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Discrete and process manufacturers constantly struggle to create integrated manufacturing systems using disparate automation systems within a facility. Amazon Web Services now provides a flexible and open solution for achieving effective holistic operations, from sensor to enterprise.

The annual Rockwell Automation conference, Automation Fair at Home 2020, included a range of presentations highlighting the company’s Lifecycle Services, support of IT/OT integration and digitalization offerings with partners including Accenture and PTC.

By Bill Lydon Achieving the benefits of digitalization requires organizations to leverage Industry 4.0 and IoT (Internet of Things) concepts, technology, and architecture with open standards.

By Bill Lydon While the April Hannover Messe event is cancelled, industrial companies remain focused on digital transformation techniques, methods and ideas.

Richard “Rich” Jesse Merritt died Saturday, February 8, 2020, at his home in Cedar Rapids. He was 76. He was a giant of industrial automation and control technical communications, serving countless publications and clients over his long career, including Automation.com and ISA’s InTech magazine.

By Bill Lydon Focused on the theme, Driving Digital Transformation in Industry and Cities, the February 3-6 event had over 800 attendees from 20 countries representing more than 300 companies, along with many breakout sessions and workshops.

By Bill Lydon, Contributing Editor Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies are disrupting the manufacturing industry, and that disruption has risen to the highest levels: a topic for discussion at the 2020 World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland in late January

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com Amongst the many new technologies that are impacting the manufacturing industry today, collaborative robots may be the highest impact automation development that can improve manufacturing for small and medium manufacturing enterprises.

By Bill Lydon, Automation.com Cyber threats continue to be a prominent concern as the digitalization movement grows ever larger. Siemens and TÜV SÜD are partnering to try and counter these concerns.

By Bill Lydon, Editor, Automation.com Collaborative robots are re-defining the way manufacturers operate today. To help further that process is Universal Robots (UR), a collaborative robot manufacturer driven by a vision & mission to help industries become more productive, with a particular focus on Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Ignition Community Conference 2015 introduced Ignition version 7.8, while highlighting some major MES features. Ignition MES modules seamlessly integrate with Ignition HMI/SCADA - all leveraging cross-platform compatibility, unlimited free clients, robust out-of-the-box SQL database support, and fast installation.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Internet of Things (IoT) is creating a flood of new technology. As a result, the automation industry is fortunate to have an expanding range of technologies available to solve problems, improve operations, and increase productivity. The challenge is to sort out the options and keep focused on worthy automation goals.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Enterprise software cloud offerings and their integration with industrial automation systems is an exciting, evolving development. The new offerings allow manufacturing companies of all sizes to operate more efficiently and be more responsive to customers with a lower investment and lower lifecycle cost.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Reliance Industries Limited chairman is taking a non-traditional approach to drive change. He believes that driving technology into the organization is the fastest way to bring about organizational change. The chairman also believes the use of automation as a tool will drive business transformation and give the company a competitive advantage.

By Bill Lydon, Editor Many users, systems integrators, and manufacturing managers expect one year to eighteen month Return on Investment (ROI) when replacing or adding new automation systems. I believe this is short sighted thinking. Short term ROI justification requirements almost guarantee mediocre results rather than striving for excellence.

By Bill Lydon, Editor The Internet of Things (IoT) is a hot topic in technical and business circles, and many people predict significant benefits from IoT implementations. Prabhu Soundarrajan is one person with strong views about how the Internet of Things (IoT) will impact the industrial automation industry.

By Bill Lydon, Editor A single cyber security incident can lead to significant losses for any company. It is unclear to me and I am sure many readers what the insurance possibilities are for manufacturers. Insurance companies are working to ban cyber coverage under the commercial general liability (CGL) policies but are also offering separate cyber security insurance policies.

By Bill Lydon, Editor At the 2015 ARC Forum in February Bedrock Automation demonstrated additional features to the company’s automation controller product. These features exemplify their technology leadership and reflect their commitment to delivering integrated, easy to use, scalable, and secure products. I reviewed the following new new features with Albert Rooyakkers, Bedrock Founder, CTO, and VP Engineering.

By Bill Lydon, Editor According to IFR, more than 220,000 robots were sold globally in 2014. The automotive industry is still the strongest, followed by the electronics industry. But there are many more applications in other industries that are just starting to grow, particularly with new small, safe, and collaborative robots.

Bill Lydon: I am convinced that collaborative robots are the highest impact automation development to improve manufacturing since the assembly line. If this development follows the cost performance trends of past developments, like PCs, we at the beginning of a new revolution.