Industrial Automation Blog

By following these principles of flexible assembly line design, manufacturers can pursue lean manufacturing in their current operation while also building capabilities to maintain or add lean improvements in the future.

Although it might be natural to condemn add-on instructions when something goes wrong, they can be very useful for highly repetitive modules of code.

We have a collective social responsibility to recruit and brand our industry for the next generation. Here are some ideas about how to get involved.

A collection of thoughts from system integrators about the state of automation and controls in manufacturing, along with some advice about how to get where you’re going.

From suppliers of infrastructure as a service (IaaS) has sprung platform as a service (PaaS). Just as companies have analytics capabilities in PaaS, there are opportunities around automation PaaS as well.

How a system integrator can provide greater value by acting as the manufacturer’s main automation contractor (MAC) to reduce project risk and maximize overall productivity.

A professional engineer with more than 35 years of experience in process automation shares his thoughts on why choosing the right control system integrator is so important.

How to use proof-of-concept testing to identify potential automation risks early and understand mitigation plans for each.

To facilitate efficient and cost-effective process improvement, your network architecture needs to be thoughtfully planned out, not just patched together.

Designing automation and control systems to conserve energy and reduce resource use results in “greener” manufacturing.

Understanding that change is inevitable and anticipating potential changes are essential in managing frequent project revisions.

Automation ultimately benefits the planet by helping to bring manufacturing back to the United States, where pollution is regulated.

SCADA has a lot of moving parts and add-ons, which is why the implementation cost varies greatly from project to project. But no matter what industry or environment, everyone is always looking to cut unnecessary costs.

There are several factors that influence cost: the number of tags or points in your SCADA system, the number of clients that want to simultaneously view the system, amount of resiliency needed, amount of labor it takes to design and integrate, and ultimately which SCADA software you choose.

By understanding the biggest SCADA cost drivers, you should be able to get a better grasp on why SCADA costs what it does, and maybe even make some money-saving decisions up front.

Cost driver #1: Materials and selection of SCADA software

There are a variety of SCADA solution providers out there. Trihedral's VTScada, Schneider-Electric's Wonderware, GE's Cimplicity, and Tatsoft's FactoryStudio to name a few. Some SCADA solutions are geared toward large enterprise ...

Anyone who connected to industrial automation either as a system integrator or or who runs a plant that takes advantage of automation owes a debt to Dick Morley.

It's a good bet that if you have your own wiki page, (Dick does!) you've made your dent on the world. Dick definitely has done that. If you want to know more about Dick Morely the "father of the PLC" simply Google him, or check out his wiki page or his personal page.

According to Dick's page:

Dick Morley is best known as the father of the programmable controller and is the leading visionary in the field of advanced technological development. He is also an entrepreneur whose consistent successes in the founding of high technology companies has been demonstrated through more than three decades of revolutionary achievements. Mr. Morley is the recipient of the Franklin Institute's prestigious Howard N. Potts Award and is an inductee of the Automation Hall of Fame. He holds more than twenty US and ...

Only a fraction of process control users have adopted virtualization. A major reason why is that users are often looking for savings in the wrong places.

Real-time robotic control and motion planning can be a challenge for integrators and clients who want to keep the line moving and yet keep a safe process. Tony Veroeven comments on some new innovations in robotics motion control planning.