Articles and News

By Mike Roberts, LNS Research In this article, we’ll present key preliminary findings from a joint survey between LNS Research and MESA International focused on identifying the top metrics and best practices that are driving the most results for manufacturing business leaders today.

Treat references as a first step toward engaging a wider group who can provide a more realistic picture of the person or product or company being evaluated.

By Peter Engstrom, STEUTE Industrial Controls There is a large selection of devices for transmitting and receiving continuously variable parameters like flow, but there has been little available in the way of wireless devices for generating and receiving simple "on-off" signals. This is changing.

Your control system wasn’t designed for the plant you have today. It was created specifically for the plant that was built long ago.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Fair provides a unique world perspective of the industrial sectors. “Integrated Industry – Next Steps” was the 2014 theme, which focused on maximizing manufacturing flexibility and efficiency. This year, key representatives from the United States participated in a summit stressing the importance of a Transatlantic Trade & Investment Partnership.

Make your smart assets your new reliability specialist.

The sensor response time is a sensitive indicator of the effects of coatings and aging on glass pH electrodes.

Superheated steam temperature plays an important role in the security and economy of power plants. Control of superheated steam temperature is not only economically essential in terms of improving lif

By Bill Lydon, Editor The automation benchmarking survey of leading pharmaceutical companies reveals how these manufacturers are dealing with some of the latest industry trends. Topics of the survey include big data utilization, return on investment, major innovations, organizational structures, in-house vs.contract staff, automation management and challenges. How does your company compare?

Project justifications involve understanding company competitiveness and business concerns, plus alignment with corporate initiatives, not just performance.

Do not lie, and do not tell people “what they want to hear” just to avoid conflict.

OPC Foundation Open Standards: Automation and Business Interoperability Improves Efficiency

Getting the Most From Your HART Handheld

By Bill Lydon, Editor Recently founded by AT&T, Cisco, GE, IBM and Intel, IIC is another organization focused on the Internet of Things (IoT), big data, and the connected world. The goals of this group are to break down the barriers of technology silos to support better access to big data with improved integration of the physical and digital worlds.

Set up a ratio station, feedforward summer, and cascade control system for maximum flexibility and visibility to address start-up and abnormal conditions.

ISA Career Advancement and Technical Learning Opportunities for May

By Bill Lydon, Editor The recent ODVA annual conference and meeting provided a number of technology updates to the Common Industrial protocol (CIP) networks, specifically EtherNet/IP and DeviceNet. Topics included a new initiative for the DeviceNet of Things, as well as updates to the Machinery, Process and Energy initiatives. Wireless network and IO-Link integration and IPv6 migration concepts were also discussed.

Workforce development in the process industries cannot be effective without collaboration between employees and employers. Senior leadership must buy-in to the necessity of workforce development and f

Engineers are not naturally adept at writing and/or presentations. Good writing and presentation skills take training and practice.

For most technicians, calibrating switches becomes somewhat of an afterthought, because switches are commonly viewed as an over-simplistic device.