Articles and News

Automation.com, December 2011 By Jerry Belanger, Honeywell Process Solutions Industrial plants need solutions guaranteeing their controls system investments are safeguarded. They want to increase the efficiency of production process, but also reduce the long-term total cost of ownership (TCO) of automation assets.

There is too much hype about the smart grid without looking at the core problems from an engineering and business point of view.

Eliminating Difficult Start-ups with State Based Controls

Linear programs and real-time optimization need the prediction to violation of constraints inherent in MPC.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor I was recently introduced to a new HMI software offering, Tatsoft FactoryStudio. My first reaction was - Why does the industry need another HMI software product? I interviewed Tatsoft CEO and founder, Marcos Taccolini to learn more.

There’s nothing worse in one’s work life than when the relationship with one’s manager is not working correctly.

Automation.com, December 2011 By Gregory Wilcox, Mike Hannah and Mark Devonshire, Rockwell Automation The rise of Ethernet and emerging technologies such as integrated plantwide architecture and Common Industrial Protocol (CIP) have lead to the increased popularity of converged network infrastructures . These infrastructures allow innovative designs, specifically layer switches, that allow manufacturers to combine the simplicity and maintainability of many individual networks with the power and flexibility of a single network design.

Many of the real costs of plant or facility downtime are hidden in other cost areas and do not show up unless you account for them properly.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Nuris Ismail, Aberdeen Group In today's economic environment, manufacturers are under immense pressure to contribute value to the organization's bottom line by cutting costs and improving productivity wherever possible. In fact, in the Aberdeen Business Review study of over 170 manufacturers revealed that their primary goals for 2011 were profitability and cost reduction.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Bill Lydon for Automation.com Rockwell Automation introduced the new low-cost Micro800 PLC product line suited for standalone machine applications - a completely new architecture and not based on or compatible with the Logix Platform and Integrated Architecture.

Robust PID Tuning Strategy for Uncertain Plants Based on the Kharitonov Theorem

Automation.com, November 2011 By Eric Byres, Byres Security Inc. On one hand, industry is becoming increasingly concerned about just how vulnerable control systems have become to outside attacks. At the same time, new tools and applications that improve efficiency, but increase that exposure, are appearing daily. So must we sacrifice these gains in efficiency if we want to be secure?

Automation.com, November 2011 By Roy Kok In the terms of Automation, a crisis can be characterized as a loss of production (downtime), possibly of a simple piece of equipment, or it can be extensive, affecting major portions of the plant. Are we giving enough focus to the right areas, not focusing on the level of a "worst case scenario" type of crisis?

Automation.com, November 2011 By Rick Kaun, Honeywell Process Solutions Security is thought of as physical protection against intrusion or the detection of hackers when, in fact, little thought is given to the security threats that exist inside the fences of any given facility.

Energy harvesting is the ideal solution for indefinite long-term powering of wireless sensor nodes or networks (WSN) without maintenance.

Automation.com, November 2011 By Bill Lydon, Editor Discussion of the industry issues and trends with Steve Sonnenberg, Emerson Process Management's Executive Vice President, and Peter Zornio, Chief Strategic Officer. Topics include Emerson's energy initiative, the economy, PLC/DCS debate, disposable automation, and more.

Automation.com, October 2011 By Bill Lydon Since the 1980s, the automation industry has been adopting standards for networked industrial communications, software, and applications. Have users gained all the benefits originally envisioned?

Automation.com, October 2011 By Thomas R. Cutler Sophisticated 3-D machine vision technology transform industrial pallet trucks and tow tractors into robotic industrial trucks. These robotic trucks "learn" their surroundings, making them flexible, simple, and affordable for a variety of applications.

The time is right for manufacturers to change the way they approach and manage their human capital.

Automation.com, October 2011 By David Collier, Pilz Why machine builders should resist the temptation to save money in the short term by using Category 2 architecture on machine guard safety circuits that require Performance Level d.