Articles and News

Lydon brings more than 10 years of writing and editing expertise to Automation.com, plus more than 25 years of experience designing and applying technology in the automation and controls industry. Lydon started his career as a designer of computer-based machine tool controls; in other positions, he applied programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and process control technology. In addition to working at various large companies (e.g., Sundstrand, Johnson Controls, and Wago), Lydon served a two-year stint as part of a five-person task group, where he designed controls, automation systems, and software for chiller and boiler plant optimization. He was also a product manager for a multimillion-dollar controls and automation product line and president of an industrial control software company.

Siemens will design, engineer and commission a new production management system (PMS), based on the Siemens Minerals Operation Management Solution.

By Martin Grune & Patrick Kraus, infoteam Software AG How can production be optimized, where can improvement opportunities be found, which processes may even indirectly slow down operative business from the background? Overall Equipment Effectiveness (GAE) or Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) has established itself as the key performance indicator for this.

By Shan Zhan, ABB Control Technologies In summer 2017, 15 EU states, Switzerland and Hong Kong were affected by the Fipronil contamination scandal. This article looks at what the scandal can teach food manufacturers about the importance of traceability processes.

The combination of the AS/RS and layer pick system allows Heaven Hill to convey pallets from palletizing to storage and to truck-staging lanes, thereby streamlining the entire order fulfillment process.

As part of a corporate initiative, Columbia Tech and Cogmedix were both investing in new systems to help the companies grow, enhance consistency, and improve quality and traceability. This included upgrading their Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system and adopting Manufacturing Execution System (MES) and Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) systems.

By Robert Glass, Food & Beverage, ABB Food safety has been one of the top priorities for food manufacturers and consumers for many years. This article explains how smart technologies are helping manufacturers exceed food safety standards.

By Larry Smentowski, Rockwell Automation Smart manufacturing or Industry 4.0 initiatives present an opportunity to help all automakers address their challenges. But those initiatives will only be successful if automakers first have network, control and software standards in place.

BIDCO Africa Limited, with HighJump and the support of iWMS, is gaining end-to-end supply chain transparency to improve workflows and adapt to its growth trajectory. This includes evolving operations with traceability and recall management, inventory management, tracking and shipping via FEFO/FIFO expiry dates, and worker productivity.

With programming modes, customization capabilities and compatibility, External-Array’s solutions have helped the company establish an international reputation and a customer base in China.

By John Miles & Paolo Butti, Rockwell Automation Smart manufacturing strategies are helping today's manufacturers produce high-quality electric vehicles quickly, affordably and with minimal risk. We aren’t likely to see a slowdown anytime soon

With complex, critical products manufactured across multiple manufacturing sites, the challenge was to ensure manufacturing execution with the highest level of traceability, which could no longer be met by legacy tools.

By Sean Robinson, Novotek UK & Ireland Over the past five years, the industrial sector has begun to see the value in digitalisation and has invested more in adopting it. This article explains how plant managers can make proactive maintenance even more effective with machine learning.

The Nymi Band is a multi-factor biometrically authenticated wearable that is worn by shop floor workers to perform day-to-day authentication tasks, such as digital signatures within an MES.

By Jakob Björklund, IFS Manufacturers are beginning to see the value in integrating business software such as Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP). However specialist Manufacturing Execution Systems (MES) often do the same job as these supporting solutions, acting as an unnecessary middleman. This article asks the hard questions about whether MES is necessary in many industrial situations.

By Jason Andersen, Stratus Even as the anything-as-a-service (XaaS) model for operational computing gains popularity, many manufacturers are hesitant to make the move. This article explains what manufacturers can do to make the right decision for their business

This combination of MES and RFQ software is intended to allow manufacturers to respond to changing customer and market demands.

The collaboration is intended to enable both companies to leverage their combined experience in this area, targeting to further improve the offering for CANopen, SAE J1939 and CAN/CAN-FD.

By Randy Blaylock, eFlex Systems The old model of OEE implementation was capital intensive and prohibited most small and mid-sized manufacturers from using a well-respected tool. The SaaS OEE is positioning itself as a game-changer by inviting ALL manufacturers to utilize these most needed metrics.

Under the partnership agreement, Stratus will work with ISA to co-develop a range of informational and promotional resources, including: ad inserts within ISA’s bi-monthly InTech magazine; and a diverse range of online and e-newsletter ads, video alerts, and ebook sponsorships delivered on and through Automation.com