

		Industrial PC Serves as PLC, CNC, HMI - 03/14/12 Plant Engineering, March 2012 By Shane Novacek, Beckhoff Engineering By using industrial PCs for PLCs, CNCs, and HMIs, Seal Tech’s FIP Polyurethane Dispensing Systems cost as much as $100,000 less than the competition and require 20 to 30 hours less wiring.

		A Taste for Troubleshooting - 03/12/12 Industrial Networking, February 2012 By Joe Reilly, Comtec Industries Comtech, a builder of crust-forming machines, uses eWon’s cloud service to provide remote diagnostics for its PLC-based control systems.

		Oh Crumbs, Solved At Last - 03/10/12 Process & Control Today, February 2012 Control Freaks automated a machine for producing biscuit crumbs, breakfast cereal and snack foods using a Mitsubishi FX3U PLC, which controls a number of 15 kW E700 and D700 variable speed drives on the mixer axes over an RS485 network.

		Machine builder provides remote service via VPN - 02/27/12 Automation.com, January 2011 By Phoenix Contact Phoenix Contact’s Remote Video Service provides a customer-initiated secure virtual private network (VPN) connection between a packaging machine at the customer’s facility and Groninger’s secure internal service network.

		Candymaker Combines, Simplifies Controls - 02/25/12 Control Design, February 2012 By Jim Montague Cama built a packaging machine with four of its delta-type Triaflex robots. Instead of using one controller per robot, Cama was able to integrate them all with just one of Bosch Rexroth's combined motion logic and robotic control units.

		Motion control synchronization - 02/17/12 Control Engineering, February 2012 By Bob Davis and Craig Nelson Sunnen uses Profibus and Siemens PLCs, HMIs, software, drives and servomotors in its bore sizing and finishing systems.

		Coca-Cola Hellenic reduces energy consumption by 75% - 02/15/12 What’s New in Process Technology, February 2012 By SEW-Eurodrive Coke cut costs in Vienna by replacing 39 gearmotors with equipment from SEW, and replacing hardwired connections with Profibus.

		Chopper Pumps Help Ford Motor Improve Waste Handling - 02/15/12 Process & Control Today, February 2012 175 Vaughan chopper pumps process the difficult combination of swarf, cutting oils and coolants collected from CNC machines operating on engine and transmission manufacturing at the Ford Engine plant in Dagenham, UK.

		Integrated Architecture streamlines cable manufacturing in Spain - 02/04/12 An unnamed manufacturer of cable and conductors in Spain used Rockwell Automation’s Integrated Architecture, including CompactLogix PLCs connected to PanelView Plus operator terminals via EtherNet/IP.

		Cheesemaker Uses PACs to cut the cheese - 02/04/12 Automation.com, February 2012 Barbers Farmhouse Cheesemakers in the UK uses Rockwell Automation’s ControlLogix PAC and 3D laser scanners to control an Arcall C52 cheese cutter. Another PAC controls a suite of conveyors driven by servo motors. All communications are via EtherNet/IP.

		Detecting oscillations in the variable frequency drives of large industrial blowers - 02/04/12 Industrial Embedded Systems, January 2012 By Juerg Roth, ABB, and Klaas A. Vogel, Elsys Instruments As the electronics within them have advanced, modern VFD controllers and motors require more than conventional measurement tools to diagnose, troubleshoot, and fine-tune the system and ensure overall reliability. Here’s how ABB diagnosed a VFD system installed in a blast furnace blower.

		Laser sensor measures width and height of cutting discs - 01/17/12 Carbide cutting tool specialist Ceratizit relies on a measurement system that uses Micro-Epsilon’s optoCONTROL 2500 sensor during production control of the cutting discs.

		Mechanical Machines Bending Horizontal - 01/15/12 Control Design, January 2012 By Dan Hebert Industrial Technology Solutions modernized the control system of its horizontal bender with an HMI, PLC and sensors.

		Linear Motion Moves Up and Out - 01/15/12 Control Design, January 2012 By Jim Montague Surf’s up! Precision Shapes Northwest, a builder of surfboards, added a Harmonic Linear Drive belt-type linear actuator with a built-in smart motor to its surfboard shaping and routing machines, eliminating the need for stepper and servo motors.

		Malvern particle size analyzer monitors milling systems - 01/11/12 International Innovative Technologies is using in-line particle size distribution analysis systems in its low energy milling equipment.

		Expanding manufacturer used servo to drive exports - 01/11/12 Process & Control Engineering, December 2011 Firmac in the UK makes a modular duct forming and stacking machine that uses a Mitsubishi MR-MQ100 single axis motion controller on the flying shear drive.

		Automated Feed System Heats up Production of Cold Forming Press - 12/29/11 Assembly, November 2011 By Jim Camillo German automotive supplier Neumayer Tekfor GmbH automated the feed system for a cold forming press used to form drivetrain components, using a Schunk. HSB linear feed system,

		Sensors and joysticks specified for UK-built multi-function trailer - 12/27/11 Automation, November 2011 Penny + Giles is supplying its contactless rotary position sensors and advanced joystick controllers to help control the latest Transtacker trailer from Big Bale Company South.

		Integrator develops automated endurance test system for cargo bikes - 12/07/11 InTech, December 2011 By Jody Koplo DMC, a Chicago-based control system integrator, built an automated bicycle clutch testing platform to perform fully automated endurance, fatigue, and life-cycle testing of a new clutch design by simulating real-world bicycle riding.

		Draw wire sensors position parts on X-ray machines - 12/01/11 Roesys. a manufacturer of digital X-ray systems, is using draw-wire sensors from Micro-Epsilon to position the mechanical moving parts on its machines.

		Put the Screws to Tough Vision Apps - 11/18/11 Control Design. November 2011 Prime Engineered Components manufactures precision turned products on vintage multi-spindle screw machines. By using vision, Prime Prime met its goal of 100% quality.

		Smart cameras solve a pressing problem - 11/14/11 Vision Systems Design, November 2011 By Andy Wilson As a billet is loaded into the press, one camera inspects the billet to ensure it enters the extruder properly. As the knife drops to cut the billet, the process is imaged by a second camera.

		Laser scanning Saves Toilet Manufacturer $20,000 - 10/25/11 By scanning an existing upper and lower bowl assembly and modifying the CAD models to fit parts they already had tooling for, Aircraft Technologies substantially reduced the tooling cost.

		Kurt uses Kurt Gages to make vises - 10/23/11 To manufacture near perfect flatness (0.001 in) and parallelism (0.0004 in) in its vises, Kurt uses its own gaging and workholoding systems. Both control the variables that occur in the machining, heat treating and grinding operations

		Retro Fits - 10/18/11 Control Design, October 2011 By Jim Montague Three application stories—including replacing legacy PLCs with new PLCs from AutomationDirect—show that it’s possible to renovate an old machine with new controls.

		Apex advances accuracy with drive solution - 10/17/11 What’s New in Process Technology, October 2011 Apex Automation and Robotics in Sydney builds factory automation machinery and robotic systems. It built an automatic machining centre for polymer foam panels using servomotors from SEW-Eurodrive for faster throughput and greater precision.

		Simulation: Prescription for Success - 09/24/11 Control Design, September 2011 By Jim Montague MTS Medication Technologies builds prescription packaging machines and related equipment. It uses simulation software to design and test feeders, robots and pallets.

		Metso controls world’s fastest coating machine - 09/20/11 Metso's control system helped the Järvenpää Pilot Coater reach a new world record speed of 3,160 m/min.

		PBC Linear guides TigerStop metalcutting machine - 09/08/11 PBC Linear's Integral-V linear guide system reduces mounting components, improves alignment and provide ease of installation across scalable working lengths.

		Orwin selects HBM amplifier to monitor crucial processes - 09/08/11 Process & Control Today, August 2011 Orwin, a machine builder in the UK, uses HBM’s MP85ADP in an Active Engine Mount Cell assembly line. It enables engineers to input up to eight measurement windows whilst monitoring the applied force and distance throughout the crimping process.

		Remote Service via VPN - 08/18/11 Control Design, August 2011 Secure VPN tunneling implementation enables Groninger to provide robust remote technical support to its pharmaceutical and cosmetics customers.

		Serapid supplies push-pull systems to automate die handling - 08/14/11 Seven SERAPID RollBeams are used to push dies in and out of the presses at Reed City Tool. Each pushes the 18,000 pound dies at a speed of 20 feet per minute.

		EtherNet/IP goes to press - 08/12/11 Cerutti selected EtherNet/IP and Rockwell Automation to automate its flexographic printing machines. The system handles 500 nodes and 13,000 I/O.

		Machine Controller Simplifies Development Of Plasma Tube Cutter - 08/07/11 Process and Control Today, July 2011 All five electrical axes on a plasma cutting machine for flue pipes are controlled by a Baldor NextMove ESB-2, a compact real-time machine control module which receives commands direct from an on-board PC-based CNC system.

		Serapid RigidChain moves carts into and out of ovens - 07/24/11 RigidChain's ability to withstand high temperatures lets it move parts in and out of the ovens at Precision Quincy, an oven-manufacturer.

		Laser profile scanner inspects weld seams on steel pipes - 07/11/11 Using Micro-Epsilon’s scanCONTROL 2710 laser profile scanner, the positioning process is performed automatically at Metco, Israel’s largest manufacturer of steel pipe. The calculated profile information is used to directly control the positioning process.

		Aircraft Skin Processing machine uses Animatics’ SmartMotor - 07/05/11 Using Animatics’ SmartMotor with Combitronic communication resulted in a 49% reduction of parts used and increased capabilities on the Flexitool aircraft skin processing machine.

		Serapid automates plate bending application - 06/30/11 The system at Pacific Press Technologies moves a steel plate weighing up to 5000 pounds approximately 100 inches through a press brake to be bent.

		Drive And Control System Leads To Smoother Machine - 06/27/11 IMPO, June 2011 CP Packaging developed VisionPak, an efficient, easy-to-use and highly sanitary servo-driven horizontal form, fill and seal machine (HFFS) by using Rexroth integrated motor and drive, pneumatics, machine control and linear motion systems.

		Softstart UK Hammers Starter Costs For Edf - 06/27/11 Process & Control Today, June 2011 EdF (Cottam Power) needed a starter for the MV drive fitted to a hammer mill at its Nottingham site. The hammer mill is no small machine. It receives olive cake via a triple screw feeder at a rate of up to 30 tonnes per hour, and it is driven by a 350 kW 3.3 kV motor. Softstart UK supplied a soft starter instead of a costly variable speed drive.

		Automation System Sucks It Up - 06/27/11 Assembly, May 2011 By Dagmar Dübbelde Vorwerk, in Wuppertal, Germany, Vorwerk manufactures vacuums, blenders and other products. DEPRAG in Lewisville, TX, supplied assembly systems to join the upper and lower shells of the vacuum cleaner housing, and assemble the telescopic handle.

		Chocolate bars uniquely packaged - 06/10/11 Automation.com, June 2011 By Bosch Rexroth Packaging containers can sometimes be quite elaborate. The faster, the better, the more accurate so as not to damage delicate products. This is the challenge for pick-and-place robots and the control technology behind them. Chocolate, for example, is one such product that must be handled with care.

		Bale Hay While the Sun Shines - 05/18/11 A PLC from AutomationDirect helped this farmer/inventor develop a new kind of hay baler that lets farmers harvest hay day or night, regardless of the weather.

		Sustainability In A Bottle - 05/18/11 IMPO, May 2011 By Krystal Gabert The Dr Pepper Snapple Group’s Victorville facility produces two million cases per month. Bottles are verified with a vision system that photographs each bottle as it passes along the line. The system allows plant operators to detect defects in the bottles or variations in fill levels.

		The Art Of Slashing Lead Times - 05/18/11 IMPO, May 2011 By Joel Hans, Associate Editor, IMPO Pointe Precision. in Plover, WI, does contract precision CNC machining. To reduce the unnecessary wait to fulfill an order, the company’s managers had to undertake a drastic shift in philosophy. The solution was quick response manufacturing (QRM). In the most advanced QRM-enabled area, lead times have dropped by 75 percent.

		25% productivity increase achieved for laminator - 05/14/11 Control Engineering Europe, April 2011 API Laminates recorded a 25% increase in productivity following the installation of a custom control system with Parker AC890 drives for its refurbished laminating line in Stockport, Cheshire, UK.

		Upgrade By Optima Control Solutions Fuels Dunlop Productivity - 04/24/11 Process & Control Today, April 2011 Dunlop, who produces rubber products, employed Optima to refurbish one of its main machines in order to improve its control and reliability. Optima selected the Pilz PNOZ Multi-programmable safety relay to enhance the security of the machine.

		The Vision to Innovate - 04/24/11 Control Design, April 2011 By Markus Tarin, MoviMed MoviMed updated an old vision system application to gauge 20 cylindrical parts per second that are 2 or 3 in. long and 9 mm in diameter to micron tolerances at line speeds of 52 in. per second.

		CAMotion —Wireless Distributed Safety Control Network - 04/24/11 Automation World, April 2011 CAMotion, a motion control automation manufacturer, worked with Siemens to deploy a distributed safety control network for large, overhead gantry robot systems equipment.

		Drive Technology For A Bottling Plant - 04/18/11 IMPO, March 2011 By NORD Drive Systems Hacklberger Beverages is one of the largest breweries in the German area of Bavaria. NORD mechanical and electronic drive technology is used in the packaging, palleting and conveyor systems.

		Getting an Energy Boost - 04/17/11 Control Engineering Asia, March 2011 By Bob Gill Coca-Cola in Vietnam upgraded its obsolete Siemens S5 PLCs to S7-300 controllers and Profibus.

		Lenze inverters deliver “close to real” experience on alpine ski simulator - 03/26/11 Process and Control Today, February 2011 Two compact Lenze SMV frequency inverters deliver smooth start optimisation and motion control of the track on the Whizzard PRO alpine ski simulator, which, according to people who have tried it, is as close to the real thing as possible. Suiting both skiers and snowboarders, the Whizzard adjusts the slope angle whilst running and can give experience of extreme conditions, even moguls, at speeds of up to 30km/hour.

		Factoring Safety into Factory Controls - 03/26/11 Automation World, February 2011 Toledo Productions in Toledo, Ohio, installed a safety programmable logic controller (PLC) and put it and the machine controls onto a fieldbus from Siemens.

		FRABA POSITAL position sensors improve solar energy output - 03/16/11 POSITAL's rotary encoders and inclinometers play an important role in solar tracking systems, providing the controller with instantaneous information on the exact orientation of the solar panel array.

		BVM Brunner selects Pilz for packaging machine safety solution - 03/10/11 Following machine risk assessments, BVM Brunner decided to implement a new safety design for one of its machines, which incorporated safety solutions from Pilz.

		Absolute positioning on a budget - 03/06/11 When the Rock-Tenn paperboard mill in Aurora IL wanted to automate the positioning and tensioning of the belts on its paperboard dryer conveyor system, it took an innovative combination of high-end, absolute encoders and basic, low-end control and drive technology to get the job done.

		Paint Manufacturer Turns Up Volume - 02/14/11 IMPO, February 2011 Dunn-Edwards, a paint manufacturer, uses a slurry system and PcVue SCADA software that automates the process. The software is integrated with three PLCs based on ISaGRAF, which are fully compliant with both IEC 61499 and IEC 61131 industrial control standards.

		Switch to Servo Motors Makes for Faster Package Changeover - 02/14/11 Control Design, February 2011 By Peter Graham Edson Packaging needed to develop a solution that would make product changeovers in minutes rather than hours. Doing that required a shift to servo motors.

		Servocontrol Theater - 02/11/11 Machine Design, February 2011 By Don Labriola, QuickSilver Controls Putting motion into art requires a different approach to motion control than typical machine-tool applications. Here’s how motion control is used in amusement parks, theaters and movies.

		Baldor controls conformal coating machine - 02/10/11 Baldor's real-time Ethernet motion control system helped Advanced Coating Robotics create a conformal coating machine that combines three-dimensional spraying accuracy with high throughput.

		Control platform inks the deal - 02/07/11 Process & Control Engineering, January 2011 By Jason Thelander The ink cartridge filling machine developed by Precision Mechatronics fills five 50 ml ink cartridges every 20 seconds. A PC- and EtherCAT-based Beckhoff control platform with integrated Motion Control functionality controls it.

		Siemens provides ‘e-stop’ safety solution for coal preparation plant - 02/07/11 Process and Control Today, January 2011 Siemens provided a SIRIUS 3RK Modular Safety System (MSS) as the solution for use in the coal washery. It combines the functionality of a simple safety relay with that of a fail-safe programmable logic controller (PLC).

		Optima improves Tullis Russell's Coating Performance - 02/07/11 Process and Control Today, February 2011 Optima designed, supplied, installed and commissioned the complete control system retrofit of a Siemens S7-400 PLC and WinCC SCADA package with Parker SSD, DC and AC drives,

		Motors save energy on world’s largest paper making machine - 02/07/11 Process and Control Today, February 2011 WEG high efficiency motors are providing up to 30% savings in energy on the operation of the largest and most sophisticated paper making machine in the world for producing high quality paper.

		CNC retrofit brings old mill up to modern standards - 02/01/11 The electrical upgrade was performed by the automation system integrator, MasterControls, and was part of a complete mechanical rebuild of the mill.

		High-Speed Thread Inspection - 01/22/11 IMPO, January 2011 Performing thread inspection on large numbers of parts can be difficult and exhausting for the operator, and gets worse for production quantities. So Eaton used an automatic Rotary Thread Gage Inspection Tool from Multimatic Products.

		Upgrade at Everaz Highveld Steel - 01/09/11 South Africa Instrumentation & Control, January 2011 Control Techniques upgraded M/C4, a continuous casting machine at Evraz Highveld Steel in Mpumalanga, South Africa. All of the switchgear had become obsolete causing major maintenance problems. The decision was taken to switch to AC control and a Modicon PLC.

		PROFIsafe increases throughput at Auto Plant - 01/05/11 Chery Automobile China upgrades its transfer press line and increases throughput by adopting state-of-the-art safety systems using PROFINET with integrated PROFIsafe.

		Technology prevents bearing failure at a steel mill - 12/18/10 Plant Services, December 2010 NUCOR Steel Arkansas installed Azima DLI’s 1600 network-based temperature monitoring technology to all 16 bearings in the gearboxes driving the F1 and F2 mill stands. The system immediately identified two anomalous bearing temperatures that were well above expected limits due to excessive mill loads and speeds.

		Placement Platform Expands Production for German Electronics Company - 11/07/10 Assembly, October 2010 By Jim Camillo Metz installed a SIPLACE SX placement machine line made by Siemens Electronics. The SIPLACE has interchangeable gantries that can be installed or uninstalled by a single person in less than 30 minutes.

		Design software helps drill spindle exceed 400,000 rpm - 09/28/10 Opera motor design software package is helping Air Bearings extend the speed of spindle motors beyond 400,000 RPM.

		Beijer supplies HMIs to AMP Systems & Control - 09/28/10 UK-based machine builder installed Beijer iX Panel HMIs on an industrial oven and a food handling and conveyor system.

		Modern LVDTs in New Applications in the Air, Ground, and Sea - 09/16/10 Sensors, September 2010 B: John Matlack, Macro Sensors Advances in microelectronics, manufacturing techniques, and construction materials have significantly improved the performance and cost efficiency of LVDT position sensors, opening new applications for this tried-and-true technology.

		Talk2M Enables Remote Monitoring and Control of Robot Welding Machines - 09/12/10 Process and Control Today, August 2010 By installing Internet-based remote maintenance and diagnostics software on an industrial robot welding machine, Sims Engineering is now able to remotely monitor and control the machine using secure Broadband and 3G connections.

		Harsh environment does not beat CC-Link communications - 09/12/10 Process and Control Today, September 2010 Enkei America, a die casting company, ran a year long trial on CC-Link communications for machine control in a desperately harsh environment and experienced no problems whatsoever.

		Automating Small Batch Fabrication Welding By SmartTCP Applications at NPK Construction Equipment and ACSS, a structural steel fabricator, show that robots, gantries, positioners, welding controllers and software can automate small batch welding.

		Fastech rebuilds adhesive binder control system - 09/08/10 By Siemens A Siemens Sinamics S120 drive and Simotion D drive platform were used in the rebuilding of a 30-year-old binding system at Arandell, a magazine and catalog printer in Menomonee Falls, Wisconsin.

		Talk2M Enables wireless control of Robot Welding Machines - 08/24/10 Sims Engineering Ltd is now able to remotely monitor and control an industrial robot welding machine using secure Broadband and 3G connections.

		ABI chooses Wonderware - 08/23/10 South Africa Instrumentation & Control, August 2010 Amalgamated Beverage Industries installed Wonderware software, a Siemens PLC, and PLC software from Software Toolbox to automate its soft drink packaging line in Pretoria.

		Kollmorgen software controls Paper Processing Machine - 08/17/10 Jakob Graphic Services used the Kollmorgen Automation Suite software package to control its jumbo roll collator.

		European-style speed reducer gains traction in USA - 08/13/10 Control Engineering Europe, July 2010 Some American machinery builders are providing a new market for the shaft-mounted speed reducer, which follows the European design concept of motor-gear combination.

		Kuka goes soft on control - 08/13/10 Control Engineering Europe, August 2010 Kuka is controlling its latest generation of robots with Fujitsu Technology Solutions driven computer-based control. With its new control generation the company replaced system limiting hardware with intelligent software functions.

		DC drives improve productivity of steel mill - 07/20/10 Kocaer Haddecilik in Turkey installed DC drives, and a SCADA system, complete with Profibus, Ethernet and fibre-optic networking.

		The Future Is Standardized - 07/18/10 Control Design, July 2010 By Mike Bacidore The goal of custom machine builder Concep Machine, for the past three decades, has been to draw from a set of standards to create high-performing solutions..

		Lack of Process Alarms Leads to Injury On Injection-Molding Line - 07/18/10 Machine Design, July 2010 By Jessica Shapiro A worker operating an injection-molding machine was seriously injured when hot polymer melt from the injection nozzle shot through her hand.

		Baldor motion/machine controller runs stone cutting machinery - 07/13/10 Farnese Australia used an Ethernet-based controller for its latest product, the Quantum bridge saw.

		Framing Components Lend Flexibility to Rotary Machine - 07/12/10 Assembly, July 2010 By Jim Camillo A rotary indexing machine was designed by Itus-Industrietechnik und Sondereinrichtungen GmbH of Solingen, Germany. Custom-built for a German automotive supplier, the machine processes interior parts for right- and left-hand side-view mirrors.

		Siemens motion control helps DTS build label machine faster - 07/07/10 Drilling Technical Services (DTS) used Siemens Simotion D435 motion controller to develop a mid-width web roll-to-roll die cutter.

		Robot-mounted sensor monitors adhesive on vehicle glass - 07/01/10 BeadMonitor measurement system, developed by Oxford Sensor Technology, uses Micro-Epsilon’s scanCONTROL 2700 non-contact laser profile displacement sensor.

		OI With Calculator Cards a Hole in One - 06/23/10 Control Design, June 2010 By Darrell Fiegenbaum, Kays Engineering Kays Engineering converted from PLCs to PC-based controls and TwinCat NC PTP software from Beckhoff for its drilling machines.

		Printing Press builder solves Profibus communication problem - 05/30/10 The signal quality on the PROFIBUS network was insufficient to sustain a robust communication link. Lowering the baud rate to 1.5 MBit/s immediately fixed the signal quality level on the affected machines.

		WEG permanent magnet motors reduce power usage by 33% - 05/15/10 Process and Control Today, April 2010 By replacing the standard induction motors used on its ring spinning machines with permanent magnet motors from WEG, Buettner, a textile manufacturer, has reduced its annual power consumption by 33% and increased its machine utilisation by 80%.

		SMV inverters improve the mix at Swedish bakery - 05/15/10 Process and Control Today, April 2010 Baginto AB, a bakery in Sweden, upgraded mixing and dough preparation equipment with SMV inverter drives from Lenze. The IP65 rating of the SMV drives enabled them to be mounted directly to the machine frame close to the motors without the cost and complexity of control cabinets.

		ASV submersible vehicles use Variohm shaft angle sensors - 05/15/10 Process and Control Today, May 2010 ASV selected Novotechnik GL series hollow shaft potentiometric angle sensors from Variohm EuroSensor to provide rotary position feedback as an intrinsic part of in-house designed actuators used for the steering and ride stabilisation control system.

		Multivac relies on sensors with wash-down design - 05/15/10 Process and Control Today, May 2010 Multivac selected Leuze electronic’s Series 55 hygienic optical sensors for their latest range of thermoforming machines, in part because of their ability to cope with the intensive cleaning regimes used on such machines.

		Quarry upgraded whilst fully operational - 05/15/10 South Africa Instrumentation & Control, May 2010 Laezonia Quarry in South Africa installed new electrical and instrumentation cable racking, cables, local isolator panels, safety instrumentation, pull ropes etc, without impacting on production and with both plants in operation.

		TCP/IP-compatible drives simplify crane simulator - 05/15/10 What’s New in Process Technology, May 2010 By Baldor Australia A three-axis motion platform, based on Baldor Electric Company’s ethernet-compatible drives, is helping to further increase the realism of crane training experience by physically moving a simulator system’s replica operator cabin in synchrony with computer-generated images.

		Automating Assemblies - 04/16/10 Vision Systems Design, April 2010 By Andrew Wilson Combining off-the-shelf cameras, lighting, and software with a Cartesian robot allows microelectrode assemblies to be rapidly inspected.

		CNC machine gets integrated drive system - 04/08/10 Control Engineering, April 2010 Advanced Industrial Machinery redesigned its stone-cutting saw/waterjet system using an IndraMotion MTX CNC machine control platform, Profibus remote I/O, and IndraDrive Mi integrated motor and drive system, all from Bosch Rexroth.

		Leuze helps ensure operator safety at VW’s press-shop - 04/08/10 Process and Control Today, April 2010 VW’s press shop includes two large capacity crossbar presses with a total press capacity of 73,000KN, running at a speed of up to 15 strokes per minute. To provide protection for the workers, the danger areas surrounding where the transfer vehicles operate are guarded by Leuze safety light barriers.

		Rexroth Controls Meat Packaging Machine By Rexroth CP Packaging’s VisionPak uses an integrated Rexroth electric drive and control, pneumatics and linear motion platform for an ultra-sanitary and precise deli meat packaging machine.

		Rexroth Shrinks Control Panel on Cartoner By Rexroth Rexroth integrated motor/drive, controls and pneumatic valves helped Z Automation design a horizontal continuous motion cartoner with 50% less control panel space.

		Rexroth Brings Servo Precision to Web Converting Machine By Rexroth A Rexroth SYNAX 200 control system, servo drives and SERCOS control Summit Machine’s web converter, a 20-axis converting machine that takes material compounds and precisely forms them against a substrate to create the final product.

		Rexroth controls servo-driven lumber sticker stacker - 04/01/10 By Rexroth MoCo Engineering and Fabricating uses Rexroth regenerative drive system in its all electric servo-driven lumber stacking machine. Energy consumption dropped from 100-180 kW for a previous hydraulic machine to 58 kW for the servo-driven machine.

		System Prevents Defects in Motorcycle Wheels - 03/19/10 Assembly, March 2010 By John Sprovieri Force and stroke are monitored during the entire motorcycle press operation, and these variables can be graphed for detailed process tuning and analysis. The machine can identify abnormalities during the pressing operation, thereby preventing damaged components. It can also identify nonconforming parts after assembly.

		Oystar Jones Puts the PLC in Packaging Equipment - 03/19/10 Control Design, March 2010 By Mike Bacidore Oystar Jones’ soap packaging machines use PLCs, servo motion, discrete I/O, analog I/O, variable frequency drives and operator touchscreens, and a mix of hardwired and digital networking, depending on the vintage of upstream and downstream equipment.

		HMC Products uses Grace Thru-Door Ethernet Switch - 03/16/10 The E5 is mounted on the outside of the Pouchmaster packaging machine, thereby enhancing compliance to NFPA 70E.

		B&L converts press from shafted to shaftless drive - 03/04/10 By Siemens B&L redesigned the gear train, from a standard shafted unit to accept dual motor servo control, using a Siemens Simotion D445 motion controller, Sinamics S120 drives and 1PH7 servo motors. By doing this, over 60 components were eliminated.

		Volvo Aero Turns Machine Tool into CMM By using a Zimmermann FZ42 portal milling center and Siemens CNC controls, Volvo Aero uses the machine tool for cutting, then uses it as a coordinate measuring machine for inspection.

		Laser Sensor Innovations Improve Tire Manufacturing - 02/25/10 IMPO, February 2010 By Dr. Walt Pastorius and Martin Sanden, LMI Tire and rubber manufacturers today are requiring inspection systems to detect small geometric defects wherever they occur on the rubber surface in both final and in-process inspection operations. To meet these expanding requirements, sensor manufacturers have developed new and very high speed laser line sensors.

		TCP/IP-compatible drives simplify development of advanced crane simulator - 02/19/10 Process and Control Today, February 2010 A three-axis motion platform based on Baldor Ethernet-compatible drives is helping to increase the realism of crane training experience by physically moving a simulator system’s replica operator cabin in synchronism with computer-generated images.

		Night Train bound for Australia - 02/19/10 What’s New in Process Technology, February 2010 Shamic Sheetmetal in Australia manufactures sheetmetal products such as kiosks, car parts and electrical cubicles using Night Train FMS technology from Finn-Power. It allows the sheetmetal fabrication plant to run shifts that are practically unmanned.

		Machine Vision Protects Pharmaceutical Packaging - 02/16/10 Control Engineering, February 2010 By Bradley Weber, PPT Vision PPT’s vision system helps B. Braun boost productivity, inspect needles and labels, manage risk, and improve quality across multiple medical device and pharmaceutical production lines.

		Sprint drives Vampire ride - 02/16/10 Control Engineering Europe, February 2010 Trains on the Vampire ride at the south-west London theme park and zoo make an average of 720 laps of the track in one day, causing a great deal of strain on the DC motor control system.

		The automation of the largest and fastest machine in the world - 02/16/10 Control Engineering Europe, January 2010 The CERN accelerator and its safety will be controlled and monitored by 130 control systems featuring Simatic S7-300 and S7-400 PLCs and safety controllers from Siemens.

		Robots handle vests for Playmobile toys - 01/31/10 By RNA Toy manufacturer Tampoprint is using RNA robots and a vision system to feed 15 types of small plastic vests in 10 different colours to dress firemen, pirates or school teacher toys.

		Machine vision: Eliminating mold damage - 01/20/10 Control Engineering, January 2010 A Cognex vision system prevents injection molding tool damage and improves part quality at TNT Plastic Molding in Anaheim, CA.

		Automated manufacturing system quadruples production After a fire destroyed the manufacturing process, Research Products had two options: either rebuild using equipment comparable to what had previously been used, or investigate ways to automate the manufacturing process.

		Machine manufacturer turns to Control Techniques - 01/10/10 Control Engineering Europe, December 2009 Denzo, a heat exchange machine manufacturer, has turned to Control Techniques for Unidrive SP AC drives and Unimotors to provide high-speed servo control throughout one of its machines that produces radiators for the Italian motor industry.

		Optical Switch controls Bigbelly solar trash compactors - 12/21/09 The OPB810L51 device functions as a non-contact sensor to determine the exact position of the compaction ram.

		Corrugator Retrofit - 12/18/09 Control Engineering, December 2009 International Paper hired systems integrator Concept Systems to rebuild a corrugating machine. Concept replaced the PLC with a Rockwell unit, upgraded the motors, and replaced the I/O and HMI.

		Bottom Line-driven Integration - 12/18/09 Control Engineering, December 2009 By David Sanders and Bob Cheek, Metcam Metcam specializes in custom sheet metal fabrication. They installed a control system based on a DL260 PLC, analog I/O, signal conditioners and an HMI, all from AutomationDirect.

		Wireless Control of Critical Applications Is Just a Leap Away - 12/15/09 Industrial Networking, December 2009 By Mike Bacidore To reach the unreachable: examples of successful wireless field control may pave the way for future wireless control of critical applications.

		Actuators Help Weld Wind Turbine Towers By Bosch-Rexroth AMET used Rexroth CKK ball screw actuators in a custom welding system for wind turbine tower builders. The system performs accurate longitudinal and circumferential submerged arc welding on towers 90 meters high.

		Shake, Rattle and Pick - 11/21/09 Control Design, November 2009 By Joe Feeley Rixan Associates developed a unique take on the vibratory bowl feeder concept by using machine vision to replace the channels and guides in order to handle a virtually unlimited number of parts within a certain size range.

		PLC System Guides Cylinder Assembly - 11/17/09 Assembly, November 2009 Alfing Montagetechnik in Germany built an automated cylinder head assembly machine for one of its automotive customers, using an IndraLogic CML40 programmable logic controller from Bosch Rexroth. The finished system consists of two lines working in parallel. It can complete a finished workpiece every 30 seconds.

		Machine Builder Saves With AS-interface - 11/17/09 Automation World, November 2009 Automacad Concrete in Canada builds concrete splitters that once had more than 300 wires connected from the skid to the main control panel, leading to wire bundles that were cumbersome and unsightly. The wire bundle was replaced with AS-Interface from ifm efector.

		Sensor film monitors pressure on nip rollers - 11/11/09 Mohawk Fine Papers uses Pressurex sensor film to take static nip impressions on their press section and dynamic nip impressions on their calendars.

		Intelligent Gearbox Monitoring - 10/22/09 Maintenance On-Line, October 2009 An online remote monitoring device (in this case a FAG DTECT X1 system) was installed on hot saws to determine their condition.

		Steel plant sees shakes - 10/22/09 Plant Services, October 2009 In Worthington Steel’s Porter, IN, plant, rollers on the pickling line were going through two sets of bearings per year, at a cost of approximately $75,000 per bearing set. Using ProSmart’s advanced diagnostic tools to continuously monitor machine health, Worthington Steel found the problem.

		Synchronised drives help give a train a lift during maintenance - 10/22/09 Design Engineering News, October 2009 By Katie Williams One of the most powerful lifting systems in the world has been installed by the SNCF at its new East European Technicentre. A synchronised lifting line can lift a complete TGV train - some 200 metres long and weighing 386 tonnes - in just 10 minutes to an accuracy of a millimetre, thus allowing maintenance of the running gear.

		Online Monitoring Pays Off - 10/22/09 Chemical Processing, October 2009 By Casey A. Connolly, Gulf Chemical, and Frank Mignano, SKF Gulf Chemical expanded a sophisticated wireless condition monitoring system from SKF Reliability Systems. The process began in late 2007 with a limited trial and ultimately led to deployment of a highly advanced online system to monitor dozens of critical assets. Total documented savings exceeded system cost within the first year.

		ABB automation controls Stora Enso paper mill - 10/20/09 ABB automation, power distribution, variable speed drive systems and electrification equipment is being used on the PM12 paper line at Stora Enso’s Kvarnsveden paper mill in Sweden.

		Vishay web control used in coating pilot plant - 10/20/09 Vishay provided a web tension measurement system to Western Michigan University (WMU) for use in its Coating Pilot Plant. The system precisely measures the sheet web tension between the coater backing rolls and the chill-roll S-wrap.

		Custom Builder Integrates Standard Equipment for User Flexibility - 10/19/09 Control Design, October 2009 By Todd Bauernfeind and Russ Hubrich, Summit Machine Typically, at the start of estimating a project, we research for standard equipment to perform the main process functions. Standard equipment varies from simple vibratory feeder bowls, pick-and-place units or sonic welders, to more advanced, auger-driven powder fillers or robotics.

		RNA robot handles spoon challenge - 10/12/09 RNA used a step feeder, bulk storage hopper and an ABB IRB360 robot to stuff plastic spoons into a fast food container at a rate of 120 containers per minute.

		Embedded PCs Keep Drilling Machines on Budget - 10/10/09 Control Engineering, October 2009 Kays Engineering uses Beckhoff embedded PCs, Ethernet controllers, TwinCAT software and EtherCAT servo drives to control its DeHoff gun drilling machines.

		Software Virtualization Environment Enhances Control - 10/10/09 Control Engineering, October 2009 By Kim Hartman, TenAsys Cleveland Motion Controls’ Burny XL CNC uses a virtual machine architecture, implemented by TenAsys software, to simultaneously run Microsoft Windows XP Embedded and the TenAsys INtime real-time operating system

		Sensonics installs vibration monitors in China - 10/10/09 Process & Control Today, October 2009 SENSONICS installed DN26 series vibration and speed monitors at Shanghai Boasteel, the largest iron and steel company in China. The two systems installed monitor bearing vibration of de-dusting and sintering fans providing online condition monitoring and shutdown protection.

		Factivity installs shop floor MES at Swanson Industries - 10/07/09 Factivity fit Swanson Industries with its shop floor technology, replacing pen-to-paper with a PC based manufacturing execution system (MES).

		Linear guide feeds robots in pill sorting application - 09/24/09 PBC Linear’s Redi-Rail linear guide was installed as a replacement positioning system for Manchac Technologies’ fully automated pharmaceutical robot.

		Precision Controller Gives Engraver Artisan-like Craftsmanship - 09/16/09 Machine Design, September 2009 By Leland E. Teschler A machine that mimics the craftsmanship of hand engraving uses a four-axis motion controller driven by a DMC-2143 four-axis Ethernet motion controller from Galil Motion Control. The tough part about mimicking hand-engraving work is that artisans perform a downward and upward movement with the chisel for each cut.

		New production line in record time - 09/13/09 Control Engineering, September 2009 The Southland Tube mill in Birmingham, AL (USA) is an all-Siemens plant that uses PLCs, dc drives, motor starters, Profibus, WinCC software and Step 7 project management software. The line started up in only two weeks, and the second piece of steel tubing that came off the mill was sellable.

		Wide-Ranging Speeds Important In Mill Motor - 08/27/09 Machinery and Equipment MRO, June 2009 24-hour production line makes motor reliability a top priority at state-of-the-art Plum Creek fibreboard plant. Baldor Reliance motors run the press at speeds of 10 to 60 meters per minute to make medium dense fibreboard in sizes from 2.5 mm to 1.5 in. thick.

		Case studies in data analysis through predictive maintenance - 08/27/09 Reliable Plant, August 2009 Case studies represent vibration analysis of bearing faults, unbalanced conditions and impact testing for natural frequencies.

		Software Key to New Web Converting Machine - 08/20/09 Control Design, August 2009 By Todd Bauernfeind, Summit Machine Summit built a servo-driven web converting machine for a manufacturer to the electronics industry that was launching a new product but had antiquated machinery incapable of production of the new line. Summit used a Synax 200 control platform, a PLC and motion control solution from Bosch Rexroth.

		Remote Control Bowling - 08/20/09 Mechanical Engineering, August 2009 This special bowling ball is guided down the lane not by the arm swing and hand release of a bowler but by the acumen of the user holding a controller that is not much different from the one used in Play Station, Xbox or other video games. An internal motor drive rotates a sleeve to alter the center of gravity and path of the ball.

		Drag Racing Goes Electric - 07/14/09 Design News, July 2009 By Charles J. Murray By using hundreds of pounds of batteries and "slamming" massive amounts of electrical current into their drive motors, drag racers are enabling small electric vehicles to beat gasoline-powered Corvettes and Vipers.

		Rexroth increases production for tea packaging machine By Bosch-Rexroth Using a Rexroth automation system, the German company Teepack’s Perfecta can fill and produce beverage tea bags at a rate of 400 per minute with thread and label, or with an outside paper protection.

		Rexroth controls VisionPak Machine By Bosch-Rexroth CP Packaging’s VisionPak uses an integrated Rexroth electric drive and control, pneumatics, and linear motion platform for an ultra-sanitary and precise deli meat packaging machine.

		Bosch Rexroth automates KHS poucher By Bosch-Rexroth Rexroth provided a drive and control system for the KHS Innopouch K-series, a modular, flexible pouching machine with fast setup and changeover times and the ability to expand easily as needed.

		Nissan turns cameras on its process - 06/16/09 Control Engineering Europe, May 2009 Nissan was faced with a problem when its existing mechanical centraliser could not cope with the new glass sizes for two of its key vehicles. Therefore it was imperative that a new vision system could provide accurate information for the two new models and adapt easily to product future developments.

		Automation drives efficiency, lowers cost Control Engineering, May 2009 By Jack Mans Machine control, programming and a linear motion system on a servo-driven, balcony case packer reduced installation and startup times by 30 to 35 percent and helped reduce hardware costs by 40 percent.

		Motion and Vision Combine to Detect Flaws Control Engineering, May 2009 By Howard Foster, MicroCraft MicroCraft designed an inspection system that could find and categorize the micron-sized defects that can occur in plastic film production. Motion, vision, and data collection were combined using a National Instruments PXI-7324 motion board and two PXI IMAQ boards.

		Intelligent Vision Stops Bypass of Quality Control Control Engineering, May 2009 By Sarah Sookman, Matrox Imaging Operators sometimes employ clever and often low-tech strategies for bypassing a vision-based label quality-control system. CI Vision implemented a three-part strategy to ensure the system inspects 100% of the products.

		EMI Down Under Automation World, April 2009 By Wes Iversen G. James is using Oracle’s MOC Manufacturing Operations Center EMI software to monitor a dozen individual computer numerical control (CNC) milling machines, wire cutting machines and spark erosion discharge machines in a division that makes aluminum extrusion die toolage. These machines previously had little external communication.

		Robots Clear Machining Bottleneck Assembly, April 2009 Morrill Motors replaced two operators with a single robot to load and unload a machining station. The robot increased production, eliminated problems with mis-oriented parts and machine bottlenecks, eliminated overtime costs, and in creased throughput by 25%.

		Jumbo Savings from Automated Feeding Food Manufacturing, April 2009 Seafood Systems operates a shrimp farm in Okemos, MI. The shrimp are fed by an automated system controlled by a WAGO 750-841 Ethernet TCP/IP Programmable Fieldbus Controller, which disperses feed at precise, predetermined intervals.

		MacroView despatch system automates truck loading at Coogee Chemicals PACE, March 2009 Coogee Chemicals installed a MacroView system to automate their truck loading system in Kwinana, Western Australia. The new system automates the process of loading trucks over their weigh bridge, replacing the previously manual process.

		Condition monitoring at UK steel mill pays off - 04/26/09 Process and Control Today, April 2009 The Corus Skinningrove steel mill used to manually inspect bearings by shutting down the rolling mill, and disassembling the bearing housings. Now they use an eight-channel FAG DTECT X1 vibration monitoring system from Schaeffler UK. The system discovered two bearing faults on two separate occasions within the first week of operation.

		Pick-to-Light Sensor Error-Proofs Assembly IEN, March 2009 TG-Missouri Corp. needed to effectively mistake-proof its assembly processes. Omron designed a poka-yoke system based on pick-to-light sensors. The popular Japanese mistake-proofing method known as “poka-yoke” gives an assembler the opportunity to correct an error in parts picking at the least expensive point in the process.

		Green machining improves Ford Van Dyke Transmission Plant - 04/13/09 Nearly dry MQL machining slices seven figures from initial system cost for unneeded coolant tanks and high-pressure supply systems, reduces operating costs, and improves plant air quality

		Cable carriers replace festoons on automated storage and retrieval systems - 03/29/09 Weldon’s automated systems are used in bakeries to facilitate pan storage and retrieval. Cable carrier systems eliminate space and clearance issues and reduced installation time and maintenance requirements.

		Robots, Machine Vision Cut Defect Rates Assembly, February 2009 The Meister Group in Belgium produces electric valve parts for use in anti-lock braking systems. To reduce the number of defective parts getting through, Meister installed a pair of automated checking and sorting systems employing a trio of In-Sight 1000 machine vision systems from Cognex and a pair six-axis ARC Mate 100iB robots from Fanuc Robotics.

		Automating 0.38mm diameter smart tapping for a watch manufacturer By SMAC A tapping process for watches has been carefully done by hand under a microscope for many years. SMAC successfully automated the tapping process with precise force control that put out low contact force and low rotary torque.

		Cummins JEP uses Ubisense tracking to follow engines - 02/25/09 By recording when an engine enters or leaves a test or work cell Cummins can see how quickly an engine moves through the testing process and identify any differences between engine types and options.

		Conveyor Provides Cut-rate Precision Assembly, January 2009 Arnold Machine landed a contract with an automotive parts supplier to build an automated system to assemble a component with three separate parts. the customer demanded that an operator be able to load up to six sets of parts and then leave the machine to run unattended. Arnold Machine went with a lower-cost pneumatic indexing system from Northstar Industries.

		Automate and separate American Machinist, February 2009 By Charles Bates TNT EDM runs more than a third of all its jobs in lights-out production, and has most of its machinists running multiple machines simultaneously. Machinists run as many as 10 machines or more at a time and robots help.

		A mint automation job American Machinist, February 2009 The Royal Australian Mint in Canberra, Australia, installed three bucket elevators from Australis Engineering of Sydney. The bucket conveyors deliver blanks to each of the Mint’s 13 stamping presses and feed finished coins to the facility’s packaging area.

		System 800xA automates Hunan Juntai pulp mill in China - 02/09/09 With more than 20,000 I/O and 46 operator stations, the solution is one of the largest process automation systems ever delivered by ABB in China.

		XY measurement critical in automotive part manufacturing - 01/22/09 LXY25 50 nanometer resolution linear motor based XY stage is used to solve a critical automotive part problem at a major Asian automobile manufacturer.

		Siemens automates Renault diesel engine line - 01/22/09 Automation includes Siemens Sinumerik 840D powerline for the CNC control, 160 NC machines, 18 robots, Profibus, PLCs, HMIs and industrial PCs.

		Automation solutions key to alumina refinery expansions European Process Engineer, December 2008 By Sean Ottewell Summaries of how major aluminium manufacturers are using state-of-the-art automation solutions.

		Nestle Purina plant reduces downtime by saving configurations By MDT Software Before MDT AutoSave was installed at the Nestlé Purina plant in Mechanicsburg, PA, the plant used a “home grown” program to track changes in their programmable devices. AutoSave ensures that, if a device fails or a program results in undesired performance, a prior version of the program is readily available.

		Brakes Improve Stage & Theater Process and Control Today, November 2008 Warner Electric’s ability to provide a bespoke solution to a brake problem on hoists for stage and theatre applications has enabled Prolyte in the Netherlands, world leader manufacturer of staging, rigging and trussing products, to cut the time for assembling the brakes onto its hoists.

		Securing Remote Internet Maintenance Services By Innonimate Applications in various industries illustrate how TCP/IP connections provide remote maintenance capabilities via secure links.

		CAM Makes Parts in Famous Garage American Machinist, September 2008 By Bruce Vernyi In a private garage in Burbank, Calif., three people repair, restore and maintain a fleet of vehicles for Jay Leno. The garage does nearly everything in house with a waterjet cutting machine, welding equipment, manual mill and lathe, sheet-metal fabrication equipment, and its newer acquisitions, a Fadal 4020 CNC mill with rotary axis and GibbsCAM software.

		Oxygen Measurement in Waste Gas for Effective Explosion Protection Process and Control Today, September 2008 Real-time monitoring of the oxygen concentration in waste gas plays a key role in explosion prevention. Using amperometric oxygen electrodes there is above all no need for complex and costly sample handling systems.

		Building from Worker to the Queen Automation World, September 2008 By Rob Spiegel BP Pipelines of North America, in Forest City, Ill., decided to add leak detection to the supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) system to monitor pipeline leakage. The challenge was to feed process data from the Sybase database to the leak detection system. Cogent Industrial Technologies used a OPC DataHub to make the connection.

		Explosion-proof controls enable dust-free loading of dry bulk materials Process and Control Today, September 2008 Hazardous area equipment, including terminal boxes, control stations, emergency stop controls and enclosures manufactured by Cooper Crouse-Hinds are being used on loading systems for handling dry, potentially-explosive bulk materials, including cement, alumina, sugar, petroleum coke, grain and sulphur.

		Oxygen Measurement in Waste Gas for Effective Explosion Protection Process and Control Today, September 2008 Real-time monitoring of the oxygen concentration in waste gas plays a key role in explosion prevention. Using amperometric oxygen electrodes there is above all no need for complex and costly sample handling systems.

		Baldor motion control system automates woodworking process - 08/27/08 By using dual sanding belts and a swinging work holder controlled by a combination of linear and rotary servo motor axes, this machine replaces a manually-actuated sanding process at Martin Guitar.

		Controlled Size Reduction Control Design, August 2008 Modern Process Equipment in Chicago designs and builds roller-style granulizers based on Allen-Bradley PLCs. PLC control allows them to provide 25 different recipes that control all of the important grinding parameters.

		Machine Vision Ensures Quality Assembly, August 2008 Keiper GmbH (Kaiserslautern, Germany) manufactures metal seating components for the automotive industry. They recently implemented a vision inspection cell employing an In-Sight 5403 vision sensor from Cognex. The system is now used to identify approximately 20 different parts—some of them with very subtle differences in shape and features.

		NUM provides customized CNC platform for integrated aluminum processing line - 08/04/08 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.

		The Smart Factory Advanced Manufacturing, July 2008 To maintain their quality commitment to Ford for assembling key automotive components, Automodular needed to make sure that all their people had all the information needed to assemble each part, at the right time. Automodular turned to PinPoint Information Systems to develop a software system to communicate and verify information and track conformance to standards in real time.

		Endless Fun With IEC 61131 Control Design, July 2008 By Jeremy Pollard Columnist looks into an IEC 61131 application and discovers the main benefit of IEC 61131 is that “it’s a standard,” even though customers don’t know what it is. Vendors can take advantage of the complacency of some users because of the intrinsic value of the word “standard.”

		Retrofits Relieve Competitive Pressure Automation World, July 2008 By James R. Koelsch Davis-Standard, a builder of blow-molding machinery in Somerville, N.J., had to upgrade controls on winders. Rather than ripping out their old winders and spending between $1 million and $3 million for each new one, they brought their 20-year-old machines up to modern specifications for less than $30,000 with controls from Bosch.

		Vishay installs Reel Optimizing System in European paper mill - 07/09/08 The Reel Optimizing System uses strain gage-based load cells to improve roll density by controlling the nip force throughout the entire reel spool change-over process.

		Mikron builds assembly system for Mega Pumps - 06/24/08 Mikron helped Mega Pumps develop assembly, checking and testing systems that work within the tolerances and with minimum of scrap and rejection.

		Conveyor Maximizes Space Usage, Efficiency Assembly, June 2008 Ophthonix Inc. (Vista, CA) manufactures iZon high-resolution eyeglass lenses. Central to the manufacturing system is a modular, pallet-based VarioFlow conveyor system from Bosch Rexroth, which carries the lenses to the workstations comprising the production process.

		Relay Races to Forefront of New Design Control Design, June 2008 By Barry Stringer, Solvere MikroPul, in Charlotte, N.C., manufactures dust control and product recovery equipment. For its PulsePro EC baghouse control and monitoring system, MikroPul uses Siemens’ LOGO! programmable relay.

		Integrator Uses Simulation to Close Design Loop Control Design, June 2008 Maverick Technologies uses software emulation to help identify potential control problems upfront, shorten the machine’s start-up time, and provide a good platform for operator training.

		How to Control a 27-km-long Machine - 06/23/08 Machine Design, May 2008 By Nipun Mathur, National Instruments The largest machine in the world, the Large Hadron Collider (LHC), covers parts of France and Switzerland and will cost a staggering $3.5 billion U.S. to design and build. The real difficulty is synchronizing collimators that can be 13 km away from each other with jaws that are synchronized to within 100 µsec and move with accuracies of ±10 µm.

		Quinn Glass uses Siemens Automation & Drives technology Process & Control Today, June 2008 The glass container manufacturing plant at Elton, UK, has 13 production lines, and the filling hall has five lines. In total there are more than 7,500 I/O plus more than 10,000 more from Variable Speed Drives and Medium and Low-Voltage equipment that are integrated into the system via Profibus-DP.

		Better hardware, better bottle Control Engineering Europe, June 2008 Amcor, an Australian packaging company, installed Wonderware InTouch SCADA and real-time database InSQL on Advantech Touch Screen PCs. The acquisition of data from plastics machinery required fast data access without affecting PLC cycle time. A pilot design was developed and tested prior to deployment across 28 machines.

		Siemens retrofit boosts efficiency at Corus Control Engineering Europe, June 2008 Nine Siemens drives, including five on heat treatment furnace roller tables, and four on a roller table and tempering furnace, were installed at Corus’ Clydebridge works in Scotland with a 30 per cent increase in throughput.

		Giving Chocolate its Crunch Control Engineering, June 2008 By Mike Jamieson, Rockwell Automation Mars Austria uses an integrated control environment to monitor the exact status of all system components — such as servo drives, I/O, and HMIs—in its new control system in a chocolate plant.

		PCs Cover Coating System Control Control Engineering, June 2008 By Norm Hardy, Semicore To automate its vacuum coating and etching systems, Semicore installed an HMI and control package based on Beckhoff's C6330 industrial PCs, CP7802 control panels, TwinCAT automation software, distributed I/O networked over Ethernet TCP/IP via bus couplers, Ethernet switches, motors, and servo drives.

		Off-the-Shelf PLC Optimizes Motion Control Functionality Control Engineering, June 2008 By Matthias Erhardt, Siemens SEA A PLC handles control functionality with built-in integration of parison control, synchronized camming of blow pins with carriages, linear positioning of shuttles, and 30 zones of heat control.

		Assembly System Pumps Up Production IEN, May 2008 When Mega Pumps began manufacturing airless metered pump dispensers in 2000, the assembly system it used was not user-friendly and required more employees than the company had expected. Mikron helped Mega Pumps develop assembly, checking and testing systems that work within the tolerances and with minimum of scrap and rejection.

		Upgrade delivers spare parts Control Engineering, May 2008 By Marvin Coker, Bachelor Controls Golden Triangle Energy Cooperative in Craig, MO, had control system hardware that had been deemed obsolete by the manufacturer, and replacement parts were becoming difficult to find. Bachelor Controls upgraded the system to Rockwell Automation’s Process Automation System, ControlLogix PAC and I/O, and RSView.

		Moeller Electric punches lollipop sticks Process & Control Today, May 2008 ks for the best ice lollipops are still made from wood. Karl Otto Knauf, chose PLCs, motor drives and the SmartWire panel wiring system from Moeller Electric to control its latest stick-punching machine.

		Aylesbury Automation delivers a flexible solution Process & Control Today, May 2008 A flexible robotic production cell solution has been delivered to Deutsch UK by robotics and automation specialist Aylesbury Automation. The robot-based machine has been introduced as a result of increasing product demand. It assembles a range of similar two pin electrical plugs and sockets and produces one complete part every six seconds.

		Rapid Riggs is the business for B&DFL Process & Control Today, May 2008 B&DFL, a manufacturer of chutneys, relishes and sauces, chose Riggs Autopack Ltd, to provide a complete turnkey bottling system to meet increased demand. Riggs assembled and installed the entire production line within eight weeks, including a single head filling machine, capping machine, in line metal detection, induction sealing and a mobile transfer pump.

		New Job for Robots: Tube Bending Machine Design, April 2008 An automatic cell for manufacturing tubular automotive parts exploits an articulated robotic arm to manage intervening movements and transfers. The arm eliminates the need for the conventional carriage of a tube-bending machine. It also promotes manufacturing precision by retaining the part for the entire process.

		Kiln of the Castle Control Engineering Europe, May 2008 Castle Cement in the UK brought ‘Kiln 4’ at its Padeswood works in North Wales, into operation with speed control from ABB industrial drives. ABB installed two 300 kW drives in master-follower arrangement.

		Process oxygen analyzer helps achieve SIL 2 at catalyst plant Process & Control Today, April 2008 Servomex 2200 analyzers helped Süd-Chemie, a manufacturer of catalysts, have their SIS certified by the German TÜV to a safety integrity level of 2 (SIL 2) in accordance with EN 61511. The SIS is installed on the catalyst production process loop, with the oxygen analyser used as part of the process control and safety-related inerting system.

		OPC Drives Overall Equipment Efficiency from 65% to 75% By Thomas R. Cutler "Supporting OPC creates great new opportunities for collecting data from production equipment in real time, performing statistical analysis on the data and then feeding information back to operators, engineers or to the equipment itself," says Byron Shetler, Chief Technology Officer for Hertzler.

		Die Is Cast for FPGA Control Control Design, April 2008 By Paolo Catterina, EUROelectronics EUROelectronics was asked to design a closed-loop hydraulic cylinder control system for a die-casting press machine. We previously used a Moog programmable controller with a Moog servo valve. We needed more complete control of the hydraulics by extending PID to control pressure. We used the NI CompactRIO with an FPGA architecture.

		Keeping Robots In-Line – Someone Has To Do It By Advantech Robots only do what they are told to do. What happens when they forget or get out of line? Here, a PC monitors ABB robots to ensure integrity and accuracy of the procedures input into robot diagnostics.

		Few Achieve Shop Floor to Top Floor Integration (A Rare Breed) Managing Automation, March 2008 By Jeff Moad Manufacturers place a high strategic priority on shop floor-to-top floor integration, and most say they have at least started down that integration path. Despite the difficulties of integrating plant floor systems with enterprise business systems, Celestica, Dairy Crest, and Portucel Viana are making significant headway. (Registration required)

		Automated Production Line Presses On Regardless Process and Control Today, March 2008 The Barr & Paatz automated workcell designed and built for W T Henley in the UK has been running round-the-clock, five days a week since 1993, with the utmost reliability. The entire installation was recently lifted, lock, stock and robots, by one of the country’s biggest mobile cranes, and transported by low-loader to its new home in Belvedere, Kent, where it carries on producing electrical cut-outs, exactly as before.

		Robotics speeds up machining process Process and Control Today, March 2008 A Denso 4-axis machine-tending robot loads and unloads components from pallets and holds them while sensors, which measure height and diameter, check their quality. MSP Ltd, a precision turned parts manufacturer, increased its production by 15% on a single shift.

		GFC installation simplified with SmartWire Control Engineering Europe March 2008 The Good Food Company bypassed the need for a PLC, instead using a panel wiring system from Moeller Electric in its new refrigeration system. It was able to use one control panel, instead of the three originally planned, for the installation at the Wellingborough, UK food manufacturer’s site.

		Drives protect potatoes Control Engineering Europe March 2008 Industrial variable speed drives from Mitsubishi Electric are helping to ensure that consumers have fresh potatoes throughout the year.

		Drives up productivity for tobacco industry Control Engineering Europe February 2008 A new cigarette making machine, capable of producing 8,000 cigarettes per minute, has been developed by Molins. The machine is driven by servo technology from Lenze with L-force servo drives and synchronous servo motors.

		Skinetta packaging system boosts cosmetic operations Control Engineering Europe February 2008 Cederroth International has upped flexibility on its cosmetic bottle line with an automated end of line packaging system and ABB robots.

		Designing for robotic assembly Control Engineering Europe February 2008 Mitsubishi’s Himeji Works assembles a wide range of automotive alternators and other products via a production line that is so automated, it requires a team of of only eleven employees to assemble thousands of alternators every day.

		Video for Process Control Control Engineering, March 2008 By Latimer Schneider, Panasonic The video control system at Nitta Gelatin USA, which resides on dedicated workstations, allows remote monitoring of manufacturing processes and viewing of alarm-activated live video.

		Safety: Tale of Two Applications Control Engineering, March 2008 By Hank Hogan Two applications show how control system safety can be implemented using PLCs for less overall cost.

		Crush control optimizes wine production Control Engineering, March 2008 the Clos du Bois winery in California replaced analog machine controls on its grape press system with a centralized PAC control architecture that governs the entire system, from the conveyors to the pumps.

		Collision Sensors Machine Design, February 2008 By Charles Bates Collision sensors detect when robot arms encounter obstructions. One shop incorporated a RAD Ultimatic Collision sensor as a compliance device with a signal to determine how much the robot needed to adjust its positioning in response to Grinding wheel wear.

		Actuators Ensure Precision Assembly, February 2008 MacGregor Welding Systems manufactures micro-resistance and pulsed micro-arc equipment. Recently, the company designed and built a fully automated machine to produce miniature sensor modules using a network of pneumatic and electrical actuators supplied by Festo.

		A Machine Renaissance Control Design, March 2008 By Joe Morrissey, Conflex Conflex, a builder of shrink-wrapping machines, substantially redesigned each machine in its product line and converted to Beckhoff’s DIN-rail-mounted embedded PC and IEC 61131-3-compliant automation and motion control software.

		Vision Sensors Check Laser Weld Quality Assembly, February 2008 The Renault LHA factory employs a machine-vision system from Cognex to detect any tiny holes that may exist in the laser welds used to assemble bodywork components.

		Obsolescence Happens Control Design, February 2008 Weiler Engineering, a builder of aseptic, blow/fill/seal machines for pharmaceutical and healthcare applications, confronted serious PLC compatibility issues when its original controls supplier changed its product line. It now uses a Siemens 300 series modular PLC platform.

		NI software and hardware controls particle accelerator Using LabVIEW software with R Series reconfigurable PXI I/O hardware, the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) developed a motion control system capable of intercepting misguided or unstable particle beams.

		Six Sigma Alarm Management Control, February 2008 By Brent J. Thomas Six Sigma methods bring order to alarm chaos at Monsanto’s Soda Springs, Idaho, phosphorus plant.

		Ahold Coffee selects Ampla to improve OEE on its production lines SA Instrumentation & Control, February 2008 The Ahold Coffee Company selected Ampla, Citect's MES solution, which consisted of the Planner, Downtime, Production, and Metrics modules. Overall equipment effectiveness (OEE) is a key indicator, and the company has already seen significant improvements in this KPI on selected lines since Ampla was installed.

		FlavourCraft standardises on Beckhoff Automation SA Instrumentation & Control, February 2008 By Andrew Ashton The Beckhoff choice allowed FlavourCraft the flexibility to build both small and large systems with the same components and programming languages. They use Beckhoff I/O, Profibus, OPC, PACs and PLCs.

		Moving Coil Actuators test Diesel Injectors - 02/07/08 SMAC Moving Coil Actuators help SPE, a manufacturer of diesel injectors, to reduce emissions by using an actuator to determine the spring characteristics in their injectors.

		Connecting SmartMotors to Ethernet networks Industrial Embedded Systems, January 2008 By Rahul Shah, Lantronix Connecting an embedded device server to an Animatics SmartMotor provided all the networking hardware and software required to connect the motor to an Ethernet network or the Internet.

		Baldor PowerLink system controls tube-bending production cell - 01/24/08 The Ethernet-compatible Powerlink system controls four axes of motion, plus the I/O needed for the continuous operation of the process.

		Robots Taking Over The Job On Offshore Oil Drilling Platforms Science Daily, January 1, 2008 An automated platform doesn't need personnel, and therefore neither does it need fire systems, sound insulation, catering or a whole range of other installations. The SINTEF test laboratory represents the next step, in which the scientists will find out how robots can be used to remotely monitor and control platform processes.

		WEG Supplies Automation For World’s Second Largest Crane Process & Control Today, January 2008 WEG supplied transformers, MV motors, and MV frequency inverters to automate the second largest overhead crane in the world, at the Usiminas steel plant in Brazil. The crane provides a 260-ton lifting capacity while transporting molten steel at speeds of up to 8 metres per minute.

		Fabricator of Large Parts Moves to Wenzel CMM American Machinist, December 2007 Webco Manufacturing replaced a remanufactured CM it had recently acquired with a new Wenzel 12.30.10. The CMM has a measuring range of 1200 mm (X axis) (47.24 in.) by 3000 mm (Y axis) (118.11 in.) by 1000 mm (Z axis) (39.37 in.) with a standard accuracy, using a Renishaw TP200 Probe, of U3 2.6+L300.

		Robots Pay for Themselves in Seven Months Assembly, January 2008 Keihin IPT Mfg manufactures automotive air and fuel-line components. It upgraded the line it uses to add heat inserts and collars to plastic intake manifolds by installing a series of five HP20, six-axis robots from Motoman. The five robots were able to pay for themselves in just seven months.

		Sensor Technology's TorqSense sensor checks gearboxes - 12/17/07 Centa Transmissions uses TorqSense to guarantee that the precision gearboxes it supplies to the nuclear industry will never fail prematurely.

		PLC functionality provides application flexibility Plant Engineering, October 2007 By Jack Smith, Managing Editor International Harvester uses PLCs to control the automated machines that place aluminum rivets on sheeting to be attached to the semi cab frames. The truck manufacturer required speed, product quality, part consistency and a system that was easy to use.

		Controls Ease Startup Control Engineering, September 2007 Systems integrator Drivex Inc., Livermore, CA, used Siemens Simatic WinCC to replace an automation and control system. Drivex builds web tension controls for the pharmaceutical, converting, and vacuum coating industries.

		Automated Coil Centering Relies On Double-Act Process and Control Today, September 2007 By John Houston The HepcoMotion profile driven unit (PDU2) belt driven linear transmission is used on Conwy Dolgarrog Aluminium’s four-high cold mill process line, a finishing rolling mill consisting of four rollers. The coil centering system comprises the DAPDU2 actuator that spans the width of the in-going side of the mill, two reflecting lasers mounted on each carriage, and two pull wire encoders.

		Machine controls optimize cell performance American Machinist, September 2007 Smith’s Machine, Cottondale, Ala., supplies machined parts to the Mercedes Benz U.S. International facility in Tuscaloosa County, Ala. It has specialized work cells that contain DMG Twin mill-turn centers fed by robotic parts handlers. All machine motions are handled by Siemens Sinumerik 840D CNCs.

		All My Best Ideas are Stolen Control Engineering, September 2007 By C.G. Masi, Control Engineering The best way to improve your control engineering efforts is to copy tips and techniques from others. Here are four motion control examples to get you started.

		Grinder cuts cycle times to the bone American Machinist, September 2007 Corin Group used milling operations to produce rasps that took four hours per part. Then, the company installed an Anca TX7+ precision CNC grinder with UGS NXCAM for post processing output and Cimulator3D for verification. The company saw its production time drop to under one hour.

		Just the facts, ma'am (About Belts) Motion System Design, September 2007 By Eric W. Steele, Optibelt Corp. Belt drive performance can be compromised in several ways. Most often, trouble arises when misguided assumptions are made about belts, their structure, or their application. But knowing the facts can help you extend belt life and boost their power potential.

		Leisurely linear actuation Motion System Design, September 2007 Controlling motion at extremely slow speeds is a new technology, primarily in the nanotech world. But with these tips and tactics, achieving slow motion is a walk in the park.

		Mechatronics Meets Kinetic Architecture for Arizona Cardinals Stadium Design News, August 2007 At Cardinals Stadium Uni-Systems engineers devised a patented cable-driven system for safely transporting the roof panels along a sloped path. Key elements in the system include: ABB ACS800 drives, ProfiBus, GE Fanuc VersaMax I/O and Series 9030 PLCs, and Turck proximity switches and encoders.

		Custom Submersible Motor Assembly Makes Waves Control Engineering, August 2007 By Rick Halstead, Empire Magnetics One of Empire’s custom motor gearbox assemblies made its way into show business as an unnoticed yet essential co-star in “O” by Cirque du Soleil at Bellagio in Las Vegas, NV.

		Motion Control Meets Medical Imaging Control Engineering, August 2007 By Kevin Steele, Bosch Rexroth Medical imaging OEMs are turning to motion control platforms that help control costs, streamline production, and deliver high-quality clinical images.

		Paper mill combines ac and dc drives to reach upgrade goals Control Engineering, August 2007 By Jeremy Nighan, ABB, Low Voltage Drives A paper mill decided to rebuild its slitter-rewinder, and incorporate the latest technology. The goal was to improve roll quality, increase machine speed, and eliminate costly shutdowns.

		Should We Switch to Servos? Control Design, August 2007 In this installment of The Answer column, a reader learns that to achieve accurate positioning using steppers in machine centers they now need to operate more slowly, but are there advantages in changing to AC servos?

		Keeping Metal on the Move Process and Control Today, July 2007 By John Houston, Editor A transport system needed to be robust enough not only to carry the products, weighing eight tonnes each, but also the two tonne carriages that support the products as they are moved between stations. Engineers at SCM Materials Handling used equipment from Bosch Rexroth.

		Metal Detector’s Sensitivity and Reliability Convinces Grange Packaging Process and Control Today, July 2007 By John Houston, Editor Contract packer Grange Packaging and Distribution Ltd replaced its existing metal detectors with METTLER TOLEDO’s Safeline R Series Signature detectors. Positioned over the conveyor, they search for metal particles in packaged chocolate powder prior to shipping.

		Equipped for the Future Control Engineering, June 2007 When a housewares manufacturer modernized its manufacturing process, it gained an automated grinding and polishing system based on four robotic cells.

		Control platform aids injection, extrusion Control Design, June 2007 By Jim Montague, Executive Editor Cincinnati Milacron added a new control platform, including an intuitive data screen, pushbuttons for machine movements, and operation-software wizards, to its machines that make plastic-composite decking.

		Capsule filler has new IPC Control System Process and Control Today, June 2007 By John Houston, Editor Lenze IPC and automation software achieved a more effective operator interface on the Bosch GKF701 capsule filling machine. After research to define the optimum operator processes, Bosch chose the Lenze PCMatic automation solution as it provided the functionality required at a good price to performance ratio.

		SCM and EEU collaborate for CNC solution Process and Control Today, June 2007 By John Houston, Editor Italian woodworking machine tool manufacturer SCM approached Yaskawa Engineering Europe (EEU) in Milan for a solution to a problem on the X-axis of one of its existing SCM Record 2-111/8695 CNC routers in use at furniture manufacturer Ferrari snc in Verona.

		Servo drives trim fish with accuracy Process and Control Today, May 2007 By John Houston, Editor Multi-axis servo drives from Lenze are used to trim salmon fillets at high speed and to a precise profile. The ITM fish trimming machine made by Marel hf of Reykjavik automatically trims salmon fillets into pre-defined shapes using an advanced vision system linked to servo drives

		Phantom of the Opera Chandelier at Venetian Hotel Thrills Audiences Design News, May 2007 John Dodge, Editor-in-Chief Anyone who has seen Phantom of the Opera knows that the crashing chandelier scene in the Paris Opera House climaxes the performance. When you get right down to it, the whole rig is like a 32-axis robot hanging from the ceiling.

		Aylesbury Automation aligns correctly for Kenwood Process and Control Today, April 2007 By John Houston, Editor The potential for separation and misalignment of components during manufacture of Kenwood water filters, has been overcome by the design and construction of an automatic rotary indexing machine from Aylesbury Automation Limited.

		Revolvo’s SRB bearings operate in abrasive solution on Zambezi Rapid Water ride Process and Control Today, April 2007 By John Houston, Editor Revolvo’s SRB split roller bearings are providing a reliable solution to the problem of support for the twin 11-metre long Archimedes ascender screws that deliver water to the massive Zambezi Rapid Water ride in the Gold Reef City theme park, Johannesburg, RSA.

		Redesign keeps painting robot safe - off the floor Control Design, May 2007 By Jim Montague, Executive Editor Dürr Paint Systems inverted its robot design, so it could be installed on walls and ceilings for better access, more accurate painting and better coverage.

		Precise cutting kept well in-hand Control Design, May 2007 By Deron Roberts, Jet Edge Inc. This global designer and manufacturer of ultra-high-pressure waterjet systems helped develop a full-featured, water-resistant pendant that works with its PC-based motion control system.

		Improve Your Application’s Performance By John Mazurkiewicz, Baldor Electric Servomotors can be used in applications requiring numerous starting, stopping, and reversals, and applications requiring precise control over position and speed.

		Less is more on high speed scribing machine Process and Control Today, April 2008 By John Houston, Editor Robotix in Rugby, UK, has developed a high speed production line for scribing traceability serial numbers onto wheel rims for earthmoving equipment. This uses a single Hoerbiger-Origa rodless pneumatic cylinder in the dual critical roles of positioning the scribing head and holding the rim steady in the workstation.

		A Rainforest Grows in Cleveland Control Engineering, April 2007 C.G. Masi, Control Engineering Variable-speed drives help maintain temperature, humidity of “The RainForest” at Cleveland Metroparks Zoo.

		Extreme Machine: Compact Precision Robotics II Control Engineering, April 2007 By Mike Babb, Control Engineering International The European winner of CE’s “Extreme Machine” contest was Stork Townsend B.V. Its QX family of co-extrusion sausage makers is massive: 10 m (33 ft) wide, 6 m high, and up to 30 m in length make it the largest of the machines in the contest. It is powered by 60 variable speed motors and 18 servomotors.

		Extreme Machine: Compact Precision Robotics I Control Engineering, April 2007 By Steve Scheiber, Control Engineering Schneider Packaging of Brewerton, NY, won CE’s “Extreme Machine” contest with a robotic packaging machine that's small, nimble, and easy to use. The end-of-line robotic handling system occupies a miserly 300 sq ft.

		Manual handling…in the cold Process and Control Today, March 2007 By John Houston, Editor Industrial Automation Ltd has helped First for Foodservice solve a materials handling problem at its two Regional Distribution Centres at Royton and Banbury, UK, by inventing a machine that transfers a pallet-full of trays on to a set of dolleys. The particular challenge for IAL was that the machines are operating in a chilled part of the RDC where temperatures are kept between –2oC and +2oC; this presents problems with condensation and the performance of lubricants for moving parts.

		Eight heads are better than one Control Design, April 2007 By Jim Montague, Executive Editor Park Industries in St. Cloud, Minn., recently spent two years developing its Velocity decorative edge shaper/polisher machine for natural stone and stone-like materials. The new machine uses a conveyor to present 3x6 or 3x8 ft slabs of granite to a bank of 13 spindles driving one cutting/shaping head and seven polishing heads, which move in and out at 190º around the edge of the slab. These heads are directed by cam profiles and functions in a motion controller to produce six or more different decorative edges.

		PatMax- The universal solution for robotic applications Process and Control Today, April 2007 By John Houston, Editor Evolut, a systems integrator in Italy, has installed more than 1100 robotic systems including 850 with Cognex vision systems enabling them to automatically recognise and identify objects with precision and to measure and inspect them. Article describes how Evolut uses Cognex vision systems in robot applications.

		Latest Mitsubishi Robot Installed In ‘High Tech Garden Shed’ Process and Control Today, April 2007 By John Houston, Editor Brass Products employs a comprehensive level of automation at its three-man operation near Ashford, UK. Barr & Paatz installed and commissioned one of the latest generation of Mitsubishi six-axis articulated robots for feeding a CNC milling machine, a previously tedious and potentially hazardous manual operation.

		High Speed Tab Inserter Systems From UMG Technologies Operate 24/7 24/7 automated operation has become an industry standard for UMG Technologies high speed tab inserters used in the manufacture of electronic printed circuit devices. These systems are designed for continuous, unattended operation with minimal maintenance due largely to top notch design engineering and the use of the latest and best off-the-shelf component technology. Click here to read full article...

		MACSEA improves Navy Ship reliability with machine monitoring & control Military Sealift Command (MSC), as part of the U.S. Navy, provides strategic sealift and ocean transportation for U.S. military forces. The Navy places strong emphasis on reducing the total ownership cost of its assets throughout their life cycle. Cost reduction efforts are therefore focused on reducing manning levels and implementing Condition-Based Maintenance (CBM) on future Navy ships.

		Smart drives make cable winder whirl Machine Design, February 2007 Two Baldor H2 smart drives replaced the original ac drives and PLC control that wound custom cables of different diameters onto large drums at Centrilift Cable, Claremore, Okla. Electronic gearing in the H2 drives lets both motors operate as if connected with mechanical gears to assure the cable winds properly onto the drum. The two smart drives let Centrilift eliminate the PLC and complicated manual programming steps. The new setup also got rid of many signal wires for a cleaner installation with more reliable operation. The change improved productivity more than 25%.

		Rugged Oil and Gas Well Logging Data Acquisition System By: Corin Chepko, Rocky Mountain Wireline Service Rocky Mountain Wireline Service is an oil and gas perforating and logging company. The data acquisition system we use is rack-mounted in a wireline truck and must withstand vibration and dust generated as the truck moves to different locations over rough roads. These conditions cause problems with industrial PCs. We needed a system that was reliable and easy to repair or replace in the case of failure.

		Ease of connection improves plant efficiency for Santee Cooper OPC technology provides ease of access to the wide variety of devices in our enterprise, eliminating costly custom or proprietary interfaces. Providing us with a flexible and scalable solution we can build on for years to come. We are confident and secure in our ability to meet the 98% uptime emissions reporting requirements. Now that these manual processes are automated, we are saving approximately 4 hours of resource allocation in a 24 hour shift rotation.

Automation.com Real-time Information for the Automation Professional May. 25, 2012

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