Safeguarding Wireless Communications

Protecting wireless nets isn’t difficult, but it takes additional security steps. Over the past few years, wireless communication systems have proven they can be reliable in harsh industrial environments, sparking solid growth. This popularity has unfortunately attracted the attention of hackers and other intruders, bringing the issue of wireless security to the forefront. There are many reasons to add wireless to a facility’s networking scheme. One of the most important is... Read More

---

Three Approaches to Small System Motion Control

Compact, powerful systems can handle many motion control functions. Motion control is a complex task that has often been limited to larger controllers, or more expensive specialty hardware. That’s changing as new hardware and software makes it possible to manage moving elements with small systems that have one or two axis of movement. The changes come in a number of areas as equipment designers leverage the declining prices and increased processing speeds of microprocessor technology... Read More

---

Integrated Control Solutions with Power Dense Circuit Breakers Cut Commissioning Time

Self-contained engine control room modules from Siemens Solutions Partner EPD help ship builders chart cost-effective course. Specialty vessels are everywhere. From dredges, oil platform supply boats, anchor tugs and service ships, to research ships and floating casinos, these craft are hard at work plying the seas of maritime commerce. To do their jobs effectively, specialty vessels often require sophisticated propulsion and positioning control to keep them in the right place... Read More

---

Worker Training Key to Where VW Opens New Plant

Developing a skilled workforce is a major challenge for manufacturers. Volkswagen partnered with the city of Chattanooga, Tenn., as well as a technical college and major suppliers, such as Siemens Industry, to create Volkswagen Academy, a state-owned facility for intensive VW training programs. When Volkswagen (VW) announced plans to open a new $1 billion production facility in the United States in order to help achieve its goal of tripling US sales, almost 400 cities contacted... Read More

---

Five Ways Companies can Reduce their Energy Costs Today

Much has been made of the Smart Grid and how it will revolutionize energy management. Some have even gone so far as to suggest that the Smart Grid will rival the Internet in terms of the impact it will have on the way we all live and work. However, the Smart Grid is still a thing of the future. It still lies in the realms of predictions alongside the imaginings of Arthur C. Clarke and Isaac Asimov. As such it doesn’t offer much help to companies wrestling with energy usage and... Read More

---

Safeguard Networks from Cyber Security Breaches

Standards provide framework for preventing intrusions. As industrial systems have evolved and become more open, that openness has brought many of the same security concerns found in business applications. But industrial security breaches can kill or injure humans, making it extremely important to prevent hackers from taking control of industrial machines or manipulating chemical processes. As cyber security gains importance in industrial applications, standards that detail best... Read More

---

Remote Connectivity: The Right Approach Delivers Big Payoffs

The need for remote access to industrial equipment is growing rapidly, driven by a multitude of factors. But before plant managers open factories to outside control, they need to consider myriad issues such as security, ease of use and control of the network. As Ethernet gains acceptance in the industrial world, it opens the door to remote access, letting managers use the Internet, cellular links or network gateways to access equipment from other corporate facilities, hotel rooms... Read More

---

Smart Grid: Is Your Business Poised to Reap the Benefits?

How much energy do you use? And, more to the point, how much energy do you waste and how much does that cost? Not too long ago the power grid was strictly a transmission system. From the end user’s perspective it was as dumb as a box of rocks and hadn’t changed significantly in 40 years, but that is changing. With a dramatic surge in both energy demand and associated costs already underway – oil has gone from $20 per barrel to $100 per barrel and spiked at $147 per barrel... Read More

---

New Controllers Extend Integration to Small Systems

In an ideal world every widget and system in an automation environment would be fully integrated into your control system. The value of even the smallest piece of operational information has increased exponentially as high end automation systems that manage manufacturing execution, maintenance, supply chain management and even capable-to-promise decisions all want as much detailed process information as they can possibly get from the automation system. And as this demand for data... Read More

---

Crown Valley Brewery Delivers Quality Craft Beer While Lowering Costs Through Automation

Alexander Graham Bell said that the existence of beer “is proof that God loves us and wants us to be happy.” Although renowned for his innovations and inventions, it is unlikely Bell would recognize a modern brewery. While the basic process remains unchanged from that used in Bell’s 1800s, and indeed back thousands of years before that to Ancient Egypt and Sumeria, today’s brewing process is managed by a series of integrated automation systems including sensors, valves,... Read More

---