Automation products have long lifetimes that are measured in decades and not years. So advances in technology – particularly PC technology – may mean that automation products and applications have to change, sometimes painfully.  

  As industrial automation systems become increasingly complex, software development time and engineering expenses can exceed all other development hurtles. PLCopen offers standard, open motion control function blocks based on the IEC 61131 languages to create efficient, flexible code that is vendor- and product-independent.

  Several companies, including Advantech, have produced a powerful and useful hybrid of the programmable controller and the PC. This device is generally called a PAC, or programmable automation controller.

  Download this white paper to increase your understanding of the elements of risk management and the methodology of a safety investment analysis, and how safety engineers or a risk management professional can present the financial justification to help make operations safer and reduce both workplace injuries and insurance costs.

  Network hosts typically have to poll the I/O server repeatedly in order to obtain remote sensor data over an Ethernet network. This white paper presents a new approach to IP-based data acquisition and control that is dramatically faster, more flexible, easier to configure, and easier to program for.

  Since the mid-1990s, Ethernet networks have become ubiquitous. They are used in offices, in homes, in workplaces, in building automation, and with increasing dominance, not just frequency, on the factory floor. In this whitepaper, Paul Wacker of Advantech Corporation explores Gigabit Ethernet, and what the future holds.

  Download this white paper to find out everything you should know about Ethernet - from B&B Electronics.

  The core technical components of the LabVIEW platform - from National Instruments

  In Collaborative Manufacturing, designated individuals and organizations – both internal to a manufacturing enterprise and extended to its suppliers, customers, and partners – work together for mutual gain.  

  Advancements in HMI/SCADA software applications have have brought HMI/SCADA users to new levels of efficiency and productivity in their operations.

  Finding the right components within a system that will cause the least amount of downtime and maintenance is no easy task: make the most informed decision.

  Identifies specific aspects of PAT that are related to Propack Data PMX features and shows how Propack Data PMX can be enabled to support them.

  How a properly specified and implemented drive-based safe motion system provides a more simple path to a safe machine than with other solutions.

  Answers your questions about machine safety and demonstrates how one company lowered their costs by 42%.

  Overview of the security measures that need to be taken in order to protect an integrated SCADA network.

  Leverage Lean Operations, A Lean Supply Chain, and Lean Design of your electrical panels to meet the key goals from James P. Womack and Daniel T. Jones book "Lean Thinking."