Stimulus Funds and Tax Breaks Expected to Boost Equipment Spending

The Obama administration has enacted sweeping changes in the way it helps industry, providing a palette of stimulus programs and taxation changes. Together, they’re expected to help the industrial world bounce back, improving efficiency by using advanced equipment.A primary goal of the $787 billion economic stimulus act, formally known as the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, is to spark employment with projects that rebuild or expand America’s infrastructure.... Read More

OSHA Cracks Down on Machine Safety: End Users Beware!

Over the past couple years, safety regulations in the U.S. have undergone a dramatic shift. National Consensus Standards, such as ANSI, are putting more emphasis on risk assessment for equipment manufacturers, equipment modifiers and in some cases, the end user. It is expected that future revisions of such standards will require more and more risk assessments be performed by end users. According to some current standards the end users may also be considered equipment modifiers.“This... Read More

Integrated Safety Simplifies Installations, Upgrades

Safety has undergone a major change since the start of the decade. Integrated safety has become the new watchword following a change to U.S. safety standards that eliminated the requirement for dedicated, hardwired safety architectures.In 2002, the standards that dictate industrial safety in the U.S. were revised, allowing safety to be designed into controllers. That change from dedicated, hardwired safety systems marked a huge change in system design. This allowed for harmonizing... Read More

HMI Anywhere

Adding input to industrial equipment is always a difficult challenge. Siemens is addressing this with an HMI line that provides flexibility with a number of variations for both physical mounting and architectural formats. The Siemens Division Industry Automation has broadened its Simatic HMI product line with a series of rugged HMI devices that feature stainless steel and composite IP65 protection. A key benefit is a versatile mounting structure.“These are encased, so they... Read More

Controllers Now Handle Safety and Machine Functions

Making equipment safe for operators has always been a difficult task, but it’s becoming much easier. PC-based controllers can now be used to program safety features and functions, eliminating much of the complexity associated with segregated safety systems and buses. Siemens has unveiled what it says is the first PC-based software controller, the SIMATIC WinAC RTX F. Expanding the SIMATIC line to include safety simplifies the task of engineers who want to meet the most demanding... Read More

Capacitors Provide New Maintenance-Free DC UPS

Reducing downtime and routine maintenance are critical aspects of equipment design. Uninterruptible power supplies are one of the tools being used to ensure that equipment can be shut down in an orderly fashion so restarts won’t take much time.Traditional battery backup systems provide a good solution for longer backup times, sometimes several minutes to over an hour depending on required backup current. However, battery backup systems can sometimes be bulky, with no DIN rail... Read More