Articles and News

The CCE Wakefield plant has 93 Siemens S5 PLCs, 11 Siemens S7 PLCs, 20 Allen Bradley ControlLogix PACs, 31 Allen Bradley SLC500 PLCs, and 26 universal Devices. MDT AutoSave software tracks all changes.

By Rick Zabel, Automation.com The proposed name change of ISA (to "International Society of Automation") is up for a vote again during ISA Expo in Houston, October 14-16, 2008. Last year, the change was voted down, but I have yet to hear a compelling argument against the change. And there are many reasons for the change. If ISA is truly the global society of automation professionals, then its name should reflect its cause. It's time for a change!

The worldwide market for SCADA Systems for the Oil & Gas industry is expected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.3% over the next five years.

By T.J. Johns BG Industrial Control in Placentia, CA, uses AutomationDirect's touch panels, Terminator IO, DirectLOGIC 205 Ethernet-based controllers, and Think & Do Studio PC-based control software in its Greer Monitoring System to monitor employee efficiency and productivity.

Catalog details Cube and RACKtangle I/O chassis and how they may be deployed as PACs, Ethernet I/O systems, standalone data loggers, Simulink targets, and Modbus TCP slaves.

Thousands of PLCs control the assembly lines of PSA Peugeot Citroën. To ensure the quality of programs that operate those PLCs, Peugeot decided to put coding rules in place.

Church has faith in Barix products for control, automation and security applications.

Kepware will provide communications for a communications Gateway for use with an Allen Bradley Control Logix controller.

Siemens will be providing PLCs, Profinet, mechanical design and acting as the general contractor for the mechanical and electrical integration of the project.

PLCopen is re-activating Technical Committee TC4 to define an IEC 61131-3 based information model as additional part of the overall OPC UA specification.

By The Tech Team, AutomationDirect Tips and Techniques to help make programming and installation easier for users of DirectLOGIC PLCs.

By AutomationDirect Here are some of the more commonly asked questions pertaining to the DL205 family of PLCs.

MultiSmart Pump Station Manager monitors and controls water/wastewater lift stations. Version 2.0 includes a pump controller, a PLC, and ISaGRAF v5 for complex station control.

Could it be that high fuel prices, the weak dollar and crises in the U.S. manufacturing industry are creating opportunities? Andy Chatha of ARC Advisory Group thinks so. He says the U.S. industry has suddenly become competitive on the world market, and companies are no longer moving operations overseas. Instead, many are expanding their facilities, and he predicts a boom in automation right here in the U.S.

ABB reported record orders, revenues and earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) in the second quarter of 2008, with net income reaching $975 million.

Booklet describes the 10 most common and costly errors that companies make when preparing product news releases.

Douglas Sharratt, lost his life in a plane crash in Sunriver, Oregon. ProSoft Technology names CFO, Gary Joke, his successor.

InduSoft attained Gold Certified status in ISV/Software Solutions, Mobility Solutions, Business Process and Integration, and Custom Development Solutions.

Dr. Kenneth J. Ryan is the director of the Center for Applied Mechatronics at Alexandria Technical College in Alexandria, Minnesota, USA.

Hogan is currently CEO of GE Healthcare and is a member of the GE Senior Executive Council. He will join ABB on September 1, 2008.