Articles and News

Alarm management is a never ending effort. Routinely review the plant’s alarm list, and try to eliminate or address points that appear too often.

By Bill Lydon, Editor A pharmaceutical company discussed their strategy and tips for system obsolescence planning and presented a specific case study of a DCS replacement at a specific site. Other pharmaceutical companies also shared their perspectives on the topic.

Locate control valves to be maintainable, provide fast injection into mixing zones, and prevent flashing and cavitation.

ISA Training and Education in May: Learn, Advance, Succeed

By Bill Lydon, Editor Industry 4.0 was a thread in the presentations at the Hannover Messe 2013 opening ceremony under the umbrella of this year's "Integrated Industry" theme. The term "4.0" represents a belief that industry is entering a fourth industrial revolution.

By Matthew Littlefield, LNS Research This article will investigate the traditional approach to audit management. Then, with the use of benchmark data from the 2012-2013 LNS Research Quality Management Survey, I'll discuss the benefits of automating the process.

A supplier selection can end your career or launch it. With leaner engineering departments and more options to choose from, selecting the right solution is an ever growing challenge.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Representatives of pharmaceutical companies from around the world discussed the topic of real-time data integration and dashboarding. Each participant identified their company's progress and shared first-hand experiences. This is the fifth article from the PAR series.

Take the time (and spend the money) to show appreciation to the crews on an industrial project start-up or during a major production outage.

Investment in process control system documentation has become critical for industrial project as well as business success.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The umbrella theme of the 2013 event was “Integrated Industry” that encompassed technology, cooperation and collaboration across corporate and sector boundaries. The Integrated Industry theme has become important with the continuing integration of mechanical design, embedded automation/control, business system integration, and machine–to-machine (M2M) communications technologies.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Representatives of pharmaceutical companies from around the world discussed the value of integrated manufacturing systems. Each participant identified their company's progress and shared first-hand experiences. This is the fourth article from the PAR series.

The best measurement location maximizes the sensor sensitivity and maximizes the signal-to-noise ratio and minimizes deadtime.

Manufacturing IT Project Pitfalls (Part 2)

By Bill Lydon, Editor At the recent Manufacturing in America Symposium, hosted by Siemens and Electro-Matic, automation professionals from Ford and General Motors shared their perspectives on a number of automation issues including the lack of engineers, data connectivity, integrated safety, demands on global suppliers, and much more.

Manufacturing IT Project Pitfalls (Part 1)

The successful industrial manager has to have the skill and desire to manage clients, motivate and develop others, provide technical direction, ensure quality, keep the schedule, watch the budget, mit

By Pat Garrehy, Rootstock ERP software providers often confuse potential customers with cost comparisons relating to software license, implementation, ongoing maintenance, future enhancements and customizations between Cloud and On Premise solutions. The costs are actually about the same.

The commissioning and configuration of digital communications of a field-level network at an industrial operation, such as Foundation Fieldbus, is fundamental to obtaining certification of the digital

A simple method to find a robust output feedback controller by random search approach