This issue of Automation World explores strategies that manufacturing professionals are developing to successfully manage production assets, increase efficiency and improve profits.
Improved monitoring systems and more powerful information handling software combine to help professionals manage all their assets. Automation World Editor In Chief Gary Mintchell, in an article beginning on page 26, finds a definition for asset management, and reports on how several engineers have improved their companies’ bottom lines.
A combination of enhanced system monitoring capability and better information management enables manufacturing professionals to increase the efficiency of their plants and drive increased profits. Contributing Editor James Koelsch shows how these are being applied, in an article that starts on page 34.
Radio frequency identification, or RFID, has deep roots in manufacturing. But Wal-Mart’s supply-chain initiative is breathing new innovation—and lower costs—into this decades-old technology. In an article beginning on page 38, Contributing Editor Rob Spiegel shows how RFID can boost manufacturing productivity.
The challenges faced by the Instrumentation, Systems and Automation Society (ISA) have been the subject of much recent speculation. Incoming ISA President Ken Baker discussed his plans to lead change at the Society in a recent interview with Automation World Editor In Chief Gary Mintchell. Check out what Baker had to say in the article beginning on page 42.
This month, on page 60, a new columnist starts for Automation World. Keith Unger is principal manufacturing IT consultant for system integrator Stone Technologies, and is chairman of the ISA SP95 committee. He will write a column on issues confronting manufacturing IT professionals.
