ShopTalk | February 2017

Mar 1st, 2017

Hear Stephanie and Beth talk shop.

Our writers share insights on the interesting—and sometimes quirky—automation applications.
Focus includes a robot to handle all of your yardwork, a high-tech hairbrush, panic rings, and pocket-sized drones to take selfies to another level.

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Emerson Introduces Control System Modularity

Module Type Package protocol automation standards will now be integrated into Emerson’s DeltaV and PACSystems control products.

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How and Why Pharmaceutical Manufacturers Are Applying Artificial Intelligence

From early identification of process degradation to quality inspection optimization, artificial intelligence can make a dramatic impact on a company’s competitive advantage, as evidenced by pharma industry applications.

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Managing Operations Technology with IT

As enterprise and operations networks converge, IT will increasingly help manage plant floor assets and their data because of its systems management experience. This is developing around a mix of workflow software and IT-driven business systems.

Can Operations Technology Be Secured and Managed With IT Tools?

Find out how operations technology devices can be discovered, secured, and managed with the same kinds of tools used by IT, with an eye toward downtime avoidance and change management for asset management and cybersecurity.

Nataina Velez Vargas, Engineer at Avanceon.

Supporting Manufacturing IT Starts with Understanding Others

The key to delivering successful IIoT solutions to modern manufacturing problems begins with connecting with individual manufacturers and understanding their current technology, their day-to-day tasks, and where inefficiencies can be improved.

Low cost, compact DIN rail AC-DC power supplies

Low cost, compact DIN rail AC-DC power supplies

The XP Power DRC series compact DIN rail AC-DC power supplies designed for low cost applications in industrial & control electronics.

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Demystifying Standards Development and the Benefits of Involvement

To help guide technology suppliers and end users in how best to engage with and influence the standards development community, the Industrial Internet Consortium has released a whitepaper that explores standard-making history, terminology, and strategy.

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Google and Litmus Expand Edge-to-Cloud Partnership

This new partnership agreement centers on the integration of the Litmus industrial edge computing platform into Google Cloud’s smart factory suite.

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The First Commercial Open Industrial Control System Rolls Out

The Coalition of Open Process Automation unveils COPA QuickStart for open process automation.

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Device-Level Security for Legacy Equipment

Rockwell Automation’s new CIP security proxy device allows older systems and equipment to use digital certificates and encrypted communication for enhanced cybersecurity at the device level.

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IO-Link Gets North American Support Community

An agreement between PI North America and the IO-Link Community will educate the North American market about the IO-Link technology through seminars, workshops, technical training, trade fairs, and managing related product test and certifications.

Low cost, compact DIN rail AC-DC power supplies

Low cost, compact DIN rail AC-DC power supplies

The XP Power DRC series compact DIN rail AC-DC power supplies designed for low cost applications in industrial & control electronics.

Francesca Panceri, Sales Engineer, Autoware.

Industrial Marketing in the 4.0 Era

As Industry 4.0 continues to transform every branch of the manufacturing industry, marketing is no exception. Learn how implementing automation into your marketing approach can increase customer success.

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Network Requirements for Industry 4.0 Initiatives

In order to be effective for digital transformation initiatives, an industrial network must provide ample interoperability, bandwidth, and determinism. Watch this Take Five video to learn more.

Garrett Clemens, MES Consultant, Rockwell Automation

Smart Manufacturing in a Pandemic

COVID-19 put every manufacturer to the test. Massive fluctuations in supply and demand drove the need for immediate adaptation and improvement, increased customer support, and the use of remote or cloud-based solutions.

Edge Computing and Containerization Bring Cloud Capabilities Onsite

Emerson’s PACEdge industrial edge computing platform allows end-users to containerize cloud-native applications to test them in a pilot environment and scale up as needed.

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How Automation is Helping Industry Adapt to Today’s Workforce Reality

Though it represents one of the greater job skill challenges for new entrants, technology is increasingly viewed as a key attractor for the next-generation industrial workforce.

When Artificial Intelligence Comes to Control

Applications of machine learning and other forms of artificial intelligence have been recognized in robotics and analytics. Now the technology is adding some spice to basic control applications.

Fieldbus in the Industrial Ethernet Age

With Ethernet having become the preferred industrial network type, do fieldbus networks still play a role? The answer depends on the application, even though Ethernet is clearly winning out.

SPE uses a single twisted pair of wires, as opposed to the two or three used in other forms of industrial ethernet.

Industrial Ethernet Advances Broaden the Network’s Value Across Industries

Recent innovations in industrial Ethernet’s physical layer—Single Pair Ethernet and Ethernet Advanced Physical Layer—are being heralded as game-changers for their ability to extend Ethernet cabling lengths and address hazardous environment concerns.

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Rockwell Automation Has Its Sights Set On the Cloud

The industrial automation supplier’s recent acquisitions of Plex and Fiix expand its supply chain and operations management vision.

Gary Powell, Vice President of Life Sciences, E Technologies Group.

Three Scale-Up Pitfalls for Early-Stage Companies

A manufacturing scale-up project varies greatly depending on the development phase your company occupies. It's essential for early-stage companies to understand common issues that arise when first involving a system integrator and how to solve them.

Why Remote Access is Popular in Continuous Processing

Find out in this Take Five video why the use of remote access tends to be higher in the processing industries than in discrete manufacturing and where processing companies tend to use the technology most.

Larry White, CMA, CFM, CPA, CGFM, Executive Director of the Resource Consumption Accounting Institute.

Hidden Opportunities in the Order-to-Cash Process

The order-to-cash process is thought of as an accounting process, but it involves most elements of a manufacturing organization. Discover how to improve your business outcomes by evaluating each step in its procedure.

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Autonomous Mobile Robots and Wearables Come Together to Boost Warehouse Productivity

A new partnership between inVia Robotics and Rufus Labs aims to combine mobile robots, wearables, and intelligent analytics to improve human-machine collaboration and maximize labor efficiency.

Colgate-Palmolive products range from personal and home care items to pet food.

Colgate-Palmolive Focuses on Machine Health to Improve Supply Chain Operations

The COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the connection between production operations and the supply chain. In response, Colgate-Palmolive is connecting asset health and the supply chain to free up capital for strategic growth.

ThinkIQ’s cloud-based platform takes into account contextual data across the supply chain.

Smart Manufacturing Platform Transforms Poultry Processing

U.S. government-funded CESMII is using ThinkIQ’s intelligence platform to drive smart manufacturing in a pilot project at a chicken rendering plant. The findings could help improve efficiencies across all kinds of energy-intensive industries.

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Digital Twin Consortium Launches Open-Source Collaboration Initiative

The goal is to ease barriers to digital twin adoption and increase device interoperability by leveraging an open-source approach to digital twin software development.

U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter craft. Source: GE Aviation

U.S. Air Force Looks to Fly with 3D Printed Parts

Metal additive manufacturing is being applied to the production of oil lubrication system parts for the GE F110 engine, which powers the Air Force’s F-16 jet fighter.

Robotics Use in the High-Mix, Low-Volume Space

As prices come down and the business landscape changes, automation is becoming increasingly popular for small manufacturers in the high-mix, low-volume space. This Take Five video has all the details your company needs to know.

Frank Burger, Engineering Manager at Avanceon

Building a Digital Knowledge Infrastructure

An aging workforce has many manufacturers wondering how to pass on essential knowledge to the next generation of workers. Discover how gamification, global accessibility, and data management may be the industry's answer.

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Using the Digital Thread to Deliver CAD-Based Instructional Materials

PTC’s Vuforia Instruct allows OEMs to use computer-aided design data to deliver interactive training materials to frontline workers.