Articles and News

PLCopen and OPC Foundation created an open standards ecosystem that simplifies the communications of packaging machines with other plant systems and the business enterprise.

The integration of Eplan Electric P8 and GX Works2 allows transferring data from electrical engineering directly into PLC programming.

Traditionally, body panels are inspected by using a robot to present the part to an array of proximity switches. Ford improved on this method by using machine vision. The camera connects to either the robot or the PLC using the Ethernet/IP protocol.

Crimson-enabled products allow companies to easily integrate almost any PLC, PC or SCADA system for data collection, monitoring and control.

Ridgeline Pipe manufactures about 125 different PVC pipe products that vary in length, diameter, color, markings and other requirements. Allen-Bradley ControlLogix L61 programmable automation controller (PAC) manages all control and motion functions for each piece of equipment in the PVC manufacturing process.

Combining PLC processing and HMI monitoring and control into a single hardware platform is becoming a more available and popular option. This article compares the combined HMI+PLC unit with the separate HMI & PLC system and highlights where each excels.

New England Institute of Technology (NEIT)'s automation lab will be used by students enrolled in the Bachelor of Science Degree program in Electrical Engineering Technology.

Omron designed the facility to give customers access to engineering and technical resources in one centralized location.

By Russ Butchart, Puffin Automation Vision system for an unnamed manufacturer inspects defects as small as 0.008" on all four surfaces of an engine ring with a changeover time of less than 1 min.

The Boston One Campus will also serve as the company’s new North America headquarters and is built to house approximately 750 employees across all disciplines of Schneider Electric’s business segments.

July U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $354.63 million, down 11.5% from June and down 1.4% when compared with the total of $359.70 million reported for July 2013.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The OPC Foundation Information Revolution 2014 Conference was held at Microsoft's Redmond Campus on August 4-7, 2014. The conference featured industry experts who both presented and learned more about OPC Unified Architecture. This article summarizes the highlights from the conference.

The Summail Gas Plant has an Integrated Control & Safety System which consists of a Process Control System, Emergency Shutdown System, Fire & Gas Detection System, SCADA server, and Alarm annunciation systems, but their PLCs couldn't talk to each other.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Iron Bridge plant was originally built in the 1980s to treat about 5 million gallons of wastewater per day. After several modifications and upgrades, it can now treat and reclaim up to 40 million gallons in that same 24-hour period. The facilities standardized on Siemens controls, drives, power distribution, and Profibus and PROFINET communications network.

The awards are open to manufacturers, machine builders (OEMs) or system integrators, as long as they demonstrate a true commitment to safety. Nominations are due Sept. 15, 2014,

Europe is down again, the U.S. PLC market is growing strongly, but the overall world market is down.

By John Pritchard, MAC Solutions The most successful OEMs and machine builders are now generating between 20-40% of their revenues and profits from services rather than ‘pure’ manufacturing. Here’s how to use Internet 4.0 in a safe, secure network.

June U.S. manufacturing technology orders totaled $405.73 million, up 12.6% from May but down 2.1% when compared with the total of $414.26 million reported for June 2013.

PlantPAx process automation and Ethernet motor control systems will be installed at LSB’s new nitric acid and ammonia plants currently being constructed in El Dorado, Ark.

The PLC supports temperature measurement in three, 800 gallon fermenters, records batch data, and automates the circulation pump, transfer pump and 300,000 btu Boiler.