|
|
|
|
|
More CategoriesMore CategoriesMore Categories
 |
December 2007 |
It’s been a great year in the automation industry.
What is most important about key performance indicators (KPIs)?
Mnemonics such as “all people seem to need data processing” or “aliens probably stole the Ninja Dew pop” make it easy to recall the seven layers or levels of the International Organization for Standardization’s (www.iso.ch) Open System Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model—application, presentation, session, transport, network, datalink and physical.
Current trends in robotics will enable better human-robot interaction, making robots easier and safer to use.
Rockwell Automation CEO Keith Nosbusch describes growth targets for 2008 and beyond.
GE Fanuc Automation becomes GE Fanuc Intelligent Platforms, joins the GE Embedded Systems division and outlines software strategy at its annual user conference.
With the deal, the Germany-based sensor maker picks up design expertise and production capability in capacitive sensors.
Celebrating its 20th anniversary year, Wonderware,
the Lake Forest, Calif.-based manufacturing software supplier, rolled
out the red carpet for customers Oct. 23-24 in Las Vegas at its
WonderWorld 2007 North America users conference.
After joining Wonderware in August from SAP AG, Sudipta Bhattacharya is named to head up the Invensys manufacturing software unit, replacing Mike Bradley Sr.
Moving beyond supplying components to solutions-based marketing, the new Schneider Electric Centers bring engineers and demos to Raleigh to give customers one place to go to find automation solutions.
There were plenty of fun and games to be found at Automation Fair 2007 Nov. 13-14 in Chicago, with booths featuring video games of baseball, golf, racing, and guitar playing. But the real attraction for the throng of attendees was the products on display across the exhibition floor at the annual event, staged for customers of Rockwell Automation Inc., the Milwaukee-based controls and automation supplier.
New technologies research and development, initially in the fieldbus
area (Foundation Fieldbus, Profibus and others), are the main
objectives of the Center of Excellence that Westlock Controls, Saddle
Brook, N.J., a Tyco Flow Control group company, plans to launch in
Ribeirão Preto, Brazil. The inauguration is expected in early 2008.
Automation companies operating in India are experiencing strong economic growth.
In hopes of driving better bottom-line results, manufacturing companies are turning to business simulations to boost the financial savvy of employees.
(Sidebar to "Don't Pick The Door With the Donkey" from the December issue of Automation World)
In October of 2005, U.S. Gypsum Corp. began a plant optimization rollout across 50 manufacturing sites that produce gypsum wall board.
(Sidebar to "Collaboration Proliferates as Companies Go Global" from the December issue of Automation World)
The Kendall-Jackson winery packages more than 3 million cases of wine each year, so it’s a big challenge to position labels on bottles that race through its production lines.
Collaboration is becoming more prevalent in manufacturing, whether it’s
team-to-team, plant-to-plant or manufacturer-to-suppliers and partners.
Andre Ristaino, managing director of the Automation Standards Compliance Institute (ASCI), in Research Triangle Park, N.C., provided Independent Program Assessments and Independent Validation and Verification support for information technology modernization projects at the U.S. Air Force Logistics Command while employed at Deloitte & Touche. He led manufacturing information systems integration projects and provided consulting services for manufacturing operations improvement. Ristaino’s manufacturing industry experience includes pulp and paper, textiles, steel fabrication, biotechnology and pharmaceuticals. Ristaino holds a Bachelor of Science in Business Management and a Master of Science in Technology Management.
ISA-95 and Business-to-Manufacturing Markup Language (B2MML), like any standards, are subject to interpretation.
The PERpH-X 3500 high-performance pH and ORP sensor is billed as the
industry’s first general-purpose pH sensor that includes advanced
technologies for longer life in difficult processing applications,
providing a lower total cost of ownership.
The AST4900 is a MEMs-based, stainless steel pressure sensor designed
for the measurement of gasses and liquids in semiconductor processing
and other high-purity applications.
The Model DP86 is a wet-wet differential pressure sensor that is capable of reducing measurement error in fluid flow, for both low pressure gas and corrosive liquid measurement, says the vendor.
With its precision thermal dispersion mass flow sensor and intelligent
digital electronics, the FlexMASSter ST98 Flow Meter Series now meets
the Profibus-DP/-PA standards and includes its own Device Type Manager
(DTM) software for use in large-scale water/waste treatment, process
and plant automation systems.
The CPX-FEC was born from the integration of an embedded front-end
controller (PLC) into the vendor’s modular CPX electrical terminal.
The latest release of GP-Pro EX 2.1 HMI and Logic development software includes a host of new connectivity features such as: Web server, FTP server, Network Printer Server, plus remote HMI operator interface screen viewer with control.
As
the newest members of the vendor’s CompactRIO family, the cRIO-9072 and
cRIO-9074 CompactRIO systems are designed to give machine builders a
way to rapidly deploy industrial machines at high volume.
The vendor has added new connector capabilities to its RS PMX MES
software to help life sciences companies more easily exchange data
between enterprise resource planning (ERP) and other plant-floor
applications.
A 480 Watt 3-Phase Switching Power Supply is the latest addition to the vendor’s SPD Series.
MPX is a simplified motion programming library for the Microsoft Visual
Basic .Net application development tool. MPX is designed to allow users
to quickly create multi-axis motion, I/O, and Graphical User Interface
(GUI) automation programs.
The MDrive14Plus Motion Control is the smallest member of the
MDrivePlus product line, which combines motor, driver, controller and
encoder.
The SC22-3 Safety Controller is designed to be an easy-to-configure
safety module that incorporates numerous input devices and manages
multiple safety-related functions.
As the latest in the vendor’s Exter series of operator panels, the Exter M70 is the first to be handheld.
A family of four machine-mount DeviceNet I/O modules are part of a new line of ODVA-approved DeviceNet connectivity products.
The EKI-7659C is the first in a family of new managed Industrial Ethernet switches.
The BK9103 Profinet Bus Coupler brings manufacturers and machine
builders using Profinet access to more than 200 different I/O terminal
types from the vendor.
The vendor's OmniView vision software provides the capability to inspect the entire cylindrical surface of bottles, cans, vials, or cosmetic containers without the need for orientation or accurate positioning.
XLReporter Professional version 8.0 provides a layer of technology that
enables report generation in Microsoft Office Excel to be performed
automatically, in the background.
The SPiiPlus SA Series is a stand-alone multi-axis motion controller
that is designed to provide high resolution and high-speed motion
without compromising accuracy and throughput.
The DataCell Foundation Fieldbus cable line has been significantly expanded—from 16 to more than 100 part numbers.
Proficy HMI/SCADA-iFIX 4.5 provides a variety of features designed for
OEMs, including the ability to build OEM brand awareness with their
customers.
The SmartMesh IA-510 is the first in the SmartMesh IA-500 family of standards-based wireless sensor network (WSN) systems.
SPT 5 PCB terminal blocks are designed to provide fast wiring of conductors for power applications.
The MotiFlex e100 line of three-phase AC motor drives compatible with
the Ethernet-compatible Powerlink protocol has been extended.
The CableTek Management System is designed to provide support for cable
bundles and individual cables in standard 19-inch data racks and
simplify moves, adds and changes (MACs).
WSI 25 DIN-rail mounted fuse terminal blocks accept 13/32-by-1.5 inch
(10.3x38mm) Class CC fuses and have a Short Circuit Current Rating
(SCCR) of 200kA.
The vendor has added foot switches to its line of product offerings.
The Data Station Plus was designed to provide all of the features of G3
series HMIs, without a display, and to provide enhanced features for
data acquisition or multi-zone PID control applications.
Not all application software comes on a CD-ROM, or Compact Disk read-only memory.
Our general outlook, as measured by the U.S. Industrial Production
Index, calls for a growth rate for 2007 of 2.0 percent above 2006, down
from 2.7 percent predicted in the October Automation World.
“Baby Boomers”—those born after the Second World War and into the boom years of the 1960s—are starting to reach retirement.
In response to criticism about his famous saying, “Winning isn’t everything; it’s the only thing,” American football coach Vince Lombardi eventually offered a repudiation, implying that what he meant to say was, “Winning is not everything—but making the effort to win is.”
indicates a sponsored article that was submitted directly to this Web site by the supplier, and was not handled by the AW editorial staff.
RSS FEEDS