Fast Digital Fieldbuses Improve Motion Control.

  More manufacturers are turning to human capital management software to help fuel the next round of factory gains.

  Reusable code and common language simplify process design.

  Eight axes of servo-based motion are tightly controlled and synchronized by an integrated motion and logic solution.

  Users like different flavors of the technology.Retrofitting an old gantry requires a lot more than simply replacing the manual, pull-along crane with a robot—especially when the plan is for people and a high-speed robot to share the 100-foot long workspace in front of a bank of machines. Just ask Steve Dickerson, chief technology officer at CAMotion Inc., an Altanta-based systems integrator. “You have to do a very fast, repeated scan to make sure that none of the safety conditions have been violated,” he says. Fast and reliable communications are a must.

 Smart field devices might not be glamorous enough to take the spotlight, but they sure do play an important role in managing assets these days.

  If you’re an automation professional who is waiting for the cost of radio frequency identification (RFID) tags to drop to pennies apiece before deploying the technology on your production lines, Helge Hornis has a message for you: Forget about it!

 Upgrading control platforms to gain all the advantages of the latest technology can be done in several ways, but careful planning, and involving everyone affected, can assure success.

 Established and emerging standards are bringing dramatic benefits to companies in the packaging industry—at least to those who use them.

 As part of a collaborative effort with vendors, Nova Chemical is merging real-time plant floor data with enterprise financial data to improve decision making throughout the company.

 This supplier of injection molding equipment uses OPC tools from MatrikonOPC to provide turnkey solutions for plant and equipment monitoring.

 New standards enable machine builders and manufacturers to maintain or improve machine safety levels while eliminating redundant circuitry and lowering costs.

 New techniques and technologies for monitoring assets,& for using the information, show large financial returns.

 Manufacturing professionals show the way to increased sales, increased profits and improved competitive advantage, even in the face of tough global competition.

 Steel Minimill Goes Wireless

 Here are some tips for ensuring that it does.

 When suppliers and customers take a partnership approach, business benefits accrue.

 Lost expertise coupled with intense pressure to keep process plants running at all times opens the door to plant asset management solutions.

  Arla Foods’ automated order system lets production orders flow through its new fresh-milk bottling lines in batches.

  Balcony construction makes system easy to clean, while controls package simplifies frequent size change.