Articles and News

By Bill Lydon, Editor The improvement of manufacturing productivity and quality requires sharing data and synchronizing controllers. This can now be accomplished by using new standards that were jointly developed by PLCopen and the OPC Foundation.

By Bill Lydon, Editor At the 2013 Rockwell Automation Fair, Cisco described how their routers are becoming distributed embedded computer devices, intended to process and react to information from devices and sensors at the edge of the network. Could your next automation controller be embedded in an Ethernet switch?

By Bill Lydon, Editor With this acquisition, Schneider Electric significantly enhanced its position to serve the process industries and now has a complete portfolio of products to serve the entire industrial and process automation industry. This article highlights a few key aspects of the integration of the two companies.

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.

Patti Engineering will convert a Siemens S5 Legacy Control System to the S7 Platform at Oetiker’s manufacturing facility in Marlette, MI.

The plant in Akron, Ohio, will transform waste plastics into energy products. Control will be by a PlantPAx Process Automation System.

TMEIC will supply automation equipment, PLCs and drives for a new pickle line and tandem cold mill at Chinese Bengang Steel Plates Co. Ltd. (Benxi).

Designed for machine builders and operators, the Lenze library simplifies implementation of PackML standards using ladder logic.

On-line training Program includes a 20-Course eTraining Program on Electrical and Motor Controls (EMC) and a 17-session course on Programmable Controllers (PLC).

The guide includes both selection criteria and guided workflow steps to help in choosing the controllers and/or system that best meets specific current and future site needs.

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 engineers include Jeffrey Anderson, Calvin Anderson, Cameron Johnson, Martin Tato and Tristan McCormick.

Rockwell Automation enhanced Connected Components Accelerator Toolkit (CCAT) and Connected Components Workbench software tools.

The PLC market for Southeast Asia will enjoy yearly growth in the range of 5 percent, with revenue amounting to $178.5 million by 2017.

ARC says in 2012, China’s PLC and PLC-based PAC market declined significantly. But this is a natural fallout; when industrial growth is lackluster, the demand for automation reduces.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The new high-performance CompactRIO cRIO-9068 controller has a dual core ARM processor and FPGA on the same chip that supports LabVIEW and Real-time Linux. This looks like a great platform for industrial automation applications because it incorporates control, optimization, analytics, and business enterprise interfaces.

Six packaging programs participated in this year’s competition: Cal Poly State University, Clemson University, Purdue University Calumet, Rutgers University, University of Florida and Virginia Tech.

Ulrich Spiesshofer has succeeded Joe Hogan as chief executive officer of ABB.

The competition challenges students to design and build a working control system using the company’s Nanoline controller.

AutomationDirect's “PLCs and PACs Simplify Data Acquisition” explains how businesses benefit from the in-depth information that PLCs and PACs can provide on processes, machines and manufacturing operations.