Articles and News

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation A survey carried out by flavoured syrup supplier, Monin in October, 2017 found that 61 percent of Brits prefer coffee over tea. In a similar vein, this article compares the pros and cons of using traditional programmable logic controllers (PLCs) and newer programmable automation controllers (PACs).

This robotic technology is designed help build supply chains. The design can accomplish volumes ranging from millions of units a day, to a small operation in the backroom of a supercenter or mall anchor store.

Once the students build a robot, their teams will participate in one or more of the global 158 regional and district events that measure the effectiveness of each robot, the power of collaboration, and the determination of students. The competition culminates at the 2018 FIRST Championship, 18-21 April in Houston, Texas and 25-28 April in Detroit, Michigan.

The 20-page document, Securing Industrial Control Systems - Best Practices, covers the threat landscape and presents a holistic approach to defending it, including assessing risk, physical security, network security, workstation and server security, as well as the fundamentals of OSA.

Control Station’s 2018 training services calendar currently lists a total of sixteen workshops scheduled in industrial centers across the United States and Canada. In particular the scheduled workshops target process manufacturers located throughout the Great Lakes, Gulf and Pacific Northwest regions.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com With Seeq, users now have an application to perform analytics and optimize operations on their own, without having to engage data scientists and other IT experts

The Invenergy Future Fund led the round with participation from THI Investments and all existing investors, GGV Capital, Lux Capital and Planven Investments SA. This latest round brings Nozomi Networks’ total funding to date to $23.8 million.

Manufacturers of automation devices can now offer their customers the functionality to manually distribute the various tasks of the PLC application to symmetrical processor cores of the control CPU in CODESYS.

According to the Kaspersky Lab, IT Security Risks Survey, every fourth industrial company of over 900 surveyed faced a variety of cyberattacks in 2017. Of the evolving types of threats used by cybercriminals, one of the fastest growing types aimed at industrial organizations is targeted attacks.

By Thorsten Sienk, AMK The UR Precision U unwinding system of Kocher+Beck is designed to feed web material to printing and converting machines nonstop from the role. The system is driven by centralized and decentralized servo technology from AMK.

Leidos customers will gain integration with the Claroty Platform for continuous threat monitoring, detection and response. The offering will be available through resale by Leidos to both current and future Leidos Industrial Defender ASM customers

Thanks to drive and control technology from AMK, the solutions of HERO GmbH in Sigmaringendorf, Germany, have done away with anything that is not actually needed to meet the precise product quality standards.

The survey polled 130 strategic decision makers from industrial companies about their approach to the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT), and their use of industrial cyber security technologies and practices.

By Don Pham, IDEC The processing power, data storage and I/O handling capabilities of micro PLCs allow them to be used as the main automation driver for complex machines, processing lines, or even an entire plant or facility.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The convergence of IT and OT, to create more effective operations throughout the company, was evident throughout the conference presentations and discussions, and this reflects many of the recent trends in the manufacturing industry.

By Anthony Borges, PINpoint Information Systems There are many common challenges manufacturers face on their assembly lines which must be overcome to produce quality products in the most efficient way. It is after-all the assembly line where products are born, from physical actions, or process steps performed by both line workers and machines.

By connecting an eWON Cosy or Flexy router to a machine, it is possible to access and control the machine via the cloud service eWON Talk2. eWON users can then access Talk2M in a secure way from a computer using the eCatcher software. It is available for free for iOS and Android.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com A common topic of debate revolves around how process system architectures will be shaped in the future. One architectural vision would enable a shift of focus from process efficiency control to business performance control, with increasing levels of monitoring and control.

The scholarship fund will be funded by ISA with a $50,000 endowment. ISA has also pledged to match the next $50,000 of donations. Morley was an engineer, inventor, entrepreneur, consultant and author who contributed to a range of high-technology advancements over more than four decades.

The survey is intended for managers and operators to benchmark the extent to which automation has influenced production, purchasing habits, cost controls, and future strategies.