Current Issue

November-December 2011 Contents

November-December 2011

Cover Story

  • Time for Maintenance

    by G Venkatesh

    Aided by appropriate technology, paying proper time and attention to equipment maintenance can soon make for a more effective and profitable plant. G Venkatesh reports.

Editor Comment

  • Join the crowd

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    You can imagine that in this job I get a lot of press releases hitting by Inbox every day, announcing new products, new appointments, new projects and the like.

Inside Process

  • The Change Agent

    by Chris Lyden

    Chris Lyden advises how plants can avoid being exposed to the consequences of unapproved, undocumented and potentially even malicious changes made to their automation systems.

News

  • Weidmüller launches Academy Asia

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    A center for education, training, research and knowledge networking has been opened by Weidmüller in Shanghai.

  • Emerson announces Smart Energy initiative

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Emerson Process Management’s Smart Energy initiative, which was announced at Emerson Exchange 2011 in Nashville, USA, is a global program designed to combine industrial energy expertise with advanced energy management technologies to enable customers to leverage more renewable fuels, lower energy costs, and reduce emissions.

  • Beckhoff marks Oktoberfest in Singapore

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    October was perhaps an appropriate time for the Singapore subsidiary of Germany’s Beckhoff Automation to officially open its office, which is located in the International Business Park in the western suburb of Jurong.

  • Mitsubishi Electric starts smart grid testing

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Mitsubishi Electric has begun full-scale tests of smart grid and related smart-community technologies at the company’s production sites in Japan.

  • Rockwell announces new distributor for Philippines

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Rockwell Automation has entered into a partnership with P T Cerna, a full-line industrial automation distributor in the Philippines.

  • ABB invests in education

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    On October 14, ABB signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with Singapore’s Institute of Technical Education (ITE)

  • Turck set for record year

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Automation connectivity specialist Turck says it is on track to conclude the current financial year 2011 with the highest turnover in the company’s history.

Inside Information

  • Vision for Tracking

    by Didier Lacroix

    From highly-regulated industries like food and pharma to high-volume sectors like automotive and electronics, automated vision systems can play an important role in ensuring security, reliability and efficiency.

New Solutions

  • Electronic marshalling goes intrinsically safe

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Building on its electronic marshalling and single-channel characterization module (CHARM) technology, Emerson Process Management announces intrinsically safe CHARMs.

  • Chlorine sensors for different environments

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Electro-Chemical Devices has developed a series of sensors for chlorine analysis that are designed to cost-effectively fit into chlorine monitoring systems in a wide variety of aqueous environments.

  • Extremely low power differential pressure sensors

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    From Sensirion, the SDP6x6 differential pressure sensor line features especially low energy consumption, making it suitable for long-term battery operation.

  • Single-cable solution for servo motors

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Following a development period of 1½ years, Beckhoff is unveiling the AM8000 motor series at November’s SPS/IPC/DRIVES 2011 show in Germany.

  • Optimizing refinery operations

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Invensys Operations Management has released a more powerful version of its SimSci-Esscor ROMeo optimization software.

Inside Machines

  • The Ethernet Edge

    by Don Teng

    Don Teng takes a look at the reasons why machine builders are increasingly favoring Ethernet-based, networked remote and local I/O.

Inside Industry

  • Value from Certainty

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Offering a wide range of testing, inspection and certification services, TÜV SÜD has ambitious plans to triple its business in Southeast Asia. By Bob Gill.

Special Report

  • Lifeblood of Innovation

    by Lee Kok Leong

    The Siemens PLM Software Analyst Conference was held recently in Boston, Massachusetts. During the event, Siemens’ senior management gave an update of its business performance and strategy to industry thought leaders and the media.

Inside Applications

  • Message in a Bottle

    by Bob Gill, Editor-in-Chief

    Faced with the limitations of a decades-old control system, this glass bottle manufacturer in the Philippines was keen to avail itself of the latest process automation technology. Bob Gill reports.