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September 2007 |
Sometimes, progress in the automation market takes a while. 
Jeff Lytle has some unique bragging rights. He entered manufacturing-excellence record books by recently receiving the first-ever Lean Gold Certification. ILS Technology Inc. (www.ilstechnology.com), of Boca Raton, Fla., leverages 25 years of experience in device-and-automation-to-enterprise connectivity through its deviceWise platform. Motors consume about 50 percent of electricity in the United States and more than 67 percent of electricity used by industry, states R. Neal Elliott, industry program director with the Washington, D.C.-based American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE, www.aceee.org). 
Attendees at a recent ISA conference on industrial wireless technology got plenty of exercise;
The number of devices with Profibus embedded has now surpassed 20 million, says Mike Bryant, executive director of the Profibus Trade Organization (PTO www.us.Profibus.com).
Driven by a jump in automotive business, new orders received by North American-based robotics companies rose 39 percent in the first half of 2007, according to new statistics from the Robotic Industries Association (RIA, www.roboticsonline.com), based in Ann Arbor, Mich.
Kepware Technologies (www.kepware.com), Portland, Maine, has licensed weather information from weather network operator WeatherBug (www.weatherbug.com)
that will be made available to automation users through Kepware’s
KEPServerEX OPC technology. OPC is an open connectivity standard for
moving information in automation systems.
Buoyed by a robust economy that is driving rapid growth in manufacturing, the worldwide market for programmable logic controllers (PLCs) is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 7.3 percent during the next five years, according to a recent report from ARC Advisory Group Inc. (www.arcweb.com), Dedham, Mass. The PLC market totaled more than $8.3 billion in 2006 and is projected to grow to nearly $12 billion in 2011, the report says.
National Instruments (NI, www.ni.com) is a technology company first and then a products company.
Until recently, there was only one game in town when it came to security certification for industrial controllers, the Achilles certification provided by Wurldtech Labs, an independent division of Wurldtech Security Technologies (www.wurldtech.com), in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
Adaptive Instruments Corp., a Hudson, Mass.-based supplier of industrial wireless communications protocols and tether-free Wireless Smart Process Instrumentation systems under the Accutech label (www.savewithaccutech.com), announced
recently that it has extended its private label supply relationship
with Honeywell Field Solutions by entering into a manufacturing license
agreement with Honeywell.
United States packaging machinery shipments reached $6.1 billion in 2006, a
6 percent increase from the $5.8 billion in equipment shipped in 2005,
according to the 2007 Shipments and Outlook Study from the Packaging
Machinery Manufacturers Institute (PMMI, www.pmmi.org). This marks the fifth consecutive year of industry growth since 2001.
Invensys Process Systems (www.ips.invensys.com), Foxboro, Mass., was upgrading its support infrastructure and went searching for a platform supplier, according to Jenny Coleman, Invensys program manager for Remote Services.
Yokogawa South America has been in Brazil since 1973 and has now decided to make a strong bet on the South American market for automation, instrumentation and control.
As India celebrates 60 years of independence, economic pundits say that the country will overtake the developed countries in Gross Domestic Product by 2050.
Robotics vendor Motoman’s South American subsidiary in Brazil, Motoman Robotica do Brasil, has officially opened its new, expanded facility in the Grand Sao Paulo area in the city of Sao Bernardo do Campo. Home
to 17 employees plus several contractors, the 21,000-sq. ft. facility
is about 30 percent larger, providing additional space for
manufacturing, office, a demo lab area, and training room.
Tracking products from herd to grocery shelf can reduce recall exposure.
(Sidebar to "Limit Your Liability" from the September 2007 issue of Automation World)
Both technologies pay in production. (Sidebar to "RFID & Bar Code After the Hype" from the September 2007 issue of Automation World)
New Microsoft tools are designed for easy and secure data flow.
KV Pharmaceutical is turning to wireless mesh networking technology as a way to save money, while reliably meeting regulatory requirements for temperature and humidity monitoring.
Lean supply chain helps Boeing become even leaner.
PackML Version 3.0 is out. Here’s an early look at the new guideline from the experts who helped shape it, the inside scoop on OMAC’s new marketing message, and what to look for at next month’s Pack Expo Las Vegas.
(Sidebar to "An OMAC Update" from the September 2007 issue of Automation World) (Sidebar to "An OMAC Update" from the September 2007 issue of Automation World)
Technology is changing the way manufacturing execution system (MES) software is applied. Yet several myths continue to survive in the face of this technology advance. MES is a set of solutions that provide manufacturing support and interface to enterprise resource planning (ERP) applications.
The MH1600-500TR positioner is comprised of two standard headstock modules combined to provide highly flexible, AC servo-controlled tilt/rotate part positioning using two rotational axes of motion.
Billed as industry’s most versatile machine-tending robot, the IRB 6620 combines compactness, flexibility and agility with collision resistance and low maintenance cost. A new line of linear stages is designed to help OEMs reduce the time and costs associated with machine design, programming and commissioning. VersaMotion AC Servo Motors and Amplifiers are designed as a family of cost-effective motion controllers that can be combined with the vendor’s VersaMax Micro for low-end position control applications. Offered in red, green, yellow, blue and white, the Q-Series of LED indicators are also available with bicolor, tricolor and flashing LED’s. The two-piece PROII vision sensor features a DIN mountable controller and a compact PresencePlus Pro vision camera. The vendor has expanded its Smart Wireless family with the addition of native communications capability for integration of wireless field networks to the ROC-800-Series Remote Operations Controller. The 857 Series, aka JumpFlex, is a new family of 6mm-wide, DIN rail mount, signal conditioning and relay modules designed to offer a system approach to signal switching and conditioning.
Enhanced features of Version 3.0 of Industrial Defender, a risk mitigation suite for the real-time process control and SCADA environments, include
support for Cisco and Secure Computing firewalls, increased product
scalability, and intrusion detection for power substations. The AWS-8129H PC-based industrial workstation features a 12.1-in. color TFT LCD display. The Atlas line of industrial grade LCD color monitors are available in 15-, 17-, and 19-in. sizes. The stainless steel version of the BradConnectivity Ultra-Lock Connection System is engineered to meet the stringent sanitary requirements of food, beverage and pharmaceutical manufacturers. A fire and gas detection system has been certified for applications to Safety Integrity Level 2 (SIL-2) by the globally-recognized certification agencies exida and TüV Nord. The High Integrity Level Protection System is designed as a low-cost, stand-alone, non-programmable logic solver. The BLU speed-control package is composed of a brushless dc motor and a cased driver with power supply. PSR model softstarters communicate with factory-wide networks and other equipment. A new driver for National Instruments’ LabView graphical programming environment allows creation of motion profiles in LabView running on a standard PC with Windows XP for simple point-to-point moves in test and measurement, lab automation and other applications. A MiMiC Simulation Driver allows I/O and process simulation for devices that support the Modbus TCP/IP protocol. The vendor has upgraded its family of “plug-in” DCS migration modules with a new generation of Honeywell migration products. Miniature slides are designed to deliver high carrying capacity, smooth motion and precision guidance for linear motion applications requiring short strokes. Compact M8 picofast splitters are designed to increase connection possibilities in dual input applications or M8 connectorized junction boxes. A Wireless Thermocouple Connector Series features stand-alone, compact, battery-powered thermocouple connectors that transmit linearized, cold junction compensated measurements back to a USB powered receiver connected to a PC. Billed as the world’s only mini bar code imager able to decode tiny, high density codes of less than 3mil., the Quadrus Mini 3 bar code imager provides the highest resolution available today for data tracking, says the vendor. The ION Digital Drive with field-oriented control is designed to provide greater motor efficiency, and higher top-end rotation speed than alternate methods for brushless DC and step motors. Support for the Apple iPhone has been added for Visual KPI mobile, composite Key Performance Indicator (KPI) software. A line of modular fieldbus components offers connectivity from the fieldbus process controller to the field devices. Organizations that excel in developing their people also tend to be high-performance businesses that dominate their markets.
It’s a fact of business life. Eventually, some of your inventory will die. Radio frequency identification (RFID)-based asset tracking in a manufacturing setting may encompass automated tracking of fixed or capital assets, engineered assets such as process instrumentation, information technology (IT) assets or reusable containers. Just over a year ago, I considered ISA to be a “melting iceberg.” Since then, the organization has been making good progress, and plans are crystallizing for new growth and success. 
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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