Five to ten times per day in the United States, a worker is severely injured or killed in an electrical arc flash accident, according to Joe Weigel, product manager in Square D Services Marketing for automation and electrical products supplier Schneider Electric, in Palatine, Ill.

  Rich Widdowson, vice president of Safety, Real Estate & Environment for the Schneider Electric North American Operating division, shares six tips for elevating safety to the highest visibility in an organization, based upon his experience driving safety for the manufacturing arm of this electrical components and automation supplier.

  Safety is a topic that is on everyone's mind. No one wants to be interviewed on television after an explosion at their plant or after a severe injury occurs.

  At automaker Ford Motor Co., Dearborn, Mich., Alan Baumgartner discusses digital manufacturing in the context of two bridges.

  Robot simulation and offline programming software is producing savings for North American Bus Industries.

  Scott Fraser is the Electrical Technology Department Chair at Long Beach City College in California. Besides providing electrical training, the Department offers specialty areas in robotics and industrial automation.

  By developing closer links between 3D simulation tools and factory floor automation, major PLM and controls vendors are aiming to move digital manufacturing technology one step closer to the mainstream.

  The goal of tightly integrating processing and packaging, as well as devising an industry standard method of machine control, is still gaining momentum.

  Global politics and economic expansion in developing countries have shot petrochemical prices into orbit. The political and economic pressures are forcing governments and consumers to take a greater interest in alternative energy sources such as biofuels.

  While not everyone likes the name, a new generation of programmable automation controllers that feature multi-domain control functionality are helping to reduce costs for a growing number of manufacturers.

  While the fogginess around mechatronics may not have dissipated entirely, one thing is increasingly clear: as a conceptual schema for design, mechatronics continues to become more visible—and its importance can only grow over the next few years.

 It’s seldom a good feeling in the pit of your stomach when management issues you a challenge.

  Automation World recently invited five major vendors of distributed control systems (DCS) to comment on the competitive impact of programmable automation controllers on their businesses.

 (Sidebar to "Don't Pick The Door With the Donkey" from the December issue of Automation World)

  In hopes of driving better bottom-line results, manufacturing companies are turning to business simulations to boost the financial savvy of employees.

 Angela E. Summers, Ph.D. and P.E., has more than15 years of process, environmental and safety instrumented system (SIS) design experience. She is principal author of “Guidelines for Safe and Reliable Instrumented Protective Systems,” published by Wiley-Interscience. She is a recipient of the Intrumentation, Systems and Automation Society's 2005 Albert F. Sperry Award, for her outstanding contributions and leadership in the specification, development and implementation of safety instrumented systems for the process automation industry. She is also president and chief executive officer of safety instrumented systems consultancy SIS-Tech Solutions, in Houston. Summers sat down recently for an interview with Automation World Editor in Chief Gary Mintchell.

  Can excellence be measured? While there is no easy answer, many forms of measurement can provide light.

 Sidebar to "Fieldbus Reigns in Process Control" from the October 2007 issue of Automation World

  After nabbing the savings from easier installation, plant managers are beginning to use fieldbus for asset management.

  KV Pharmaceutical is turning to wireless mesh networking technology as a way to save money, while reliably meeting regulatory requirements for temperature and humidity monitoring.