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Plant Engineering & Maintenance Portal: Products, News & Resources
Plant Engineering & Maintenance Products, News, Articles, Events & Resources
Welcome to Automation.com's portal for Plant Engineering & Maintenance where engineers, manufacturing/production and plant managers can find information on how to operate plant assets efficiently, effectively and safely. Topics covered here include increasing manufacturing production, asset management, equipment up time, integrating new technologies and reducing operating costs. Subscribe to our e-Newsletter or get the latest information on Plant Engineering & Maintenance sent to your desktop as soon as they are published on this page.
Articles
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Share the load, reap the benefits
- 03/10/10 Plant Engineering, February 2010 By Edward Tom, Yaskawa Electric America Load sharing with multiple motors provides many advantages over single motor systems, but care must be taken in design to ensure maximum performance. When tight speed control is required for the motors in a load sharing system, individual control of each motor via its own adjustable speed drive is recommended. |
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Best friend?
- 03/10/10 Plant Services. February 2010 Substantial growth in remote services is expected to continue into the foreseeable future as conditions force companies to view outsourcing as a value-added business model, and as security advancements and the passage of time make the prospect a little less foreboding. |
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Get pumped
- 03/10/10 Plant Services. February 2010 By Sheila Kennedy Incorrectly applied pumps lead directly to higher maintenance and energy costs, greater CO2 emissions and shorter life cycles. New materials, designs, and technologies allow pumps to operate more efficiently, effectively, and reliably, and for a wider range of applications |
White Papers
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ARC paper describes Rockwell's InSite Managed Services
- 03/11/10 Sponsored paper describes how Rockwell Automation managed services help reduce costs to manage and support manufacturing technology infrastructure. |
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Automation and the Smart Grid: Energy Management Today
By Opto 22 This white paper takes a look at electrical power in the United States today, investigates the nature of the Smart Grid, and suggests ways that small and medium-sized companies can - without waiting for future technological development - gather energy data and control electrical energy costs today. |
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Information Strategies for Manufacturing Sustainability
By GE Intelligent Platforms Manufacturers can greatly benefit from an integrated “big picture” view of their operations, whereby they can measure environmental factors alongside other operational metrics to gain visibility into where they may be disrupting stable processes, or conversely, where they are accepting waste simply because they do not realize it. |
Application Stories
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Tillamook Creamery weighs cheese with Avery Weigh-Tronix
- 03/09/10 The E1310 checkweigher provides NTEP Class III legal-for-trade weighing with sealed, stainless steel load cells and 500 percent overload protection. |
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Focus on Critical Assets Pays Off
- 03/10/10 Chemical Processing, February 2010 By Joel Holmes, Monsanto Since an Emerson AMS asset optimization program was initiated more than two years ago at the Monsanto herbicides plant in Muscatine, Iowa, it's prevented several potentially expensive process interruptions, saving the company tens of thousands of dollars. |
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Steam turbine vibrations
- 03/10/10 Energy Tech, March 2010 By Patrick J. Smith The causes of rotating machinery vibration problems are not always obvious. The effects of pipe strain and lubrication issues for example, can be difficult to identify. This article describes an example of one of these cases. |
Resources & Literature
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Rexroth publishes catalog for Manual Production Systems
- 03/11/10
Catalog covers manufacturing design system for workstations, material shuttles or flow racks. |
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Emerson publishes brochure on dirty service control valves
- 03/10/10
Brochure describes Fisher cavitation control for dirty service applications. |
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Keithley publishes Digital Multimeter technical library on CD
- 03/10/10
CD-based library includes more than 100 documents, including measurement tips, application notes, and product selection guides. |
Training & Seminars
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Mechanical Components E-Learning Course
- 10/18/09
PMMI introduces "Basic Mechanical Components," an online self-study course to help operators, mechanics and technicians identify and care for all types of basic mechanical components. |
Featured Products
Product Announcements
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Measurement Computing enhances free DAQ software
- 03/09/10
Enhancements in version 6.0 include 64-bit drivers and ULx (Universal Library Extensions) for National Instruments LabVIEW. It can be downloaded for free. |
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Dytran releases Model 4190 portable vibration meter
- 03/08/10
Portable vibration meter is used for field testing accelerometers. Price: $858. |
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Belden introduces MACH1040 gigabit ethernet switch
- 03/07/10
MACH 1040 rack-mount switch has either 16 front or rear-facing Gigabit Ethernet RJ45/SFP combo ports, making it ideal for use in power generation and electrical power distribution applications. |
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Company & Organization News
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ARC says automation increasing in Food and Beverage
- 03/10/10 Automation expenditures in the food and beverage industry are expected to reach $6 billion by 2013. |
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January manufacturing technology consumption up
- 03/08/10 January U.S. manufacturing technology consumption totaled $130.96 million, down 40.3% from December but up 26.2% from the total of $103.77 million reported for January 2009. |
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Schneider Electric acquires Zicom Electronic Security Systems
- 03/07/10 Zicom is the largest independent electronic security systems integrator in India. |
Project News
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Honeywell to provide technology and system design for Shell
- 03/08/10 Honeywell signed a global five-year agreement to be a Main Automation Contractor (MAC) for Shell. |
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Flexpoint to develop nip sensor for Sensor Products
- 03/03/10 Flexpoint Sensor Systems will develop a “nip sensor” to measure actual contact (interfacial) pressure and distribution between two mating or impacting surfaces. |
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ABB to automate water transmission system in Abu Dhabi
- 03/01/10 Products to be supplied include pumps, energy-efficient drives and motors, and the System 800xA control platform. |
Events
Contribute to Portals
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