Using wireless sensor technologies in process automation is finally getting out of the labs and into the plants. There remains a reluctance to publicly come out of the closet about using it.

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

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

  U.S. manufacturing companies discover what it takes to be competitive here and how to grow in Asia.

  (Sidebar to "Exciting Times For Terminology Standards" from the April 2007 issue of Automation World)

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

 Trevor Jones, a Canadian-based executive for Thermo Electron Corp., was elected last January as President of the Robotic Industries Association (RIA), the North American robot industry trade organization. Jones spoke recently with Automation World Managing Editor Wes Iversen about his goals for his two-year term, and the prospects for growth in the robotics and automation markets.

 The best system integrators often bring their varied experiences across multiple industries to bear in developing new and innovative automation solutions.

 William “Willy” Geary, 2006 president of SME, the Society of Manufacturing Engineers, recently took a pit stop during an SME conference on high performance manufacturing featuring auto race cars to speak with Automation World Editor In Chief Gary Mintchell about the society as a business and hopes for his term in office.

 Tom Burke, president and executive director of the OPC Foundation, discusses five hot topics surrounding OPC technology.

 Lean is more than just a manufacturing toolbox. Successful companies have discovered that it means changing their world—for the better.

 Advances in software help engineers and managers to boost the efficiency of their operations.

 One international standard promising a positive impact on global markets is the IEC 61131 open systems standard that the Geneva-based International Electrotechnical Commission is promulgating for programmable logic controllers (PLCs).

 Like computers and cell phones, compliance is not something unique anymore. It has to be built into a company’s cost of doing business, including its automation systems, to meet government and industry-imposed standards.

 Product Lifecycle Management, or PLM, is more than just a set of software applications. A successful implementation involves understanding the business process to help manufacturing knowledge workers bring products to life in a global manufacturing environment.

 Intelligent maintenance tools deal in information, not just data, so machines can self-assess their health.Jay Lee, Ph.D, is the founding director of the National Science Foundation Research Center for Intelligent Maintenance Systems. This is a multi-campus NSF Center of Excellence, between the Univ. of Wisconsin-Milwaukee and the Univ. of Michigan-Ann Arbor, whose purpose is to advance near-zero-downtime performance using predictive maintenance technologies. Recently, Dr. Lee discussed the Center’s mission and ongoing projects with Automation World Editorial Director Jane Gerold.