Shop Talk | April 2017

May 9th, 2017

Our writers share insights on the interesting—and sometimes quirky—automation applications they’re covering outside the factory environment. Focus includes personal robot assistants, translation wearables, UPS use of drones and farming in space.

Siemens and Dow Unveil Process Industry Testbed at MxD

The demonstration focused on how digital twins and augmented reality can speed time-to-market, enable virtual factory commissioning, and help overcome the skills gap.

Dick Slansky, Senior Analyst, ARC Advisory Group

Manufacturing Trends and Technologies in the Automotive Industry

The automotive industry is meeting the challenge to design and manufacture the next generation of EVs by embracing emerging technologies to make radical changes to its manufacturing processes.

JBT has developed iOPS to provide performance optimization across not only its Avure HPP offerings but across its full equipment line.

Big Data Analytics Optimizes HPP Equipment, Processes

Springing in large part from its acquisition of HPP equipment provider Avure a few years ago, JBT’s iOPS cloud-based performance optimization platform helps to improve utilization, visibility, and control in HPP facilities.

KUKA pilot plant for matrix production in the company’s Augsburg, Germany, plant.

KUKA Deploys 5G In Augsburg Plant

Deploying Nokia’s 5G private wireless network helps KUKA boost its own production operations and design new capabilities for future 5G releases of its automation products.

Will the Future of MES and SCADA Be More Closely Mixed?

The growing overlap in functionalities between MES and SCADA are likely to continue with tighter integration in pursuit of a single pane of glass.

MP100 and MP300 Portable Label Printers

MP100 and MP300 Portable Label Printers

Panduit's portable label printers for electrical and network environments

Will Aja, Vice President Customer Operations, Panacea Technologies.

Unified Namespace: The Hub and Spoke Model for Your Data

Discover how the Hub and Spoke model for data has seen an increase in usage and what beneficial forces are driving adoption.

This illustration depicts how Module Type Packages break out controller functions and connections such as HMI and process control into distinct plug-and-play modules. Source: ABB

Is the Future of Automation Modular?

As standards orgs and suppliers drive the modular automation concept forward, the future of automation looks toward the re-imagining of complex processes and automation infrastructures into subsets of easily configurable building blocks.

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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.

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Industrial Robots Get Collaborative

In this Take Five with Automation World Video, learn how new technologies are allowing industrial robots to work alongside humans in factory environments.

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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.

Diane Sacra, Director of Marketing, LNS Research

Digital Continuous Improvement Can Deliver the Promise of Industrial Transformation

In order to achieve your company's Industry 4.0 goals, it is essential to understand the drivers of digital continuous improvement (CI), where your company is starting from in their 4.0 and CI maturity, and what aspects of your organization to start with.

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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.