Articles and News

Big Data is Big News in just about every corner of our digitally connected world. Leveraging massive amounts of process data archives is a game changer for practically any industrial process, enabling

Enough has been written during the past couple years to convince most plant managers of the benefits of connecting plant floor equipment and processes to the Internet or Intranet. So, now that we're all convinced of the benefits of web-enabled automation, what pieces and parts are required to put this technology to work?

The new OPC UA technology provides an efficient and secure infrastructure for communications - from sensor to business enterprise computing for all automation systems in manufacturing and process control. OPC UA leverages web services to provide a single programming paradigm in a scalable architecture that can be implemented is a range of devices - from embedded to enterprise.

The capabilities of PLCs and weight controllers are maximized and costs reduced when a strong bidirectional interface is used. The PLC is capable of performing a variety of tasks, but a wiser (and now easier) solution is to offload some functions to a dedicated weight controller.

Manufacturers need to change their concept of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) from one that effectively ends with the sale to one that promotes an ongoing involvement with the customer and builds on continued service to develop valuable, revenue-generating relationships. In addition, manufacturers will need to re-evaluate their corporate governance and decision-making control in this new environment and their supply chain strategies given the increased high-technology content in their products. ****

In the new and different manufacturing environment of the 21st century, the companies that can adapt, innovate and utilize global resources will generate significant growth and success.

This article was provided by Parker Compumotor, written by John Guite, Product Planning Manager for Parker Automation - Compumotor Division. Parker Compumotor is a leader in the motion control industry providing solutions for factory automation needs. They takes a system approach to solving your application and build an integrated family of products to match your needs. For more information, please visit Compumotor's website at: http://www.compumotor.com.

The maximum length of a 10BASE5 segment is 500 m and this would represent the network diameter of the Ethernet network if no repeaters were used. However, Ethernet can be expanded to a larger network diameter by using repeaters as long as the network diameter does not exceed the collision domain of Ethernet. This article will discuss those restrictions.