Information Management

Industrial Ethernet: Panel Discusses Protocol Differences

Renee Robbins Bassett — Thu, 24 May 2012 00:40:04 +0000

For the first time, evangelists for six of the leading industrial Ethernet networking protocols sat side by side to present their protocols. Attendees at The Automation Forum asked questions and got answers.

Automated Report Generation and Data Analysis Software

Peter Cleaveland — Mon, 21 May 2012 15:50:27 +0000

XLReporter Version 10.0 provides data entry management and reporting from text files.

Field Wireable Connectors and T-couplers available

epakowski — Tue, 15 May 2012 10:06:43 +0000

Field-wireable M8 and M12 connectors and T-couplers (T-splitters) are available.

Recipe for aRobust Ethernet Network

George Shurtleff — Sun, 13 May 2012 19:46:28 +0000

Ethernet has gained critical mass as the industrial network of choice. Automation and control engineers can dig into some of the details of cabling, managed switches and topologies here, and leave satisfied with ways to achieve optimum manufacturing network performance.

Ready Or Not Wireless Is Here

George Shurtleff — Thu, 10 May 2012 21:10:20 +0000

Standards may not be harmonized, and response times may still be too slow for many applications, but automation professionals are adopting wireless communications anyway. The technology is just too useful, and energy-harvesting devices are on the horizon.

Honeywell Launches Enterprise-Wide Software for Process Industries

Gary Mintchell — Thu, 10 May 2012 18:00:22 +0000

Intuition Executive Solution connects people, process and technology for more intelligent operations.

Waste-to-Energy Plant Uses Wireless Sensors to Monitor Key Parameters

George Shurtleff — Thu, 10 May 2012 07:21:31 +0000

Hitachi Zosen Inova AG (www.hz-inova.com), a company with 350 employees in Switzerland, is among the world’s leading experts in the generation of energy using waste as fuel.

Spring Renaissance for Italian Divisions of Automation Vendors

George Shurtleff — Sun, 06 May 2012 18:31:23 +0000

In March, with the spring “renaissance” of nature, also came the renaissance of Italian companies and subsidiaries.

Sercos III Specification Updated

George Shurtleff — Sat, 05 May 2012 20:57:55 +0000

The Sercos network organization (www.sercos.com) has released an update to the specification for the Sercos III Real-time Ethernet networking protocol.

Know Your Cables and Connectors

George Shurtleff — Sat, 05 May 2012 19:10:55 +0000

Although the physical layer of cables and transmission rates may often be the same, there are number of significant differences between industrial grade and commercial grade Ethernet cables and connectors.

9 Steps to Building a Better Network

George Shurtleff — Fri, 04 May 2012 06:58:12 +0000

Follow these guidelines for a solid network system.

Applications: Network Tester Sniffs Out Multi-Location IT Woes

George Shurtleff — Thu, 03 May 2012 20:44:27 +0000

Jensen International, a diverse manufacturer founded in Coffeyville, Kansas more than 90 years ago, now has more than 130 employees spread across multiple buildings on two campuses – and a small IT staff to keep it all running.

Ethernet, Collaborative Platforms are the Future

George Shurtleff — Thu, 03 May 2012 16:39:43 +0000

With all technology trend lines showing that 1) everything is moving toward the use of Ethernet to enable more connected enterprises and 2) greater use of cloud computing, automation vendor GE Intelligent Platforms (www.ge-ip.com) announced that it has standardized on Profinet as its communication backbone of choice.

Interoperability and Ethernet

George Shurtleff — Tue, 01 May 2012 19:55:23 +0000

We want things to work together. If I add a printer to my network, I expect it to join the network and to start working.

Device-Level Wireless Solutions Gain Traction in Process Manufacturing

George Shurtleff — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:54:34 +0000

The incremental value proposition for wireless networks in process manufacturing is much larger than for serial and Ethernet-based networks. The tangible business benefits that can be achieved using wireless instrumentation are spurring increased interest and product availability.

Industrial Network Protocols in the News

George Shurtleff — Tue, 01 May 2012 18:48:20 +0000

Industrial networks are past the adolescent stage and are evolving into mature and responsible members of the automation community. A number of the organizations that manage the network protocols recently made announcements about upgrades and advances to their specs. Here's a round up.

Omron Invests in ‘Track and Trace’ Food Safety Technology Company

Renee Robbins Bassett — Tue, 01 May 2012 17:39:03 +0000

Omron will provide manufacturing and procurement services to maker of egg-marking systems.

IEC Guide Endorses EDDL Device Integration

George Shurtleff — Tue, 01 May 2012 06:20:14 +0000

The Fieldbus Foundation (www.fieldbus.org) announced its support for a new International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) report that provides guidance to end users for selecting an industry-standard device integration technology encompassing all host systems, field instruments and device protocols.

Cisco Unveils New Industrial Switch Series and New Industrial Organization

Gary Mintchell — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 19:32:41 +0000

Cisco develops switching, routing and wireless networking products for industrial manufacturing environments to accelerate industrialization of the Internet.

Providers of Six Industrial Ethernet Networking Protocols Share the Spotlight at The Automation Conference

George Shurtleff — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:32:42 +0000

Representatives from leading industrial Ethernet networking protocols will assemble for a panel discussion that will take place at The Automation Conference on May 23, 2012 in Rosemont, IL. Experts on behalf of EtherCAT, SERCOS, PROFINET, CC-Link, EtherNet/IP and Ethernet PowerLink will present.

EtherNet/IP Upgrade Supports Energy Awareness, Power Management

Renee Robbins Bassett — Thu, 26 Apr 2012 16:21:22 +0000

ODVA, the industrial network association responsible for the media independent network protocol CIP and the network adaptations of CIP—EtherNet/IP, DeviceNet, CompoNet and ControlNet—has released its first round of specification enhancements for 2012, which include publication of expanded capabilities for the optimization of energy usage on EtherNet/IP and other CIP Networks.

Manufacturing Software Now Has 3D Viewer That Supports Firefox

epakowski — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 10:52:26 +0000

Lattice Technology Inc., maker of technical communication and digital mock up software for the manufacturing enterprise, released the latest version of XVL Player and XVL Player Pro.

Fiber Optic Extender for Control Room Workstations

epakowski — Wed, 18 Apr 2012 04:01:10 +0000

The Avio F120 is the first in a new line of fiber-optic KVM extenders designed for graphics-intensive and visualization applications running on control room workstations.

Remote Management Service Now Free

epakowski — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 20:14:08 +0000

HMS offers customers free access to the Netbiter Argos remote management service, now available in nine languages.

Networking: Ethernet Based Sercos III Specification Updated to V1.3

epakowski — Sat, 07 Apr 2012 00:36:10 +0000

The Sercos vendor organizations have released an update to the specification for the Sercos III Real-time Ethernet solution.