Industrial control panels are needed to support the electrical, instrumentation, and control (EIC) aspects of any modern machine or process. Today’s digitally-controlled systems include an increasing number of smart devices and field sensors, and there is an accelerating need to communicate this edge-sourced data up to supervisory systems and the cloud. Therefore, the demand for control panels to house EIC components at the edge is also growing.
Despite the economic disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, the demand for packaged products – and a greater variety of such products – is continuing to rise. Specifically, manufacturers in the beverage industry are faced with the pressure of providing the requisite product diversity while ensuring compliance with new FSMA standards. Let’s take a look at four ways in which bottling and capping machine builders are dealing with these challenges.
How do you know that a perfect storm is brewing? If your team is tasked with securing your organization’s operational technology and industrial control systems (OT/ICS), you may have a pretty good idea by now. In critical infrastructure industries, the warning signs have been hard to miss lately. They include the convergence of business IT and OT systems, now accelerated in the cloud; the proliferation of database-driven Ransomware-as-a-Service (RaaS) and phishing campaigns, etc.
From understanding the latest security compliance mandates, to finding, hiring, and retaining high performing security talent, most organizations struggle to manage cyber risk. This is a problem for any organization, but managing cyber risk is especially difficult for companies operating in Critical Infrastructure sectors where specific OT cybersecurity and industrial operations expertise are needed for minimized downtime and reduced cybersecurity risk.
HMS Networks is now presenting several communication solutions for the rapidly expanding battery market. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) require communication capabilities to connect to batteries and peripheral components, communicate with the power grid, monitor systems remotely and much more. Battery Energy Storage Systems (BESS) may be one of the keys to solve the energy crisis and make the world more sustainable.
Artificial intelligence (AI)/machine learning (ML) are disrupting industrial manufacturing. In this article, we will focus on key trends that help leaders navigate their digital transformation (DX) initiatives with clear foresight. Ten years ago, model creation was the realm of data scientists, but that space has now been disrupted due to availability of easy-to-use tools that empower even the non-data scientist to leverage ML libraries and build models.
Where it’s difficult to hardwire industrial operations to ensure time to market, industrial wireless LANs (WLANs) provide an ideal alternative to traditional wired Ethernet LANs. Indeed, recent advances in wireless technology have contributed to industrial WLANs becoming commonplace solutions in automotive plants, warehouses, and transportation systems, among others, where automated equipment is required that is constantly moving or difficult to wire.
Allied’s Ask the Expert series showcases the unique experience and expertise of subject matter experts hailing from the more than 550 global suppliers that Allied partners with to provide customers with effective solutions for all of their design challenges. For this edition of the Allied’s Ask the Expert series, Allied spoke with Zachary Stank, the product marketing manager for Phoenix Contact’s line of control, safety, and I/O solutions.
Companies required to follow lockout/tagout procedures outlined by OSHA standard 1910.147 must also perform an annual inspection of their established policies and authorized employees. The primary goal of the annual lockout/tagout audit is to confirm that existing lockout/tagout procedures are still adequate and accurate. The audit will also confirm whether authorized employees understand the lockout/tagout procedures in place and that they are using them every time a machine is being serviced or undergoing maintenance.
It’s finally happening — masks are disappearing and glimpses of normalcy are popping up in certain areas of society. But even as the pandemic starts to appear smaller in the collective rear-view mirror, everyone is left with a larger, lingering ripple effect in front of us all. The world of commerce continues to face effectively broken supply chains from widespread labor shortages, mounting inflation pressures on pricing, and more.
This exciting technology is being enabled by advances in safety technology, including sensors, robots, and cell controllers. And it’s attracting manufacturers, OEMs and system integrators alike with promises of increased productivity, reliability and cost savings. For example, FANUC introduced its first-ever force-limited robot: CR-35iA. The robot has a soft outer shell and sophisticated sensing technology.
Data has always existed in the manufacturing environment – in the temperatures, pressures, sounds, and sppearance of machinery – but it hasn’t always been easy to access. Manufacturing professionals would spend years, if not decades, gaining the expertise that would help them understand the meaning of certain measurements and observations. The Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) promises to revolutionize this learning process by turning such observations into quantitive trends that can be leveraged for decision-making.
Rugged and reliable – how Zytronic’s touchscreens enable safe refueling on remote sites.
You might be surprised to learn that ROLEC’s most-read blog post last year wasn’t from 2021. Actually, it dates back to November 2019. This evergreen post about how best to specify non-standard enclosures for your industrial electronics was even more popular last year than it was back in 2020. Here are five other top blog posts from 2021.
Members of Sealevel’s sales team share their observations and predictions as to the top trends – and challenges – that are influencing and changing I/O systems design. “Not only have customer requirements evolved as technology is released, but factors such as supply chain and long-term availability play a large role in I/O systems design,” says Joe Albertson, Western Regional Sales.
As the technology behind circuit breakers continues to improve and becomes more affordable, they’re growing in popularity to protect circuits in industrial applications and keep people safe. What’s more, fuses are less effective and safe compared to breakers. That’s why distribution panels in service with fuses are obsolete and should be replaced. Yet fuses are still used in Industrial Control Panels, Motor Control Centers (MCC) and load disconnect applications.
