Articles and News

By Bill Lydon, Editor Helmuth Ludwig, CEO of Siemens Industry Sector USA, provided his views on the 2014 manufacturing outlook and other industry topics, including the first live display of an assembly line at the Auto Show in Detroit, commemorating the 100th anniversary of the first assembly line.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The huge installed base of automation software running on Windows XP will be vulnerable to cyber-attacks with the end of Windows XP support April 8, 2014. More than 12 years old, Windows XP is the longest supported version of Windows ever and therefore is the most used in industrial automation systems.

The charger was awarded the UL rating for compliance with North American safety directives, including the requirements of UL 2202, Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging System Equipment.

By Bill Lydon, Editor I recently had the opportunity to discuss Ocean Data Systems – a little company you likely have never heard of - with Roy Kok, their VP of Sales and Marketing. Their product, Dream Report, is OEMed by a number of well-known software providers. Here is a synopsis of my interview with Kok.

Honeywell will provide Fusion4 technology to allow biofuels used in London buses to be blended directly at London bus depots, rather than mixing with standard diesel at refineries in Scotland.

The 13-page guide has helpful information about how to maximize the use of precision dispensing equipment for adhesives, sealants, oils, and coatings.

Siemens developed the controller of the storage and retrieval machines and the conveyor system for the body buffer on the basis of its Simatic S7 controllers.

The transportation and water and waste water industry sectors have both experienced large increases in the number of reported cybersecurity incidents in recent years, up 160% and 60% respectively.

July U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $351.21 million, down 23.6% from June and down 23.6% when compared with the total of $459.44 million reported for July 2012.

NEMA TS2 is a standard for traffic control assemblies, such as traffic lights, emergency road condition signs and walk/don't walk signs.

Tire machine manufacturer uses eWON routers during commissioning and for remote maintenance and troubleshooting.

The total was up 13.6% from April but down 7.6% when compared with the total of $465.38 million reported for May 2012. 2013 is down 6.9% compared with 2012.

By John Lewis Champion Tire and Wheel operates an automated facility that moves 1,000 race car wheels a day from a truck trailer back into storage after a race. A Cognex DataMan 302L image-based barcode reader provides a 97% read rate as wheels move along a conveyor line through a variety of inspection stations before it is stored.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Over the last two years, Saudi Basic Industries Corporation (SABIC) UK Petrochemicals has empowered users to create custom dashboards based on Excel spreadsheet data and calculations using software from Sabisu. The software enables people to organize their data around "Communities" related to areas of interest.

The AMT Sao Paulo Technology Center in Brazil lets AMT members establish operations within Brazil, build relationships and explore the market’s potential.

March U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $507.91 million according to AMT, up 30.4% from February and up 3.2% when compared with the total of $491.96 million reported for March 2012.

DC brushless motor shipments will outpace shipments of DC brushed and stepper motors used in automotive applications from 2012 to 2017.

Almost entirely student-designed and built, the charging port includes 12 south-facing solar panels, Apollo Solar inverter and Concorde AGM batteries that collect sunlight during the day.

The project includes miles of inverted friction drive system at the Chrysler Sterling Heights Assembly Plant, which will be used in the body paint process, as well as for delivery of car bodies between the paint shop and general assembly system.

The entire auto seat assembly process is managed by an Integrated Systems Design (ISD) PC-based quality assurance system that improves overall seat quality by monitoring the seat assembly and sequencing process.