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By Dave Sharpe, Rockwell Automation Whole and healthy ingredients can create obstacles in production, while ingredient transparency is also an issue. Luckily, an automation infrastructure that lets IT and OT communicate can solve many of these complications

By Mark Humphlett, Infor The total output of U.S. manufacturing has increased by more than 250% in the past 25 years, and this growth is expected to continue. In this environment, manufacturers must be proactive about simplifying complex supply chains, or risk falling behind their competitors.

By Christoffer Widahl, Emerson Automation Solutions Manual tank gauging at oil and gas extraction sites is a dangerous and potentially fatal operation. The new API MPMS 18.2 standard, which allows automatic tank gauging to be used for custody transfer on production tanks, will help to prevent injuries.

Although there has been no direct comment regarding the future of Windows Compact (CE), it’s clear that CE is giving way to Windows 10 IoT Core. The interesting thing with CE is that it had two distinct use cases: products that had a real-time processing need and those that did not, or at least no need for tightly bounded determinism.

Whether for industrial or business purposes, a system that integrates all systems and accessories is the best. But with many software versions available in the market today, choosing one that is appropriate becomes a hard task. PLC software is one of the best options. It comes equipped with features that enable easy integration and a working atmosphere that fits to all settings.

Management and motion control is a task requiring specialized equipment and software. An undertaking that required massive investment has now been made easy through the introduction of a motion controller known as soft motion, or software-based motion control.

Traditional motion control requires extensive hardware and software installations. This can be an expensive undertaking to acquire all the required appliances. Soft motion software provides a solution to this predicament. Designed to run on a PC, soft motion reduces the cost of running and controlling motion by 25–50%.

By Robert Glass, ABB Digitalization encompasses a transformation in the way industrial environments work. For the food and beverage industry, this means companies can better comply with legislation through a transformation in areas including connectivity, smart sensors, traceability, cloud computing and monitoring.

By Andrew Kling, Schneider Electric Hackers follow a process to launch an attack, and there’s a concurrent process for manufacturers to defend themselves from these attacks. By describing both of them, organizations can ensure they’ve addressed every element of their cyber risk strategy.

By Glenn Schulz, FDT Group and Katherine Voss, ODVA The following article describes efforts by the automation industry to develop next generation standards and technology, which enhance security throughout the lifecycle of industrial control devices in today’s connected world.

The following article describes how ongoing technology developments by FDT Group will help optimize industrial organizations and their maintenance departments by enabling cloud-based enterprise data access, device diagnostics, mobility applications, and the use of augmented reality in asset management and predictive maintenance programs.

The following article describes how technology collaboration between two open, automation industry standards organizations is changing the paradigm for integrating control systems, applications and devices within a unified architecture – all aimed at optimizing information exchange throughout the industrial enterprise.

The industrial revolution now underway, commonly referred to as Industry 4.0, is powered by advancements that include smart manufacturing, advanced analytics and the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT).

By John Fryer, Stratus Technologies Manufacturing professionals looking to implement IIoT and edge computing need to ask themselves the following questions to identify underlying challenges and figure out how to address them.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Based on discussions at the Rockwell Automation Fair, this article explores Rockwell Automation and PTC's committment to building out software into an integrated Industrial Digitization solution, in order to fully achieve the goals of Industry 4.0 and Smart Manufacturing.

By Stefan Reuther, COPA-DATA Industry 4.0, the Fourth Industrial Revolution or the Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT). Regardless of the phrase used to describe digitalization in manufacturing, there’s no denying that a shift has already taken place. This article gives three predictions for industrial automation in 2019 — no buzzwords included.

By Bob McIlvride, Skkynet The IIoT is all about connecting data sources, integrating their data, using it to power analytics, and possibly doing supervisory control on selected equipment or systems. There's no reason that can't be done on-premise.

By John Fryer, Stratus Technologies Today’s technological advances put the industrial industry on the edge of a transformative period especially as the number of these IIoT devices continues to rise. Will manufacturer's take the leap?

By Joshua Hernandez, Emerson Automation Solutions All processing facilities have goals to operate their facilities safely, in compliance with regulations, and profitably. Safety is paramount among these objectives; thus, it is important to measure, alert when abnormal, and understand the hazards that could negatively impact the facility or personnel.

By Martin Grune & Patrick Kraus, infoteam Software AG How can production be optimized, where can improvement opportunities be found, which processes may even indirectly slow down operative business from the background? Overall Equipment Effectiveness (GAE) or Overall Equipment Effectiveness (OEE) has established itself as the key performance indicator for this.