The PLM Proposition

By providing the critical link between design and manufacturing, product lifecycle management (PLM) software is helping make things faster and cheaper. By Frank Smith.

Product lifecycle management (PLM) is a business strategy that helps companies share product data, apply common processes, and leverage corporate knowledge for the development of products across the extended enterprise. As such, PLM software has gained ...

Manufacturing myths

Bob Gill, Group Editor

You cannot build a sustainable economy around the principle of people giving each other haircuts, said Jeremy Leonard, economic consultant, Manufacturer...

Oil & gas automation set for sustained expansion

The economic downturn has had a pronounced impact on demand and the price of oil. Despite this, massive investments are still needed to ensure the industry has enough production capacity to meet fu...

Adept robot claims world speed record

Adept Technology has announced that its Quattro Robot has broken the 300 cycle per minute barrier. The record robotic performance threshold was set using the 25 mm x 300 mm x 25 mm standard cycle. ...

Peter Martin receives lifetime achievement award

Recognizing his work in integrating financial and production measures to improve the profitability and performance of industrial process plants, the Int...

Siemens to automate Baxter biologics plant

Siemens has announced the award of a multi-million dollar contract to supply the automation for the Singapore Recombinant plant of Baxter Bioscience Manufacturing. Under the terms of the contract, ...

Suppliers announce support for accelerated FDI

To accelerate deployment of field device integration (FDI) technology, a number of key suppliers have agreed to enlarge the scope of the EDDL Cooperation Team, which will become the FDI Cooperation...

ZigBee Alliance members get US$500,00 for Smart Grid projects

Members of the ZigBee Alliance, the global ecosystem of companies creating wireless solutions for use in energy management, commercial and consumer applications, are among those selected to receive...

Emerson acquisition boosts actuator offerings

Emerson Process Management has acquired Texas-based EIM Controls, a manufacturer of highquality valve actuators. EIM Controls will join the company’s Valve Automation division, expanding Emersonâ...

Matrikon buys out Indian joint venture company

Industrial software supplier and OPC specialist Matrikon has announced the purchased of the remaining 51 percent of Matrikon-SoftDEL India from joint venture partner SoftDEL Systems. The company, c...

Rockwell appoints new chief for Southeast Asia

Scott Teerlinck has been named regional director, Southeast Asia, effective November 1, 2009. Report to Keiran Coulton, president, Asia Pacific Region, he will be responsible for the overall sales ...

High growth for wind turbine control market

The wind turbine control systems market is well positioned to experience extraordinary growth for the next several years due to the volatility in oil cost, worldwide push for clean energy, favorabl...

Advantech embraces Windows 7 for Embedded

Advantech has announced its support for the new release of Windows 7 for Embedded systems, remarking that several powerful new functions have been added into this release, including Windows Touch a...

ABB makes control systems leadership appointment

ABB has announced that Daniel Huber has been promoted to Business Unit manager for the company’s control systems business within the Process Automation division. He will be responsible for the gl...

Procentec accredited for Profibus competency

Procentec Singapore has announced its accreditation as Profibus International (PI) Competence Center for South East Asia. After inspecting the knowledge and facilities, Michael Ulrich, Procentec In...

The Real-Time Enterprise

Dr Peter Martin explains how industrial companies can build a real-time enterprise using their automation and information assets.

Industrial companies commonly respond to a difficult economy by hunkering down and waiting for the market to swing back up. Although this is often a safe approach, it sometimes results in lost oppo...

Visualizing comms between fieldbus and Ethernet

Traditionally known more for its sensor, fieldbus, interface and connectivity solutions, Turck is now launching a line of human machine interf...

PC-based controller gets faster

TwinCAT 3, the latest version of the PC-based controller from Beckhoff, is now more open, flexible, easily extendable and, through the ...

Code readers with software-driven autofocus

With the aim of making it easier for users to read and track bar codes and data matrix codes in the electronic component, pharmaceutical, aerospace a...

Flow measurement with compensation

The Rosemount 3051SMV from Emerson Process Management provides mass and energy flow measurement through patented compensation technique...

Integrating sensors to IO-Link The

The Simatic PX130C adapter from the Siemens Industry Automation Division makes it easier to integrate standard sensors into the IO-Link...

Increased integration for process control system

Yokogawa announces the release of Centum VP R4.02, an enhanced version of the company’s flagship integrated production control sys te...

Motion and I/O for machine automation

ADLink Technology has announced the release of comprehensive distributed motion and I/O solutions providing motion control of up to 256 axes a...

AC Drive for versatile motor control

The Allen-Bradley PowerFlex 753 AC drive, the second release in the PowerFlex 750-Series from Rockwell Automation, targets machine buil...

Remote access to control system

ABB announces that its cpmPlus Smart Client is now available as an included upgrade for System 800xA Automation Sentinel software manag...

Developing Detection

Mark Hoske reports on how recent advances in proximity sensor technology are improving application performance.

Sensor manufacturers have continued to innovate during the global manufacturing economic slowdown, and following positive economic predictions, proximity sensor sales are expected to strongly rebou...

Sustained Performance

Mitsubishi has long been a familiar name stamped on a variety of automation products sold across the region. Two key executives from Mitsubishi Electric Asia provide a business update, and more, for CE Asia.

First established as a Singapore sales office in 1977 for Mitsubishi Electric of Japan, Mitsubishi Electric Asia has grown to become the regional sales and marketing hub for activities across Singa...

Chemical Spotlight on Asia

Asia is becoming an increasingly important destination for global chemical industry automation investments. G Venkatesh reports.

It is an US$3 trillion industry, and the Asia Pacific has burgeoned into not just a market for the industry but also a highly-favored destination for the relocation of production bases or greenfiel...

Brewing Up in Vietnam

With the demand for its beer rising fast, a brand new brewery in Vietnam was on the look out for an equally modern control system. Bob Gill reports from Hue.

A cool beer on a hot day. Doesn’t that sound refreshing? The drinkers of Vietnam certainly think so. In September, Nguyen Van Hung, vice chairman of the Vietnam Association of Beer, Alcohol and B...