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.

  North American robotics companies took it on the chin in 2006, when steep declines in automotive industry sales led to a 30 percent drop in new robot orders. But things may be looking up.

 Dear Mr. Mintchell,  I read your article “Creative or Efficient” (Automation World, February, p. 6) and am in total agreement with you. I set a rule for myself years ago that simply states “no hand coding.” I use all high level programming tools. Flow charts, OPC servers, data historians, programs that automate Excel spreadsheets, serve out Web pages and so on. Never wrote a single line of C++, Visual Basic or HTML. Too hard to maintain, too hard to debug. Anyone that knows the basics can understand and maintain the systems I design.