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By Mark Howard, EU Automation This article looks to establish a realistic ten-year prediction for the future of manufacturing digitalization in the United States.

By Thomas R. Cutler Only when a small manufacturer has a grasp on operation elements can the promise of lean manufacturing and continuous process improvement be realized

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com The foundations of the automation industry are being reshaped by the flood of ideas, software, and products driven by Industry 4.0 and digitalization of manufacturing and process industries. Machine builders many finally start to benefit from the leveraging of open standard control software.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation Automated guided vehicles (AGVs) have been an industry staple since 1953. However, their reliance on environmental markers and the fact they follow a pre-determined route, means AGVs are best suited to structured environments in the absence of humans. This article discusses the rise of mobile robots and what challenges need to be faced for their uptake.

By Mark Howard, EU Automation When a business is global, it’s essential to optimize logistics to ensure that products are delivered efficiently and on time. This article is intended to help understand how to improve logistics in the maintenance sector to keep downtime to a minimum and guarantee customers’ satisfaction.

By Andrea Carcano, Nozomi Networks Critical infrastructure and industrial environments were once thought to be immune to cyber threats and attacks because of their “air gapped” nature. But the truth is that they are extremely vulnerable and are typically under persistent attack

By Søren Block Olsen, TARGIT Too often manufacturing firms, even top-tier operations managers, use company analyses or reports which neglect to ask why outcomes failed. There is attention paid to all variables evenly and equally rather than discerning which area of an industrial business needs most attention to improve profit.

By Neil Ferguson, Opsview Automation can effectively monitor operations to reduce risk and flag issues caused not only by software bugs, attacks or unauthorized applications but by human error.

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation This article explains how the future of food manufacturing will facilitate the same level of customization, automatically.

By Michael Rothschild, Indegy The adoption of industrial internet of things (IIoT) technologies in manufacturing environments is unleashing major efficiency improvements and operational cost reductions. Along with these benefits, IIoT is also opening up operational networks to security threats they never faced in the past.

The benefits of kitting are well known because assembly workers immediately become more efficient. Manufacturers who do not utilize some form of kitting are bottle-necked in material flow. Kitting starts with the production team defining the kit of combined parts.

By Alan Grau, Sectigo Like the Fast and Furious movies, IoT botnets and cyberattacks just keep coming. The most recent attack, the Silex botnet, is particularly nasty. It doesn’t use devices to create DDoS attacks or attempt to steal personal data.

By Jon Lavender, Dragos To gain an understanding of ICS protocols and the inherently valuable data within them, deep packet inspection (DPI) is a necessary component of a comprehensive industrial cybersecurity technology.

By Jack Smylie, Ancra Systems Automatic truck (un)loading systems, also known as ATLS, moves product from standard systems to customized solutions. Geared to industry sector applications and uniquely calculated to meet logistic requirements, streamlining trailer loading and unloading processes worldwide captures the core lean manufacturing principle of eliminating waste.

Studio 5000 Logix Designer (formerly known as RSlogix 5000) is used to program the most powerful Allen-Bradley PLCs (technically PACs), including the ControlLogix and CompactLogix controllers.

As one of the fastest growing sectors of the robot market, a lack of knowledge could be dangerous. This article will work to quash some common misconceptions about collaborative robot safety.

Endless examples of robot uprisings and plots for world domination haven’t assisted the technology’s efforts to be welcomed by humans in the workplace. This article discusses three crucial steps to alleviating human resistance to robot deployment.

By Mike Guilfoyle, ARC Advisory Group Digitally transformed organizations will be able to transition to and thrive in digital economies, making digital transformation a matter of not “if,” but “when.” Given that industrial digital transformation is necessary to remain viable and competitive, why are mistakes, false starts, and dead-end investments all too common?

By Jonathan Wilkins, EU Automation An electric motor is a device that converts electrical energy into rotary kinetic energy, powering many diverse processes like a drive, fan, pump or conveyor belt. Each process requires a specific motor, with specialised characteristics for each unique function. This article explores the best ways of reducing costs related to running a motor.

By Stephen Armstrong, Freelance Industrial Writer With some DCS systems now decades old, system users often know they need to upgrade but find the task daunting given the cost and potential for disruption of operations while the new system is brought online.