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March 2008 |
Automation Minutes 3.5.2008 Gary delivers this podcast from his mobile studio discussing the resignation of former ABB CEO Fred Kindle, a recap of the ARC Forum, including OMAC, and a preview of the April issue.
This month, we are covering two issues very important for the profitability of manufacturing companies—and that have potentially far-reaching consequences.
We keep hearing that all you need to do to retain younger employees is
give them more money, and that older employees are easy to retain
because they have everything they want. But our research showed that
those stereotypes arenít accurate; employees of all ages are motivated
by the same factors at work.
Network security expert Eric Byres pulls no punches when speaking about
information technology (IT) security. Hacking on control systems is
serious, “a problem that costs companies millions of dollars,” says the
chief technical officer of Byres Security Inc. (www.byressecurity.com),
located in Lantzville, on Vancouver Island, British Columbia, Canada.
“That’s usually kept very quiet. So no one believes it can happen until
it does happen.”
End-users are often looking for the latest and greatest technologies
that are so easy to install that anyone, or most anyone, can do it. But
engineering easier factory-floor life requires vendors to listen to
users.
The Orlando event featured a long string of new product announcements and revelations from automation industry suppliers.
Packaging automation users can learn from other users at the May 20 event, which also features an optional training and hands-on activities covering OMAC standards and guidelines.
On the eve of a record earnings report, the Swiss company cited “irreconcilable differences about how to lead the company” as the reason for Chief Executive Officer Fred Kindle’s departure.
The idea of using key performance indicators, or KPIs, to make smarter
business and manufacturing decisions has been all the rage for several
years now, with a growing number of vendors promoting their
capabilities in this area.
Four corporate membership categories are available, with benefits including a seat on the organization’s technical advisory board.
Driven by strong growth in the oil and gas industry, the worldwide
market for pressure transmitters will grow by 6.1 percent annually for
the next several years, rising from $1.93 billion in 2006 to almost
$2.6 billion in 2011, according to a recent report from Flow Research
Inc., Wakefield, Mass.
With the deal, the robotic tooling, workholding and flexible automation supplier adds new motion control products to its solutions mix.
New EtherCat devices appear in Japan, China and South Korea, while the EtherCat Technology Group opens a regional office in Seoul.
Though signals are mixed, growth in Indian manufacturing is expecte to continue—just at a slower rate.
Forget the politics. Doing good for the environment can be very good for the bottom line.
This is a sidebar to the feature article "Stepping up to Green – It's Good Business", that appears in the March, 2008 issue of Automation World.
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.
This is a sidebar to the main story "Biofuels Thrive with Automation" which appears in the March 2008 Issue of Automation World.Geography plays a big role in how nations reduce their reliance on oil.
The Corn Belt of the United States, for example, is converting some of
its crop into ethanol.
Plants are turning to automation tools to drive down energy costs and reduce carbon emissions.
This is a sidebar to the feature story "Automating Energy Consumption"
which appears in the March, 2008 Issue of Automation World.
The goal of tightly integrating processing and packaging, as well as
devising an industry standard method of machine control, is still
gaining momentum.
By using design for manufacture and assembly methodologies, some manufacturers are reaping impressive factory floor savings.
The Scalance W786 wireless LAN Access Point is designed to operate in harsh and humid outdoor environments where temperatures range from -40∞C to +70∞C.
The WLM Wireless Link Module is designed to provide accurate, reliable and secure wireless connectivity between remote field sites.
As the latest addition to the vendor’s RAD-80211 series, the RAD-80211-XD-BUS is a Wireless Ethernet Radio with modular I/O and firmware capabilities.
The Model WRS232 universal wireless RS232 to USB transceiver interfaces to any RS232 device and makes it wireless.
The S80 Time-of-Flight Class 2 laser distance sensor features the ability to detect objects as small as 0.4mm.
As the latest module in the vendor’s Appliance Transaction Module (ATM)
platform, the RA56-cATM exchanges data between the latest Allen-Bradley
ControlLogix PACs and installed Allen-Bradley PLCs including SLC 500,
PLC-5, MicroLogix and CompactLogix.
The latest release of the IndustrialIT ECS Enterprise Connectivity
Solutions includes enhancements for quicker integration of systems,
improved performance, and simplified user interface.
The full line of 2-wire DC sensors now incorporates Uprox+ technology and quick-disconnect capabilities, making it the first of its kind to include Factor 1 technology, says the vendor.
The industrial Wireless Network Platform is designed to enable a robust, reliable Bluetooth connection between the Ethernet-based infrastructure and industrial equipment such as machines, machine parts, barcode readers, mobile human-machine interface (HMI) devices, sensors, programmable logic controllers (PLC) and more.
Successful automation companies would be expected to be on the hunt for strategic acquisitions that fit with their core competencies.
Research shows that globally integrated operating models are the key to value creation and high performance in the
industrial equipment industry.
For current market circumstances, swapping short-term interest rates for lower long-term rates on a short-term line of credit can provide significant, immediate savings.
New and less-expensive technologies for electric-power measurement using wireless mesh networks should be on the market in the near future.
In the past, corporate environmental plansvwere mostly cost burdens relating to regulatory compliance, with perhaps a touch of the public relations image of being socially responsible. In the past few years, this has changed dramatically—“green” is becoming a business profit opportunity.
indicates a sponsored article that was submitted directly to this Web site by the supplier, and was not handled by the AW editorial staff.
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