Articles and News

ISA Houston Section Sponsors June Technical Training Camp

Wireless transmitters can rapidly prototype, demonstrate, analyze and justify installations of online diagnostics, metrics and improvements.

By: Pat Garrehy, Rootstock While analysts project that the adoption rate for Cloud HR is over 60 percent and for Cloud CRM over 75 percent, the present adoption rate of Cloud ERP for manufacturers is less than ten percent. One major obstacle is that the larger ERP vendors are On Premise providers.

Having a hard time finding someone to service your older PLC? Turbocraft can help! We gladly service many types of older PLC's, which many Systems Integrators no longer have software or equipment for.

Industry experts on alarm management share insights on alarm systems; real engineers presenting real solutions and real results.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Downsizing has become a way to increase profits by “leaning out” operations. Most engineers are working with lean staff, which limits their scope of work to basic necessities. In most cases this means they do not have the time to work on improving the competitiveness of their companies.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Danish company, Universal Robots, has created a new breed of robots that are significantly lower in cost than traditional robots. With this new bread, even small companies can use them to improve productivity. I recently interviewed Thomas Visti, Vice President/CCO of Universal Robots, to learn more. This article highlights my interview questions along with Visti’s responses.

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.