Open & shut case
You'll have heard it said more times than you probably care to remember that variance is the bane of manufacturing - and the same is true in the process sector, the utilities and so on. Why? Because it leads to all sorts of problems, ranging from quality issues to yield reductions, rework, excessive energy use, maintenance loading? The list goes on.
IoT in energy
Utility and energy companies are keen to advance towards Internet of Things solutions, research shows. However, there are also some key challenges that need to be faced, as Adam Offord reports
Mustang reborn
Ford's classic Mustang is now being manufactured at the AutoAlliance car plant in Flat Rock, Michigan, USA. Brian Tinham looks at the automation now behind the all American icon
Automatic for the people
REM probably didn't have plant automation on their minds when they released that album in 1992, but computing for the masses is reinvigorating control, writes Brian Tinham
Blowing hot and cold
Last summer's government energy strategy - which called for power generation from renewables to rise to 20% by 2020 and for CO2 to be reduced by 60% before 2050 - is going to have a profound effect on plant, and that includes HVAC (heating, ventilating and air conditioning) installations. That's particularly the case in non-domestic buildings, where space and water heating account for significant energy use and emissions. And it's not only about increasing the use of air source and ground source heat pumps, or solar hot water systems: variable speed drives (VSDs) on existing fan and pump equipment, as well as CO2-based building energy controls are among other technologies that need to play their part.
Friends reunited
Most manufacturers, process plant operators and utilities that have invested in PLCs, legacy systems and the like for monitoring and controlling machines, plant and equipment must, at some time, have considered a wholesale upgrade to common systems to get over the communication problem.
Catching up with the hype
Since the phrase ‘Industry 4.0’ appeared at Hannover Fair in 2011, it has been on the lips of manufacturing managers and politicians – but is it now finally coming of age? Mark Venables investigates
Time to rethink our automation technology
Observers of manufacturing can't have failed to notice that, since the 2008 crash, industry has been leaping up the agenda in government circles, as the urgency of its call to rebalance the economy takes hold.