Articles and News

By Darcy Simonis, ABB While Bitcoin itself has divided many and attracted criticism, the technology that it is built upon, the blockchain, has garnered significant interest due to its promise of immutable digital record-keeping. This article explains why the emerging technology stores the key to greater traceability and reduced food wastage.

Rushing to startup, taking shortcuts, or bypassing the FAT typically means many engineering mistakes and problems that will need to be fixed later.

Control strategies are used in wastewater treatment plants to improve effluent quality, lower operating costs, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.

The presentation layer for protocols used in control systems provides the translation of data received into a usable format, such as binary data from a programmable logic controller into floating poin

Operations research concepts are well-known in the field of project management and are evident in Gantt charts and critical path method organization and planning.

By Mark Howard, EU Automation Surpassing all expectations, the Federal Reserve announced a rise in the US manufacturing production index of 0.5 per cent in August 2019. This article discusses the potential long term upswing of US manufacturing and how to achieve it.

In industrial automation, the mechanical-to-informatics ratio has nearly inverted over the past two decades in diverse industries including assembly, energy distribution, and batch processing.

By Frank Kenney, Cleo By taking a proactive approach to EDI integration and ecommerce, and by moving EDI processes to the cloud, manufacturers can more easily navigate the winding pathway towards automating operations while also innovating for brand differentiation and reducing order fulfillment costs.

Proper installation of thermocouple extension wires requires special terminal blocks to prevent additional junctions from being formed.

By Andrea Carcano, Nozomi Networks Recent research and experience in the modern world have shown that when things connect to the internet, they become a target for malicious hackers. It is imperative that smart building operators make security a priority.

DCS migration topics: proper setting of tuning parameters, controller output scales, anti-reset windup limits, grounding, wiring, & configuration practices.

By Frances Brunelle, Accelerated Manufacturing Brokers Selling a manufacturing company requires consideration of several factors, including automation-readiness.

By Sam Cece, Swift Sensors Beyond preventing accidents in the moment, IIoT analytics can help identify areas that need safety overhauls for better long-term worker protection. Here's how the IIoT is improving safety in each of the major manufacturing injury categories.

Cyclic redundancy checking is a method of checking for errors in data that has been transmitted on a communications link.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Much like constant downfalls of water, there’s lots of data being generated — and it needs to go somewhere. This article looks at how to effectively funnel big data for use in operational risk management.

Radiometric or gamma level/density instruments are most often used in applications where other measuring techniques fail.

The Ukrainian power grid cyberattack was triggered when an employee opened an Excel spreadsheet attachment of an email.

A dead-weight tester apparatus uses known traceable weights to apply pressure to a fluid for checking the accuracy of readings from a pressure gauge or pressure transmitter.

IIoT enables machine builders to provide better service and support to customers and improve equipment availability.

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com The Digital Twin has become one of the most powerful concepts of Industry 4. 0. The implementation of model-based, real-time, closed-loop monitoring, control, and optimization of the entire manufacturing and production process, the Digital Twin concept is helping organizations achieve real-time integrated manufacturing.