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By Scott Eddleman, Yokogawa In 2016, the EPA finalized its refinery sector rule on maximum achievable control technology (MACT) regulations, and gave refineries 18 months to comply. In this article, we’ll review the requirements and describe the three types of analyzers refineries can use to ensure compliance.

By Philip Allen, Grace Engineered Products Without question, the highest risk task for qualified electrical workers is creating an electrically safe work condition. Validated installation procedures for PESDs combined with LOTO procedures significantly reduces the likelihood that workers will be exposed to voltage when creating that electrically safe work condition.

By Eddie Amos, GE Digital What does the future hold for industrial organizations like those in manufacturing? Like the paved highway systems for cars to drive on, the increased connectivity of industrial assets has been foundational for the next wave of technological advancements.

By Scott Hollis, PAS Global Process control networks (PCNs) in critical infrastructure sites − refineries, chemical plants, and manufacturing facilities − all have potential danger swimming just below the surface in the form of undiscovered vulnerabilities.

By Steve Mulder, Rockwell Automation Packaging end users are eager to better understand their operations, improve productivity and keep up with competitive pressures. This article discusses how smart, secure and Ethernet-enabled packaging machines are working to give end users a competitive edge

By Don Pham, IDEC The processing power, data storage and I/O handling capabilities of micro PLCs allow them to be used as the main automation driver for complex machines, processing lines, or even an entire plant or facility.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com The convergence of IT and OT, to create more effective operations throughout the company, was evident throughout the conference presentations and discussions, and this reflects many of the recent trends in the manufacturing industry.

By Robert Glass, ABB Recently, Dutch supermarket chain Ekoplaza opened the world’s first plastic-free aisle in one of its stores in Amsterdam. More supermarkets will likely follow. Will food manufacturers will need to rethink their food packaging materials?

By Larry Smentowski, Rockwell Automation Safety hazards, aging assets and security threats can negatively impact your business, including your employees, revenue, plants, intellectual property, vehicle quality and customers. You can help improve risk management by setting your sights on four key areas: safety, quality, obsolescence and security.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Initiated by Siemens, the Charter of Trust calls for binding rules and standards to build trust in cybersecurity and further advance digitalization. Will this elevate the industrial cybersecurity discussion?

By Benson Hougland, Opto 22 Products developed using open systems technologies are in widespread use throughout the commercial sector, providing a host of benefits to vendors and their customers. But the open systems movement has been slow to penetrate the often closed and proprietary world of industrial automation—denying end users, OEMs and system integrators the same types of benefits.

By Rachel Bugaris, Panduit Corp AVTs automate the functions of handheld voltage testers for this specific task and display information about the status of voltage inside equipment without exposure to electrical hazards.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Digitalization and education were once again at the forefront of the 11th annual Manufacturing in America. Held March 14-15 at Ford Field in Detroit, MI, the summit also saw discussions on the role of blockchain technology, and also provided ideas and solutions to help manufacturing companies to achieve operational excellence.

By Ashley Little, DO Supply, Inc. Rather than working in a caged off area, cobots are designed to collaborate with human workers and enhance the production teams’ capabilities rather than replace them.

By Robert Glass, ABB It’s widely understood that improving the efficiency of equipment and processes will make a business more competitive and reduce operational costs. This article explains how to reduce sugar plant carbon emissions.

By Ingemar Serneby, Emerson Automation Solutions In recent years, industrial automation companies have made enormous advancements by incorporating processors into control devices, instrumentation and networking components. But an instrumentation engineer may feel perplexed when looking at all the options for something as basic as a differential pressure transmitter.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com HARTING has been expanding into edge computing for Industry 4.0 and IoT applications. 2018 for HARTING will see an enhanced focus on digitalization, education and edge computing.

By Jorgen Saxeryd, ABB In 2014 in the UK, a large food manufacturer had to pay a £800,000 fine after a serious industrial accident. This article explains how safety procedures must be developed in food processing plants.

By Ulf Johannesson, Emerson Many terminals and tank farms struggle with tank gauging because they use outdated equipment. However, modern tank gauging systems can solve these issues

By Greg Schmidt, Rockwell Automation Manufacturing execution systems (MES) can help companies better understand their operations and get more out of their workforce, equipment and materials. However, traditional MES is often an all-in, enterprise-wide investment.