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Author Profile

Feature Image for Bill Lydon

Bill Lydon

Bill Lydon, an experienced industrial automation technical and business professional, is currently a consultant providing insights, facilitating thinking and coaching for digital manufacturing transformation. Lydon has 35 years of experience, including industrial, Programmable Logic Controller (PLC), process control/DCS, electrical power/utility and building automation with technology and business experience ranging from design, application engineering, corporate experience, co-founder & president of a start-up company. He started his career as a designer of computer-based machine tool controls; in other positions, he applied programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and process control technology. He's trained and experienced as a group Creative Problem Solving & Value Engineering facilitator.

Working at a large company, Lydon served a two-year stint as part of a five-person task group, that designed a new generation automation system including controllers, networking and supervisory and control software. He also designed software for chiller and boiler plant optimization. Bill was the product manager for a multimillion-dollar controls and automation product line and later cofounder and president of an industrial control software company with solutions for factory and process control and automation.

208 Results Found
  • Thumbnail for COPA Accelerates Process Manufacturing Competitiveness

    COPA Accelerates Process Manufacturing Competitiveness

    The Coalition for Open Process Automation (COPA) launched the COPA QuickStart for companies to leverage the Open Process Automation System (O-PAS) standard to be more competitive and profitable. The move to open industrial and process automation systems is analogous to the shifts that occurred when PC technology displaced minicomputer and mainframes.
    By: Bill Lydon
    12 July, 2021 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Ethernet-APL: Closing Industrial Digitalization Gap

    Ethernet-APL: Closing Industrial Digitalization Gap

    The ACHEMA Pulse Live Days the Ethernet-APL organization, with members FieldComm Group, OPC Foundation, ODVA and Profibus & Profinet International showcased Ethernet-APL joint activity demonstrating, “IT-centric Instrumentation,” for process control, including hazardous areas.
    By: Bill Lydon
    30 June, 2021 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Endress+Hauser Showcases its Digitalization Innovations

    Endress+Hauser Showcases its Digitalization Innovations

    In the world of increasing interest in open systems, Endress & Hauser showed its technological openness and innovation in the areas of sensors, edge devices and smart instrumentation.
    By: Bill Lydon
    27 May, 2021 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for BioPhorum MTP Testing Plugfest

    BioPhorum MTP Testing Plugfest

    Bill shares his observations of the recent BioPhorum MTP (Module Type Package) standard Plugfest days, where users and vendors collaborated moving towards the goal of achieving plug-and-play equipment interoperability for the biopharmaceutical and other industries. The user and vendor participants in the PlugFest were highly professional and focused on positive outcomes.
    By: Bill Lydon
    14 May, 2021 | 4 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Microsoft Industrial Digitalization Platform Leverages OPC UA

    Microsoft Industrial Digitalization Platform Leverages OPC UA

    Azure IoT leverages OPC UA so industrial operations personnel get support for open systems and “don’t forget what [they] already know” when connecting OT systems to the cloud.
    By: Bill Lydon
    05 May, 2021 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Industrial Digitalization: How an Edge Embedded Time Series SQL Database Delivers Performance

    Industrial Digitalization: How an Edge Embedded Time Series SQL Database Delivers Performance

    SQL features not typically available on an embedded device greatly simplify data management for software developers. In an interview with the founder of ITTIA LLC, Bill Lydon discusses industrial IoT edge devices and facilitation of OT data analytics.
    By: Bill Lydon
    29 April, 2021 | 4 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Welders on Demand: Collaborative Robots Solving Skills Gap & Increasing Business

    Welders on Demand: Collaborative Robots Solving Skills Gap & Increasing Business

    Collaborative robots are being used to address the shortage of welders, which, according to the American Welding Society, will reach a deficit of 400,000 workers by 2024.
    By: Bill Lydon
    26 April, 2021 | 7 minutes
  • Thumbnail for IEC 61499 Programming Standard: Will it Become Mainstream?

    IEC 61499 Programming Standard: Will it Become Mainstream?

    Giving a boost to the idea of a multivendor converged IT/OT industrial control system based on open standards, the 4diac open-source IEC 61499 project could dramatically accelerate industrial digitalization.
    By: Bill Lydon
    12 April, 2021 | 8 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Preview Hannover Messe 2021: Innovative Product Presentations

    Preview Hannover Messe 2021: Innovative Product Presentations

    During the 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition Preview event, experts, associations, research organizations and suppliers presented their ideas and technologies for factories, energy systems and supply chains supporting “Industrial Transformation” theme.
    By: Bill Lydon
    19 March, 2021 | 11 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Preview Hannover Messe 2021: Automation, Globalization and Digitalization Presentations

    Preview Hannover Messe 2021: Automation, Globalization and Digitalization Presentations

    “Globalization, digitalization and automation are game changers that continue as core themes for Hannover Messe that showcases thought leadership and solutions for industry to be more successful,” said Dr. Jochen Köckler, CEO Deutsche Messe AG, during the 2021 Hannover Messe Digital Edition 2021 preview event Feb. 3, 2021.
    By: Bill Lydon
    18 March, 2021 | 5 minutes
  • Thumbnail for John Deere Digitalization & Automation Increases Farming Productivity

    John Deere Digitalization & Automation Increases Farming Productivity

    In addition to automation in factories, John Deere has applied a wide range of technologies to the difficult task of automating farming. Leading edge technologies and Industry 4.0 concepts are incorporated in John Deere’s new products, increasing productivity enabling farmers to produce more to feed a growing global population.
    By: Bill Lydon
    15 February, 2021 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Moderna Builds Native Digital Process Automation on Amazon Web Services

    Moderna Builds Native Digital Process Automation on Amazon Web Services

    Moderna’s award-winning cGMP clinical development manufacturing facility—based in Norwood, Mass.—has a native digital process automation design built on Amazon Web Services (AWS). It serves as a great example of the integration of an entire manufacturing business using the latest technological building blocks, architecture and IoT ecosystem.
    By: Bill Lydon
    09 February, 2021 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for 26 Automation Trailblazers Who Changed the World

    26 Automation Trailblazers Who Changed the World

    The International Society of Automation (ISA) explores the lives and careers of some of those who have made the biggest impact on the world of automation.
    By: Bill Lydon
    22 January, 2021 | 11 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Amazon Industrial Digitalization Platform

    Amazon Industrial Digitalization Platform

    Discrete and process manufacturers constantly struggle to create integrated manufacturing systems using disparate automation systems within a facility. Amazon Web Services now provides a flexible and open solution for achieving effective holistic operations, from sensor to enterprise.
    By: Bill Lydon
    06 January, 2021 | 6 minutes
  • Thumbnail for OPC UA FLC (Field Level Communication) Enables Integrated Manufacturing Business

    OPC UA FLC (Field Level Communication) Enables Integrated Manufacturing Business

    The OPC UA FLC (Field Level Communication) initiative revolutionizes industrial communications to achieve integrated manufacturing business operations from sensor to enterprise and cloud.
    By: Bill Lydon
    04 January, 2021 | 5 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Automation Fair at Home 2020: Rockwell Automation Evolution

    Automation Fair at Home 2020: Rockwell Automation Evolution

    The annual Rockwell Automation conference, Automation Fair at Home 2020, included a range of presentations highlighting the company’s Lifecycle Services, support of IT/OT integration and digitalization offerings with partners including Accenture and PTC.
    By: Bill Lydon
    11 December, 2020 | 5 minutes
  • Thumbnail for ODVA Discusses New Principal Member, Cybersecurity, 2021 Directions

    ODVA Discusses New Principal Member, Cybersecurity, 2021 Directions

    ODVA’s briefing included naming HARTING a new principal member, details on CIP Security enhancements for EtherNet/IP that enable user-level authentication, and the standard organization’s strategic priorities for 2021.
    By: Bill Lydon
    10 December, 2020 | 4 minutes
  • Thumbnail for SPE Pioneer Summit 2020: Revolutionizing Industrial Automation at the Edge

    SPE Pioneer Summit 2020: Revolutionizing Industrial Automation at the Edge

    Single Pair Ethernet (SPE) and Advanced Physical Layer (APL) are building blocks for a dramatically new manufacturing and process automation digitalization architecture.
    By: Bill Lydon
    02 December, 2020 | 4 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Schneider Electric Climate Change & Sustainability Commitment: Innovation Summit World Tour 2020

    Schneider Electric Climate Change & Sustainability Commitment: Innovation Summit World Tour 2020

    Attending the Schneider Electric Executive Briefing as part of the Innovation Summit World Tour 2020 provided insight into the company’s leadership values, thinking and direction from Chairman and CEO Jean Pascal Tricoire; Philippe Delorme, executive vice-president, energy management; Peter Herweck, executive vice-president, industry automation; and Chris Leong, chief marketing officer.
    By: Bill Lydon
    06 November, 2020 | 3 minutes
  • Thumbnail for Industrial Cybersecurity: PAS Optics 2020 Event

    Industrial Cybersecurity: PAS Optics 2020 Event

    The PAS OptICS 2020 virtual event explored the key operational and cybersecurity challenges facing industrial organizations as well as best practices and strategies to address them.
    By: Bill Lydon
    05 November, 2020 | 6 minutes
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