Articles and News

The industrial revolution now underway, commonly referred to as Industry 4.0, is powered by advancements that include smart manufacturing, advanced analytics and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

By Antony Bourne, IFS A new generation of point AI solutions will prove themselves in 2019. They’ll build new trust, urgency and understanding of what ‘AI’ actually is, and just how much it can deliver. Here are 3 key predictions for manufacturing for 2019—and beyond.

By John Fryer, Stratus Technologies Manufacturing professionals looking to implement IIoT and edge computing need to ask themselves the following questions to identify underlying challenges and figure out how to address them.

Smart, flexible robots allow manufacturers to shift to market demands far more quickly and efficiently and without advanced programming.

Kaizen is a continuous improvement approach to work that seeks to achieve small, incremental changes in processes to improve efficiency and quality.

A valve positioner adjusts the pneumatic output to a valve actuator so that the requested position of the valve from a controller is achieved.

Chattering alarms are the most found nuisance alarms that will probably reduce the usability and result in a confidence crisis of alarm systems for industrial plants.

Learn about the methods of state-based control as it applies to models defined by ISA-106.

By Stefan Reuther, COPA-DATA Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Regardless of the phrase used to describe digitalization in manufacturing, there’s no denying that a shift has already taken place. This article gives three predictions for industrial automation in 2019 — no buzzwords included.

A process stage in the process model can be mapped to a unit procedure in the procedural model, which in turn is mapped to a unit in the physical model.

You may become nerdy programming PLCs, but once you get into it, you won't care. This post is about programming PLCs. Specifically programming PLCs with Ladder Logic. This is what I've done almost daily for my job for the past several years.

By Nick Boughton, Boulting Technology Engineering giant Rolls Royce pioneered servitization in 1962 with its Power-by-the-Hour approach to jet engine maintenance management. This article discusses what servitization can offer other industries including high-volume, low-margin manufacturing.

Learn the benefits of knowing your process and PID capability, with a focus on process behavior, loop objectives and different industrial applications.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Based on discussions at the Rockwell Automation Fair, this article explores Rockwell Automation and PTC's committment to building out software into an integrated Industrial Digitization solution, in order to fully achieve the goals of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing.

By Bob McIlvride, Skkynet The IIoT is all about connecting data sources, integrating their data, using it to power analytics, and possibly doing supervisory control on selected equipment or systems. There's no reason that can't be done on-premise.

By Ashley Hills, EU Automation Given the low number of women in science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) roles, it might surprise you to find out that Angela Merkel has a PhD in physical chemistry. This article discusses the different initiatives in place to encourage women into STEM roles across Europe.

Dead time is the source of the ultimate limit to control loop performance.

Cable shield, connected to an isolated zero potential, is required to prevent nearby inductive loads and EMF fields from altering the low-level voltage or current levels in the signal wiring.

By Mille Gandelsman, Indegy Looking at 2019 and beyond, ICS threats will continue to escalate and evolve, but we predict the solutions to combat these threats will effectively address whatever emerges.

It's time to get a little more specific with what the PLC CPU controls: PLC I/O! This article will discuss discrete I/O, analog I/O and briefly introduce industrial communications protocols.