Articles and News

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.

The US manufacturing industry is enjoying something of a resurgence, with the local mechanical and plant engineering sector in particular benefiting from the current reshoring trend.

A single hybrid temperature controller can effectively monitor and control temperature loops in a process control system.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Manufacturers worldwide are in a productivity race enabled by a wide range of new automation technology. In order for your company to remain competitive, it needs to apply new technology to grow and survive in the world economy. To do this, manufacturing companies must stay up to date on the latest developments.

By Greg Hood, Rockwell Automation In end-user facilities that heavily rely on legacy equipment, the right line-integration system can provide real-time insights to prevent and diagnose production issues.

Electroland used Phoenix Contact PLCs and relays to control the lights of the display, and terminal blocks to provide reliable connections.

By Dr. Alex Tarter, Ultra Electronics For less than the price of a nice dinner, and a weekend's effort, almost anyone can build a penetration device that can be slipped into a pocket, surreptitiously connect to the network, and used to remotely access systems anytime and from anywhere desired.